Logo Removal

[~Revolution~]

I'm trying to figure out some easier way to remove a transparent logo with xlogo but I'm not quite sure if its the same procedure as removing an opaque logo. If someone could help that would be great. Thanks.

[manono]

Sample, please, preferably one with some frames with the logo on a black background, like a fadeout or night scene. The rest of the scene can be brightly lit.

With translucent logos I usually use NoLogo/LogoTools:

http://forum.videohelp.com/images/guides/p2020914/logotools.zip

Here's an XLogo guide:

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic333648.html

[~Revolution~]

Sample: Here (http://www.sendspace.com/file/7sdppb)

Its only a few frames i could get with a pitch black background under the logo but I hope it works. Also if you can clarify the guide just a bit for optimum results then that would be great. thanks for your help :)

[MatLz]

You can also use delogo 1.3.2 plugin for Virtualdub with the loadVirtualdubplugin function. Delogo is very usefull with its frames zones and its vertical/horizontal settings.

[~Revolution~]

Delogo poses a bit of a challenge to fully remove or make the logo vanish but it is pretty damn close. manono can you suggest how to tackle this with logotools perhaps? thanks

[manono]

I don't use XLogo. Sorry. For the opaque ones I use Inpaint, and for the see-through ones I use NoLogoTools.

Shemaroo, eh? They're a bit tricky. That's why I said the rest of the scene can be brightly lit. Moserbaer and Friends are easy. Eros is a bit difficult. Shemaroo is about the worst of the see-through ones. I think it's because the logo has different levels of transparancy in it, but I'm not really sure. Sometimes I crop out a small rectangle in the same location of the logo, and after doing the best I can with the filter, overlay a slight blur. Anyway, here's a small AVI of the sample:

http://www.mediafire.com/?2njzuaf4mqj

I followed this script:

A=MPEG2Source("E:\Test\test.d2v").ConvertToYUY2()
B=ImageSource("E:\Test\logo1.bmp").ConvertToYUY2()
NoLogoAuto(A,B,18)
TFM()
TDecimate()
Crop(0,56,0,-56)
LanczosResize(640,360)
#ConvertToYV12() if needed for more filtering or for your encoder

But that was using the basic no-frills script. For Shemaroo you can usually improve things a bit by using the more complex No LogoM. 18 is the frame number I used.

First you save out a frame with the logo on a black background and make the rest of the frame black also, with only the logo showing untouched. That's why I asked for a scene with the logo on a black background. I plugged in that simple script and it was gone. But that will work well only on the real black parts, and the rest of the movie might need more tweaking. The included doc is pretty good about how to set up the other scripts.

[~Revolution~]

Can you attach the logo1.bmp file you used :)

[manono]

Here:

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=0jzymlakjmn

[~Revolution~]

Thanks manono. Your solution worked very nicely, I just tweaked the bmp a bit in photoshop and the effect is amazing. Logo totally gone :)

[AlanHK]

for the see-through ones I use NoLogoTools.

Have you ever used the functions "IfLogo" and "IfNoLogo"?

Basic definitions are included in the LogoTools doc, but I can't see how to use them in practice.
An example script using them would be helpful.

I tried to contact the author, but he's been inactive for some years now.

By the way, when I make the logo mask, I always save it as a PNG, as ImageSource works on PNG as well. Reduces a 1 MB BMP to a few kb. I've got lots of them archived to reuse.

[~Revolution~]

I have a question regarding the mask. Based on my observations I have seen that the NoLogo filter basically brings the alpha value to point 0 sort of from what the logo is. If i wanted to tweak the output of the mask then should I change gamma, exposure, or something else in photoshop in order to change the alpha adjustment more effectively in the output by noLogo? Thanks.

[manono]

Have you ever used the functions "IfLogo" and "IfNoLogo"?
Are you asking me? No, I haven't fooled around with them. They don't seem to be for logo removal, as near as I can tell. I just trim out the frames with logos and only apply it there, and can't see any real need to use either of them. I usually go NoLogoAuto, NoLogo, and finally, if necessary, NoLogoM.

I should credit you with the discovery of this nice tool as I saw you recommending it at the other forum and after playing around with it for awhile decided it was better than what I had been using before on see-through logos. I did link to your XLogo guide earlier in the thread.
I have a question regarding the mask. Based on my observations I have seen that the NoLogo filter basically brings the alpha value to point 0 sort of from what the logo is. If i wanted to tweak the output of the mask then should I change gamma, exposure, or something else in photoshop in order to change the alpha adjustment more effectively in the output by noLogo? Thanks.
I don't think you're supposed to adjust the brightness, contrast, levels, etc. of the logo frame you're using unless you're doing the same to the entire video. Maybe AlanHK knows more, but I tried that once and the results weren't as good.

