Basic Guide: Building the Processing

This page is about the interface: slots, sliders and the order of work. For choosing an algorithm — a separate section, for motion — "Motion Compensation".

Three slots

The effect processes a clip through three slots in a row: Algorithm 1, then Algorithm 2, then Algorithm 3. Each slot is an independent filter with its own settings; slots are applied sequentially, top to bottom.

Why three: noise comes in different flavors, and one algorithm does not solve everything. Working combinations:

HQDN3D → BM3D — a fast pass removes the bulk of the noise, BM3D finishes with quality.
HQDN3D → ATAdenoise — spatial cleanup plus temporal averaging on static shots.
FFTdnoiz → NLMeans — a balance of speed and textures.

Start with one slot: two or three weak filters often give a better result than one strong one.

The sliders everyone sees

Regardless of the algorithm, the effect has four understandable levels. In Simple mode they live in Effect Controls (Luma, Chroma, Balance, Strength 1); in the Simple panel — the same three sliders Luma, Chroma, Balance.

Denoise / Luma — how much denoising to apply to luma. The main slider. To the right — stronger cleanup and stronger blur; to the left — a more natural picture and more noise.

Chroma — the same for color: colored speckles, rainbow banding in the shadows. The slider does not appear for every algorithm — where color noise is removed by the same pass, it is hidden rather than misleading you.

Balance — the trade-off between the two ways of cleaning. To the left: the filter works "within the frame" — motion is safe, but static shots are noisier. To the right: the filter relies more on neighboring frames — static shots are cleaner, but ghosting appears on motion. For HQDN3D this is an even split between spatial and temporal cleanup; for the other algorithms Balance changes the search sizes (window, block) — further left is faster, further right is higher quality.

Strength — the overall multiplier of "how strong", from 0 to 100%. It does not change the algorithm's settings, only weakens or strengthens them. Handy when the algorithm is right but you want it slightly softer or slightly harder.

Motion Comp — motion compensation, one row instead of a whole group (its internals are in Advanced). The list appears only when the slot holds an algorithm that actually looks at neighboring frames: HQDN3D, ATAdenoise or BM4D. Off turns compensation off, and the other steps — from Fast to Max Detail — turn it on at the corresponding precision. Spatial algorithms have no such row: compensation does nothing for them. More on that — Motion Compensation.

What happens to the sliders when switching Simple ↔ Advanced

Simple and Advanced are two representations of the same settings. When switching to Simple, the plugin picks macro values as close as possible to the current picture, so it does not jump at the moment of the switch. When going to Advanced, the macros are "baked" into regular algorithm parameters — the ones you would have entered by hand. Switching back and forth does not spoil the picture and does not lose your manual settings.

Strength only scales the "levels" (thresholds, sigmas, strengths) — it never touches the search geometry (block sizes, windows).

Order of work

Assess the noise. Strong or weak? Luma or color? A static scene or motion? The answers determine the algorithm — decision tree.
Choose an algorithm and mode. For the first pass — HQDN3D, leave motion Precision alone.
Move Denoise. Until the noise disappears, then one step back.
Turn on motion. If the shot has motion and you are using a temporal algorithm — Motion Compensation → Enable and Analyze Motion.
Check motion and static shots separately. Ghosting on motion — Balance further left or Temporal Gate; smearing on static shots — Denoise further left.
Save a preset. A setup dialed in once is reused on similar clips.

Strength N and the three slots

In Advanced, each slot has its own Strength N — one per slot. Strength 1 is also visible in Simple: in that mode it controls the only slot. Strength 2 and 3 are hidden in Simple on purpose: they are the levels of slots that Simple does not show.

If the result is not right

Quick diagnostics are in the FAQ. In short: ghosting on motion → motion and Balance; smearing → Denoise and search sizes; eaten detail → the algorithm (NLMeans / BM3D) and Balance; FPS drop → Draft Preview.