Which filter to use for removing semi-transparent logo / watermark?

[konstantin1]

I have a video with a semi transparent watermark / logo in the corner. I wouldn't like crop the watermark because it would remove too much of the video. I would prefer some logo removal avisynth filter. Which one should I use for that kind of logos which are semi-transparent and are added by blending to the video, and which yields good visual results too?

[manono]

I use LogoTools. it takes time to set up properly, but usually does a pretty good job.

[konstantin1]

Thank you very musch, I will give it a try. At first I tried ffmpeg delogo filter, but is it very basic.

[konstantin1]

I am reading now in the readme, that I must provide a frame number to the filter, on which the logo is blended to a completely black background picture. But what if no such frame exists in the video?

[manono]

You don't need a completely black frame except for the logo. You do need a frame with the logo itself over black. What's in the rest of the frame isn't important. If there's no all black frame (such as for a fade out/in) then I do the best I can and paint black around the rest of it and use that frame number.

XLogo is another one good for use with see-through logos:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/273109-Remove-an-opaque-logo-using-Xlogo-in-Avisynth

[johnmeyer]

... and there is the old Delogo for VirtualDub. It does both opaque and semi-transparent logos.

[SSH4]

May be someone can implement this research? Looks perfect for video needs...
https://research.googleblog.com/2017/08/making-visible-watermarks-more-effective.html

[hello_hello]

The description of the Google watermark removal method, which appears to only be applicable to transparent or semi transparent logos, doesn't sound any different to the method currently used by plugins such as LogoTools.

InpaintFunc (http://avisynth.nl/index.php/InpaintFunc) and RM Logo (http://avisynth.nl/index.php/Rm_logo) are pretty good, although setting them up properly can take a bit of time and they require an analysis pass. They both do de-blending of transparent logos as well as InPainting to remove the non-transparent type.