[AlanHK]

Are you asking me? No, I haven't fooled around with them. They don't seem to be for logo removal, as near as I can tell. I just trim out the frames with logos and only apply it there, and can't see any real need to use either of them. I usually go NoLogoAuto, NoLogo, and finally, if necessary, NoLogoM.

The idea of IfNoLogo seems to be that it can detect when a logo is present and only filter on those frames. Some networks have their logo phasing in and out several times in an hour. Currently I slide through a video (in AvsP) and note the ranges and apply it like this:

src = last
logo=ImageSource("logo503.png").ConverttoYUY2()
NoLogoAuto(logo,1)
filtered = last
ReplaceFramesSimple(src, filtered, mappings= \
"[1197 8246]
[12903 16711]
[17593 31872]
[32447 39116]
[39598 51263]
[51699 59852]")

Works but a bit of drudgery. I'll have another try at experimenting with the "If" functions


I should credit you with the discovery of this nice tool as I saw you recommending it at the other forum and after playing around with it for awhile decided it was better than what I had been using before on see-through logos. I did link to your XLogo guide earlier in the thread.
Thanks, both filters are simple and efficient but somewhat neglected.


I don't think you're supposed to adjust the brightness, contrast, levels, etc. of the logo frame you're using unless you're doing the same to the entire video. Maybe AlanHK knows more, but I tried that once and the results weren't as good.
Occasionally I adjust the Levels in Photoshop. That's mainly if the logo frame was not on a pure black background. So if the background is actually dark grey, RGB (8,8,8) say, I might adjust the Levels so this becomes (0,0,0), and then the filter works more completely.

[~Revolution~]

the main reason i was asking about adjustment in photoshop was because even though the source image is pure black by testing the values, on the filtered video it had a slight greyish tint thereby I decided that by lowering the gamma just a bit and levels, the filter would "add" less black. I am still not quite sure how the filter works though but im just guessing it equilibrates the image and point 0 alpha or something like that. The main issues that i'm still having is trying to take care of the logo border. The logo border shows as a black border which tells me there is a outer border which is a sort of reflection around the logo which is causing the outer edge or that just on lighted scenes this outer "border" of the logo is able to be lighted enough to be able to show through. The problem is that this border is like 0.5 pixel wide around the logo text. and photoshop cannot really precisely mark half of the pixels as a bit darker around the text in a uniform fashion. it gets tedious to try to do it with the brush and even then it doesnt come out right. I just wanted to know if there is some fix to the outer edge of the logo text still remaining or how to remove it in some better way which I may be missing. Thanks.

[AlanHK]

the main reason i was asking about adjustment in photoshop was because even though the source image is pure black by testing the values, on the filtered video it had a slight greyish tint thereby I decided that by lowering the gamma just a bit and levels, the filter would "add" less black. I am still not quite sure how the filter works though but im just guessing it equilibrates the image and point 0 alpha or something like that.

What do you mean by the "filtered video"? After NoLogo, or other filters? You should apply NoLogo before any other filters.



The main issues that i'm still having is trying to take care of the logo border. The logo border shows as a black border which tells me there is a outer border which is a sort of reflection around the logo which is causing the outer edge or that just on lighted scenes this outer "border" of the logo is able to be lighted enough to be able to show through. The problem is that this border is like 0.5 pixel wide around the logo text. and photoshop cannot really precisely mark half of the pixels as a bit darker around the text in a uniform fashion. it gets tedious to try to do it with the brush and even then it doesn't come out right. I just wanted to know if there is some fix to the outer edge of the logo text still remaining or how to remove it in some better way which I may be missing. Thanks.

As you say, it's a "half pixel", so you can't reverse it perfectly.

If you have a higher resolution source this gets almost imperceptible, but you will always be able to see an edge if you zoom.

Other delogo filters, like XLogo and I think Inpaint (though I haven't used the latter) will fill in a logo area completely and smoothly, but lose most of the detail within the logo area.

If you're a perfectionist you could combine these. But that's more time than I want to spend.

[Reuf Toc]

Other delogo filters, like XLogo and I think Inpaint (though I haven't used the latter) will fill in a logo area completely and smoothly, but lose most of the detail within the logo area.


The idea behind Inpainting is to recreate (more or less efficiently) missing part of the image by analyzing the neighboring pixels. So there is no lack of details in the processed area (a least not at first sight), even if this "details" are artificials.

The drawback is that method is extremely slow.