Enhancing Zoom recorded video

[alonso216]

Hello! I’m editing a video from a Zoom-recorded interview, but the interviewee’s camera quality was poor so the video came out grainy. I tried using the ‘Unsharp Mask’ feature as suggested in several tutorials, but it didn’t help much. Do you have any other suggestions? Other Adobe platforms to use? Thanks!

[Warren Heaton]

The Neat Video plugin can do wonders for grainy video.  There is a demo version that you can try and then switch to the paid version if you like the results. 

Topaz Labs Video AI is also worth trying as well. 

I own and use both on a regular basis. 

[alonso216]

Hi Warren, thanks for those suggestions! I don't think my company will pay for either subscription. Do you have design tips within Premiere Pro or another Adobe app (I have the full suite)? Thanks

[Peru Bob]

Other than a third party plugin (I use Neat Video), the only other option I can think of isn't practical:

Export each frame and enhance it in Photoshop.

[Warren Heaton]

@alonso216 

A great thing about Neat Video is that it samples the noise that's in the picture rather than use settings that we dial in.

You could try sending the clip to After Effects to use Effect > Noise & Grain > Remove Grain; however, that's best suited for film grain, not video noise.

You could try sending the clip to Photoshop to use Reduce Noise or Camera Raw Color Noise Reduction, but I'd only do that for short clips.  Also, in my opinion, the Render Video option in Photoshop needs be updated to include ProRes as well as an option to hand off the export to Media Encoder.