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Have you ever captured a video only to find it unexpectedly grainy, noisy, or blurry? Grainy video is a common issue that many encounter, especially when shooting in low-light environments or with entry-level equipment. Understanding why your video looks grainy and how to effectively fix it can dramatically improve your footage's clarity and overall quality.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore what video grain is, the main causes behind grainy footage, and five proven methods of how to fix grainy video—ranging from AI-powered tools to practical adjustments you can make yourself. Whether you're a beginner, content creator, or video editor, these step-by-step solutions will help you clean up grainy video and achieve professional-quality results with ease.
Let's dive in and discover how to make a grainy video clear and visually appealing.
Video grain refers to the small, visible texture or “noise” that appears on footage, often resembling tiny dots or speckles scattered throughout the image. This effect originated in analog film as natural film grain, created by light-sensitive particles on the film. In the digital age, grain is usually caused by electronic noise or image artifacts from camera sensors and processing.
Unlike the artistic texture of film grain, digital video grain—also called noise—is generally unwanted, as it degrades image quality and clarity. It is often the result of low light conditions, high ISO settings, camera sensor limitations, or compression artifacts.
While experimenting with methods of how to clean up grainy video, it's important to recognize the various types of noise and their sources. Different types of grain result from distinct technical factors during shooting or processing. Understanding these helps to choose the best correction method.
By identifying the grain type, you can better target your denoising approach and tools to fix grainy video.
Before getting into the solution and steps for cleaning up grainy video, you must be aware of the exact reasons for the grain or noise. Knowing the exact reason for the video grain or noise will help you target the specific solution for it.
What causes grainy video
If you're wondering, Why is my video grainy? or Why does my video look grainy?—now you know the main causes! Let's explore how to fix it.
If you want to know the smartest and easiest solution on how to clean up grainy video, here you will get multiple options to do that with step a step guide. From using high-end AI-powered digital noise reduction tools to multiple plugins, you can try various methods to fix grainy video.
UniFab Denoise AI leverages advanced artificial intelligence to automatically detect and fix grainy video issues by removing digital noise, while preserving important details such as textures and colors. This grainy video fix method is ideal for users seeking a powerful yet easy-to-use solution to clean up grainy video with minimal manual effort. Additionally, UniFab supports enhancing video resolution up to 4K, allowing you to both reduce grain and upscale your footage for clearer, high-quality results.
Best for: All levels, especially when you want automation and the best possible result.
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On your Windows/ Mac PC install & launch the UniFab program, go to "All Features", then choose “Denoiser” Module from "Video AI". Click the “Add” option to import the grainy video you want to denoise.
Here, you can customize and edit the video using various parameters, such as resolution, quality, codec, format, etc.
Click “Start” to clean up digital noise from your selected video.
Best for: Experienced video editors and content creators who want precise control over noise reduction using professional tools.
Using video noise reduction plugins is a popular way to fix grainy video, especially for those using professional video editing software. These plugins help clean up grainy footage by targeting and reducing various types of digital noise, including grain, pixels, and compression artifacts.
Common plugins like Magic Bullet Denoiser, Neat Video, Red Giant, Noiseware, and Nik Define offer both free and paid options, allowing you to choose one that fits your editing workflow.
Best for: Viewers seeking a quick, no-effort visual improvement during video playback without permanent changes.
One simple trick to make your video look less grainy is by reducing the playback window size during viewing. When the video is displayed smaller, grain and noise become less noticeable, improving the perceived clarity. However, this method does not actually fix grain from the video file—it only minimizes its visibility on screen. Use this as a quick fix during streaming or previewing grainy footage.
Best for: Users facing grainy playback caused by software incompatibility rather than actual video noise.
Sometimes, using incompatible video players can cause grainy video while streaming. Some video players have been encoded with such an algorithm that can't render certain types of videos that you might be streaming. As a result, you end up streaming video with unwanted grain and noise. In that case, all you need to do is change your video player instead of trying denoising, as there is no noise at all in the video.
Best for: Users experiencing grainy or laggy video playback due to limited system performance on high-resolution videos.
To play any high-resolution video, your computer needs a significant amount of resources. So, if you are playing a high-end video in a system with limited Harward capacity, you will end up with grainy video during streaming. So, you should increase your system’s hardware strength to stream any high-resolution video without grain or noise.
Key Takeaways
Preventing grainy video starts at the time of shooting. By following these simple yet effective tips, you can minimize video noise and capture clearer footage from the start:
Following these best practices will help you shoot videos that are naturally less grainy and easier to fix if needed.
If you are struggling with unwanted grains or noise in your video and looking for the best option of how to fix grainy video, you can try any of the above-mentioned methods to make video clearer.
However, if you don't want to get into any complex steps or technicalities, UniFab Denoise AI would be the best option for automatic noise reduction. Using this AI-based tool, you can eliminate digital grain from any video within a second, and your video will be crystal clear for your high-quality, seamless streaming.
A great free app to fix grainy video is UniFab Video Denoise AI, which uses advanced AI to remove noise and enhance video clarity. It offers a 30-day free trial with no watermark, making it the perfect solution for cleaning up grainy footage effortlessly.
Yes, there are free online tools available to remove grain from videos. For a detailed review of the best options, check out our article Remove Grain From Video. It covers free online tools and provides alternative that can help you easily reduce grain and improve your video quality.
To make a pixelated video clear, you can use AI video enhancers like UniFab Video Enhancer AI or Topaz Video Enhance AI to upscale and restore lost details. Adjusting sharpness, reducing noise, and using high-quality playback settings can also help improve clarity. For a detailed guide, check out this article: How to Depixelate a Video.