Modern processing methods can completely transform a classic video. At the end of February we shared the work of Denis Shiryaev, who took a video shot in 1911 and optimized it for 4K 60 FPS playback. Now, Shiryaev is back with an even older short, "Roundhay Garden Scene", filmed by Louis Le Prince in October. It is believed to be the oldest film in history, and today you will see it like never before.
The Challenge
The world of cinema has surprised us on multiple occasions with its visual tricks, but one thing is creating from scratch, and another completely different is working on existing material. One of the most remembered (and criticized) examples was that of Justice League and the "no-mustache" of Henry Cavill, while on the other side we can cite every restoration made to date, with experts meticulously cleaning the original film and processing it one frame at a time.
That brings us back to Denis Shiryaev's YouTube channel. After his fabulous "New York Trip" from 1911 in 4K and 60 FPS, Shiryaev decided to focus on an even more complex challenge: "Roundhay Garden Scene", filmed by Louis Le Prince on October 14. It is the oldest film in history (three years before Edison's kinetoscope), and it lasts only 1.66 seconds. That's right: all Shiryaev has to work with is reduced to twenty frames, obtained from an image uploaded on the Science Museum Group portal.
The Restoration Process
The first step was to cut the image into individual frames and center each one. Then, Shiryaev used a stabilization algorithm and processed the data with a neural network trained to restore faces. The third step was to correct the brightness across frames and apply a "deflickering" effect that reduces flicker. The final phase was a combination of neural networks that increased the resolution to the maximum and generated new frames from the available content.
The final result delivers a total of 250 frames, not bad for a source of just twenty frames with 132 years of age. Shiryaev said that if someone has a copy of this video in better condition, he will gladly repeat the whole process. Additionally, several image editing experts offered suggestions to optimize the background of the video and eliminate artifacts. We look forward to any news.
