Today, we are going to learn one of the essential skill in 360 video post-production - video
denoising.
9 out of 10, you are using a VR camera with a small sensor that does not do so good in
a low light situation.
Something, you even have flickers b/c of wrong camera setting while you are filming in other
countries.
I will show you my workflow to minimize compression artifacts - which is one of the main reason
why these cameras are so noisy.
And show you my secret weapon - which is Neat Video Version 5 - to remove unwanted noises
and add sharpness in post-production.
By the end of this video, you will have the professional knowledge to fix all your noise-related
problems so you can be confident to film VR in any lighting situation.
Let's dive right in.
Hey, what's up, everybody.
It is your Boi Hugh here from CreatorUp - your FREE online film school for professional 360
VR productions.
If you want to up your game in VR, don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell.
So you ask, why my 360 footage is so noisy.
Considering you just spent more than $5000 on a professional VR camera like the Insta360
Pro 2, Kandao Obsidian or Z Cam S1Pro
If you own one of this consumer camera and want to use the free capture for 2D footage
and having a tough time to match your DSLR b/c too noisy and too much compression artifact
- you are not alone.
All these VR cameras use small sensor and have a poor dynamic range with heavy compression
to be efficient - which save storage space with the expense of noise.
While getting big sensors low compression VR camera is close to impossible at the current
market unless you are rich ...
production and make them look professional.
Okay, let's talk about the denoiser we are going to use - which is Neat Video.
Version 5 just released last week which dramatically increase the performance speed with GPU acceleration
Neat Video is actually not only for VR.
Lot's of 2D videographer already know and using it daily on their 2D low light production.
In the newly released version 5, it works great with footage has heavy digital compression.
One common thing I notice in all major brand VR cameras is jitter in details.
Don't believe me, zoom in and look at your Insta360 ONE X footage.
And Neat Video 5 help you to remove it.
It also has video de-flicker now to help you remove those flickering commonly see in
VR camera or just the wrong camera setting.
Tips, if you film VR in a different country, please check the light fixture refresh rate
and adjust your camera accordingly if you plan to only use practical lighting.
But, sometimes, for cameras like Kandao Obsidian, you don't want to shoot 25fps.
It does not work in VR headsets.
You need 30 frames per second and just deal with the flicker in post.
Luckily, Neat video Version 5 can fix that as well.
Okay.
The workflow.
Before we jump into denoiser, there are steps that are very important to help remove unnecessary
compression.
There are usually 3 levels of transcoding happen in your pipeline.
The capture stage, from your camera to your storage devices, which you have no control.
Almost all of them are H.264 or H.265.
Then you need to stitch them together.
Finally, you need to render them into again H.264 or H.265 for VR headsets - which you
also have no control.
So the only level you can control is stitching.
The reason why I stitch everything with Mistika VR using ProRes or even PNG sequence is to
remove this extra level of compression during video stitching.
For Insta360 Pro 2, you can use the Insta360 stitcher to export ProRes as well.
So do that.
Don't compress it again into another level of H.264.
For consumer cameras like the GoPro Fusion or Vuze XR, they both have uncompressed codecs
like Cineform or Apple ProRes - so use that.
For Insta360 ONE X, well, you are out of luck unless you have Mistika VR.
After you stitch with an uncompressed codec or images sequence, now open up your editing
software.
We use Adobe Premiere here but Neat Video also supports Davinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro
X or your editing software of choice.
For those of you use Davinci Resolve, they also have powerful temporal denoiser.
So try it first before jumping into Neat Video.
You don't need to go to a film school or
spend money on courses on some Elearning website to get better in 360 filmmaking.
The best learning comes from your friends.
And I hope I am one of your friends.
And I hope you also comment below and teach me and others your neat tricks in VR filmmaking.
I want to hear and learn from you.
Oh, while you at it, hit the like button so your boy Hugh can continue making more tutorials
like this for you.
And I will see you next time.
Keep creating in VR.