happy snapper clip of an LDC screen ... issues

[hydra3333]

Hello,

for reasons I won't go into, I have had to capture action on an LCD screen using a happy-snapper camera in movie mode, 30fps mjpeg 640x480 .avi.

The result is, in order of "badness"
1. lots of brighter-darker-brighter-darker in fairly quick succession
2. lots of out-of-focus shots (rubbish camera couldn't focus in properly, about 1/2 of the time)
3. [top-left to bottom-right] diagonals or cross-hached lines, or sort of 1/4 semi-circle lines top left quadrant

Any idea what 1. and 3. are called and what plugins I could use to fix them ?

For 2. I am attempting LSF at strength=150, but could use advice.

Sorry, can't post a clip but guessed these things may be common enough for someone to identify from the description.

[pbristow]

1. How quick is "fairly quick"? If it's very rapid (around the frame rate of the camera or the refresh rate of the monitor then it is generally known as "flicker". If you search the forum, there are various discussions about "DeFlicker" and other alternatives, some from not long ago if I remember rightly (so theyshouldn't be out of date yet! :) ). Where you might have problems is if one part of the screen flickers at a different time than the other (e.g. top half dark while bottom half is bright in one frame, then the other way round, or whatever). I'm surprised you're getting significant flicker problems with an LCD screen, though; that's usually a problem I associated with CRT screens. (An LCD should be constantly back-lit.)
If it's a slower variation, then the de-flicker tools might be too aggressive, but tools like AutoLevels may be able to help.

2. Is a heck of a challenge, especially if the camera was on auto-focus (aka "randomly waggle the focus back and forth and occasionally you might get it right"). Good luck with that!

3. Sounds like it could be moire fringing, but it's hard to be sure from your description.

A clip or even a still sample would really help. (Even just, say three successive frames supplied as stills would give some idea of the kind of flicker or brightness variations you're dealing with, for example.)

[hydra3333]

Thanks !

1. about every 1/2 second or so.

Sorry can't post any ... company confidential business filmed in another company's premesis :(

[pbristow]

Ok, with variations that slow I'd say AutoLevels is your best bet. Here's the homepage for the latest version: http://www.thebattles.net/video/autolevels.html

Good luck! :)

[hydra3333]

Thanks pbristow.