How do we do the film restoration and colorization? A glimps into our software kitchen!

How do we do the film restoration and colorization? A glimpse into our software kitchen!

Welcome to my channel! I'm based in Leighton Dom, in the Netherlands. This channel's primary purpose is to provide restored historic film footage, primarily from before World War II, for viewers to learn from and enjoy.

A lot of historic film material has been digitized with outdated scanners, resulting in wobbly, faint, and blurry footage. Nowadays, a lot can be achieved in enhancing such footage by means of sophisticated software tools, including artificial intelligence. Restoring old footage is not easy at all; it involves five separate stages with various types of software.

Step 1: Motion Stabilization

The first step is to motion stabilize the video. This is an important step because watching film as if it was originally shot on a tripod makes viewing far more pleasurable than wobbly footage. The human brain gets tired very quickly when watching motion-unstable video material.

Step 2: Enhancing Contrast, Brightness, and Sharpness

The second step is to enhance the contrast, brightness, and sharpness, as well as apply noise reduction and dust and speckle removal filters. How to do this the correct way involves a lot of experience, and the treatment of every film will be entirely different.

Step 3: Upscaling to 1080p HD Footage

The third step involves upscaling and/or enhancing to 1080p HD footage using contemporary AI software. This process adds a lot of clarity to almost any footage. In itself, this stage is not too difficult, providing you know how to set the correct parameters.

Step 4: Artificial Colorization (Optional)

The fourth step is optional and involves artificial colorization of black and white footage. A very good software tool for this purpose is "DeOldify," which has to be applied online via a not very user-friendly GitHub interface.

Step 5: Adding Sound and Commentary

The fifth and final step is to add sound and commentary and join the various film fragments by means of a sophisticated editor. This editor is also used to correct the speed if necessary. Many old films were shot on hand-cranked cameras with 15 to 18 frames per second, causing the slapstick effect when playing such footage at 25 or 30 frames per second. Special treatment is needed to generate the missing frames by means of frame interpolation.

Most films on my channel have undergone this painstaking and time-consuming five-stage process before uploading the results to YouTube. Many of my films are accompanied by CC captions to explain the various events and locations as the film progresses.

Colorization adds an extra dimension to old footage. Many viewers have commented that it brings old film much closer to today's reality. I hope you will appreciate my hobby, which to be honest, has got a bit out of hand. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel and give as many thumbs up as you can. Thank you very much!

Keywords

• Film Restoration
• Colorization
• Historic Film Footage
• Motion Stabilization
• Contrast Enhancement
• Brightness & Sharpness
• AI Software
• Upscaling to 1080p HD
• DeOldify
• Frame Interpolation
• CC Captions
• Video Editing

FAQs

Q1: What is the primary purpose of your channel?

A1: The primary purpose is to provide restored historic film footage, primarily from before World War II, for viewers to learn from and enjoy.

Q2: What are the main stages involved in film restoration?

A2: The five main stages are: motion stabilization, enhancing contrast/brightness/sharpness, upscaling to 1080p HD, optional artificial colorization, and adding sound and commentary.

Q3: Why is motion stabilization important?

A3: Motion stabilization is important because it makes the viewing experience far more pleasurable and reduces visual fatigue.

Q4: What software tools do you use for colorization?

A4: For colorization, I use a tool called "DeOldify," which has to be applied via an online GitHub interface.

Q5: How do you handle the slapstick effect in old films?

A5: The slapstick effect is mitigated by using a sophisticated editor to correct the speed and generate missing frames through frame interpolation.

Q6: Why do you add CC captions to your films?

A6: CC captions are added to explain various events and locations as the film progresses, enhancing the viewing experience.