can you sharpen up older videos?

[Marc]

I have a bunch of videos that were shot in the 80s and theyre OK but not very sharp and clear, and Id like to make them more crisp looking as if the videos were shot with a more comtemporary camera.

Is this possible to do?

[gaybucks_chip]

My knowledge is with Premiere, but I suspect there's a similar feature in Vegas, which I think I remember you're using.

There is a sharpening filter built into Premiere, and you can experiment with it. Under some circumstances, you can get some significant improvement, but you have to be very careful because there's a fine line and oversharpening looks really nasty If you're trying to get the video to look more up-to-date, I would recommend possibly adjusting the color balance, brightness/contrast and possibly play with the gamma curves... I've seen some nice results if you're willing to spend the time playing to figure out what works.

There is also another product that we have used in the past which is available as a Photoshop filter (for stills) and has another version for video which I believe is a Premiere plugin. It is designed specifically to repair crappy images... not just sharpening, but various other intelligent image processing. Only catch is I can't for the life of me remember the name of the software, nor can I find the install disc for it. Perhaps someone else will know what I'm talking about. (Now it will drive me crazy till I figure it out...)

[basschick]

beside sharpening the videos, you might consider adding a little brightness and contrast. that works wonders on a lot of older videos which look sort of dull by modern standards.

btw, you should see my first sharpening attempts - they are hysterical! the guys look like they have scales instead of skin

[Marc]

Thanks a lot guys.
Chip do you edit with Vegar or Premiere? or Other?

btw, you should see my first sharpening attempts - they are hysterical! the guys look like they have scales instead of skin

Lizard porn is HAWT!

Basschick, if you can sharpen vids and want to take a crack at some of mine, I have a small job for you if you want it

[gaybucks_chip]

I use Premiere.

I hear everyone talking about Vegas, so I want to try it at some point, but I'm incredibly grumpy about learning new software... so i'll have to force myself sometime soon