VideoCleaner: How to Optimize the Visual Quality of Videos and Images

Sometimes all a video needs is a little more brightness, a couple of contrast points, or sharper edges. These aren’t radical changes, but they can help optimize a scene in particular, especially if the footage is of low original quality (e.g., surveillance cameras). A traditional editor might not be the best idea for this, however, and that’s where VideoCleaner comes in — a tool that prioritizes its forensic application.

Some videos have very poor quality. Small, weak sensors, limited bitrate… this is quite common in security cameras and the so-called “spy cameras” hidden in USB drives, ashtrays, ornaments, and other strange objects. I suppose Hollywood never gets tired of showing off its high resolutions and infinite “Enhance” commands, but in real life there are times when we can’t see anything unless a little editing comes to the rescue.

At this point, many users wonder if it’s worth searching for a “full-featured” video editor when all they need is to adjust brightness and contrast. The VideoCleaner tool presents itself as a viable, free, and open-source alternative. Its goal is to assist users in forensic analysis of videos and images, with a certain emphasis on low-definition material. Its installation process isn’t the most straightforward in the world, but all that falls away once you see it working.

Optimize the visual quality of your videos with VideoCleaner

The technical details for installing VideoCleaner are available in a PDF, but essentially they come down to three: associate the .avs files with AvsP (the environment that runs VideoCleaner), enable the AviSynth option in the ffdshow video decoder, and open the “VideoCleaner Fix” link once with administrator privileges. Once running, you can experiment with the sample videos and images (press F5, you should ignore the AvsP menu) inside the VideoCleaner folder.

The official site has a list of problems we can tackle with this editor. Is the scene too dark or too bright? First enable the application of changes in the Tools section (it’s the first command, which goes from 0 to 1) and then change the Histogram value to +1 or -1. Does the video have focus problems? Use the Focus option. Do you need to read text, a logo, or a license plate? In the Forensic section you’ll find the Canny and Sobel filters. Duplicated frames, detection of previous edits, speed issues, difficult-to-detect moving subjects or objects, and reverse playback are just a handful of functions and conditions we can process with VideoCleaner.

Once your edit is satisfactory, you can save the changes by pressing F7, or send them to VirtualDub with F6. If the video doesn’t load correctly, the most likely cause is a missing codec on your system, which you’ll need to install manually. Granted, VideoCleaner is a bit more complex than usual in its installation and configuration, but it rewards the user with a wide range of tools to optimize the visual quality of videos and images. Download a copy and give it a try.

Official site and download: Click here