VirtualDub Plug-ins (Filters)

Once you have installed VirtualDub (see my Software page), there are several plug-ins that you must install to complete portions of this guide.  Plug-ins, also called filters, are extensions to VirtualDub that allow it to process video in special fashions.  We will use plug-ins to improve the image quality of the video.

All of the plug-ins are installed in the same fashion.  First, you download the .zip file containing a plug-in.  Then you extract the contains of that .zip file to the "plugins" subdirectory in the VirtualDub folder.  For example, if you extracted VirtualDub to c:\virtualdub, you will extract the plug-ins to the c:\virtualdub\plugins directory.

Here are the plug-ins you may need:

• 2D Cleaner - This filter can smooth out the background noise in your video.

• Deinterlace - area based - This is an excellent deinterlacing filter that only works upon portions of your video with interlacing artifacts.

• Dynamic Noise Reduction (the original version, dnr1.zip) - This plug-in will hold background noise in place so the image doesn't look as jittery.

• Smart Smoother - This is another plug-in that smoothes out the noise in your video.

• Smart Deinterlacer - This is a motion-based deinterlacer that can selectively deinterlace the portions of your video that need it.

• Telecide - This filter can inverse telecine many types of video and correct some field-based problems.

Also, although you will not need them for this guide, you can find more filters at the official VirtualDub Filters page.