FAQ

Typical problems and what to do about them. If the answer isn't here, check the glossary and the algorithm guide.

Picture

Ghosting (trails) remains on motion

Temporal cleaning blends frames that don't match. In order:

1. Turn on Motion Compensation → Enable and press Analyze Motion.
2. Balance (Simple) or Luma Temporal (HQDN3D) — to the left.
3. Temporal Gate in Motion + Cut mode (it's the default anyway) — raise Gate Threshold if needed.
4. ATAdenoise: reduce Size, lower the Yb thresholds.
5. Confidence Mask — if the ghosting is spotty, on object contours.

The image is soft, skin looks plastic

The cleaning is too strong or too spatial:

1. Denoise / Luma Spatial — to the left.
2. For HQDN3D: Luma Spatial further left than Luma Temporal.
3. Switch to a texture-oriented algorithm: NLMeans or BM3D.
4. Strength is a global multiplier: 60–80 % is often enough.

Detail and textures are gone

• Wrong algorithm: HQDN3D and FFTdnoiz are more aggressive on detail than NLMeans and BM3D.
• Patch Size (NLMeans) / Block Size (FFTdnoiz) / Group Size (BM3D/BM4D) — smaller.
• Balance to the left (less search — it's the search that eats detail at strong settings).

Noise remains

• The noise is stronger than you thought: Denoise to the right, Sigma (ATAdenoise, FFTdnoiz, BM3D/BM4D) higher.
• Add a second slot: HQDN3D → BM3D covers almost everything.
• Chroma noise is handled separately: Chroma; for NLMeans — Chroma Patch Size.

Colored speckles and rainbow blotches

This is chroma noise. Chroma (or Chroma Spatial / Ua, Va Threshold). Color is usually cleaned harder than luma — that's the nature of sensor noise.

The image shimmers slightly from frame to frame (flicker)

Classic for pure spatial noise: the noise is removed differently in different frames. Use a temporal algorithm (ATAdenoise with a large Size, BM4D) or Vector Smooth in Post-Processing.

Artifacts at cuts (shot boundaries)

Temporal Gate in Motion + Cut mode prevents frames from being blended across a cut. If the artifact is exactly at the boundary, check Cut Threshold; if the Analyze Motion cache is stale (the clip was re-edited), recompute it.

Performance

Preview stutters

1. Turn on Draft in the panel header (Draft Preview).
2. Preview Mode → Realtime.
3. Motion Precision → Fast.
4. Press Analyze Motion — the vectors will stop being computed every frame.
5. Heavy algorithms (BM3D, BM4D, NLMeans) are for the final render, not for preview.

Export takes a very long time

This is expected for BM3D/BM4D at 4K. What speeds it up: turn off Draft Preview (you don't need the draft for export, but make sure it's off — otherwise you'll get a different result), turn off Wiener Stage, relax Search Range / Block Step, motion Precision → Fast.

Export and preview

The export differs from the preview

• The export is cleaner than the preview → you were looking at the draft: Draft Preview or Preview Mode. Turn Draft off when evaluating the final result.
• The export is soft while the preview was clean → Draft Preview was still on at export time. Turn it off and re-render.

Installation and panel

The effect isn't in the Effects list

The plugin must be located at C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\Plug-ins\7.0\MediaCore\Mxvd\NoiseEraze.aex. If the effect shows up twice, delete the old flat copy MediaCore\NoiseEraze.aex. Restart Premiere after making changes. For details, see installation.

The panel won't open

The panel is unsigned: you need PlayerDebugMode = 1 in the registry (HKCU\Software\Adobe\CSXS.<version>) and a Premiere restart. The panel opens from Window → Extensions → NoiseEraze.

Where are my settings after restarting Premiere

Settings live in the project (effect parameters) and in presets. Presets on the Project tab live inside the project; on the Global tab they are files on disk and can be moved between machines. The Analyze Motion cache is also saved with the project.

Opening the project on another machine

The effect and its parameters transfer normally (parameter names and ids haven't changed). Global presets are copied as files; the Analyze Motion cache is recomputed on the new machine on the first render.

Misc

What is “Clear — N frames” on the Analyze Motion button

The motion vector cache holds N frames. The button offers to clear the cache — for example, if the clip has changed a lot or the project needs to be “cleaned up” before delivery. After a reset, the cache is recomputed on the next analysis.

Do I need to press Analyze Motion before every render

No. Once per clip; after that, renders read the cache. Press it again only if the clip or the motion settings have changed.

Are Simple and Advanced different effects?

No, they are two views of the same settings. Switching doesn't change the picture: macros are matched to the current values, and when you switch to Advanced they are baked into regular parameters.

How is Strength different from Denoise

Denoise configures the algorithm itself; Strength is a global multiplier on top of the configured levels. Strength doesn't change the search geometry, only the strength.