# Video Effects Complete Reference

The DirectShow Processing Filters Pack provides 35+ real-time video effects that can be applied individually or chained together. This reference documents all available effects, their parameters, and usage.

• Text and Graphics - Text logos, graphic overlays
• Color Filters - Red, green, blue, greyscale filters
• Image Adjustment - Brightness, contrast, saturation
• Spatial Effects - Flip, mirror, rotate
• Artistic Effects - Marble, solarize, posterize, mosaic
• Noise and Quality - Denoising algorithms (CAST, adaptive, mosquito)
• Deinterlacing - Blend, triangle, CAVT methods
• Creative Effects - Blur, shake, spray, invert

Renders text overlay on video with extensive customization options.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_text_logo

Parameters (CVFTextLogoMain structure):

Text Alignment Options:

• al_left - Left-aligned
• al_center - Center-aligned
• al_right - Right-aligned

Border Modes:

• bm_none - No border
• bm_inner - Inner outline
• bm_outer - Outer outline
• bm_inner_and_outer - Both sides
• bm_embossed - 3D embossed effect
• bm_outline - Standard outline
• bm_filled_outline - Solid outline
• bm_halo - Glow effect

Example (C++):

CVFEffect effect;
effect.Type = ef_text_logo;
effect.Enabled = TRUE;
effect.TextLogo.x = 10;
effect.TextLogo.y = 10;
effect.TextLogo.text = SysAllocString(L"Live Stream");
effect.TextLogo.font_name = SysAllocString(L"Arial");
effect.TextLogo.font_size = 32;
effect.TextLogo.font_color = RGB(255, 255, 255);
effect.TextLogo.font_bold = TRUE;
effect.TextLogo.borderMode = bm_outline;
effect.TextLogo.outerBorderColor = RGB(0, 0, 0);
effect.TextLogo.outerBorderSize = 2;

pEffects->add_effect(effect);

Overlays an image (logo, watermark) on video.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_graphic_logo

Parameters (CVFGraphicLogoMain structure):

Stretch Modes:

• sm_none - Original size
• sm_stretch - Stretch to fit
• sm_letterbox - Fit with aspect ratio
• sm_crop - Crop to fit

Example (C#):

var effect = new CVFEffect
{
    Type = (int)CVFEffectType.ef_graphic_logo,
    Enabled = true,
    GraphicLogo = new CVFGraphicLogoMain
    {
        Filename = @"C:\Images\logo.png",
        x = 20,
        y = 20,
        StretchMode = (int)CVFStretchMode.sm_none,
        TranspLevel = 200,
        UseColorKey = false
    }
};

effectsInterface.add_effect(effect);

Applies blue color filter (enhances blue, reduces other colors).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_blue

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Filter intensity (0-100, default: 50)

Use Cases:

• Artistic blue tint
• Cold atmosphere
• Water/ocean scenes

Applies green color filter.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_green

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Filter intensity (0-100)

Use Cases:

• Night vision effect
• Forest/nature scenes
• Matrix-style effect

Applies red color filter.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_red

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Filter intensity (0-100)

Use Cases:

• Warm atmosphere
• Sunset effect
• Alert/danger scenes

Advanced blue filtering with different algorithms.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_filter_blue or ef_filter_blue_2

Difference: ef_filter_blue_2 uses alternative color math for different visual results.

Advanced green filtering (two variants).

Effect Types: CVFEffectType.ef_filter_green, ef_filter_green2

Advanced red filtering (two variants).

Effect Types: CVFEffectType.ef_filter_red, ef_filter_red2

Converts video to black and white.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_greyscale

Parameters: None (full greyscale conversion)

Use Cases:

• Classic film look
• Artistic effect
• Reduce color noise

Example (C++):

CVFEffect effect;
effect.Type = ef_greyscale;
effect.Enabled = TRUE;
pEffects->add_effect(effect);

Inverts all colors (negative image).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_invert

Parameters: None

Use Cases:

• Artistic effect
• X-ray appearance
• Special visual effects

Adjusts image contrast.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_contrast

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Contrast adjustment (-100 to +100)
  • Negative: Decrease contrast
  • Positive: Increase contrast
  • Default: 0 (no change)

Example (C#):

var effect = new CVFEffect
{
    Type = (int)CVFEffectType.ef_contrast,
    Enabled = true,
    pAmountI = 25  // Increase contrast by 25%
};

Adjusts overall brightness.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_lightness

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Brightness adjustment (-100 to +100)
  • Negative: Darken
  • Positive: Brighten
  • Default: 0

Darkens the image (opposite of lightness).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_darkness

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Darkness amount (0-100)

Adjusts color saturation.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_saturation

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Saturation adjustment (-100 to +100)
  • -100: Greyscale
  • 0: Original colors
  • +100: Hyper-saturated

Use Cases:

• Vivid colors for promotional content
• Desaturate for muted look
• Color grading

Flips video vertically (upside down).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_flip_down

Parameters: None

Use Cases:

• Correct upside-down camera
• Mirror effect with rotation
• Special effects

Flips video horizontally (mirror).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_flip_right

Parameters: None

Use Cases:

• Webcam mirror mode
• Correct mirrored camera
• Symmetry effects

Creates vertical mirror effect (top reflects to bottom).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_mirror_down

Creates horizontal mirror effect (left reflects to right).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_mirror_right

Applies Gaussian blur to the image.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_blur

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Blur amount (0-100)
• pSizeI - Blur kernel size (1-20)

Use Cases:

• Background blur (depth of field simulation)
• Soften image
• Privacy (blur faces, license plates)

Example (C++):

CVFEffect effect;
effect.Type = ef_blur;
effect.Enabled = TRUE;
effect.pAmountI = 50;  // 50% blur strength
effect.pSizeI = 10;    // 10-pixel blur radius
pEffects->add_effect(effect);

Creates marble/swirl texture effect.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_marble

Parameters:

• pAmountD - Effect intensity (0.0-1.0)
• pTurbulenceI - Turbulence amount (0-100)
• pScaleD - Scale factor (0.1-10.0)

Use Cases:

• Artistic background
• Transition effects
• Psychedelic visuals

Reduces number of colors (poster art effect).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_posterize

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Color levels (2-256)
  • Lower values: Fewer colors, more dramatic
  • Higher values: More colors, subtle effect

Use Cases:

• Pop art style
• Comic book effect
• Reduce color depth

Creates pixelated/mosaic effect.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_mosaic

Parameters:

• pSizeI - Mosaic block size (2-100 pixels)

Use Cases:

• Privacy (blur faces/identities)
• Retro pixel art style
• Censorship

Example (C#):

var effect = new CVFEffect
{
    Type = (int)CVFEffectType.ef_mosaic,
    Enabled = true,
    pSizeI = 15  // 15x15 pixel blocks
};

Creates solarization effect (partial color inversion).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_solorize (note spelling)

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Solarization threshold (0-255)

Use Cases:

• Artistic photography effect
• Retro look
• Creative transitions

Creates paint spray/splatter effect.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_spray

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Spray intensity (0-100)

Simulates camera shake effect vertically.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_shake_down

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Shake intensity (0-100)

Use Cases:

• Earthquake effect
• Impact vibration
• Handheld camera simulation

CAST (Combined Adaptive Spatial-Temporal) denoising algorithm.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_denoise_cast

Parameters (CVFDenoiseCAST structure):

Use Cases:

• Low-light video cleanup
• Webcam noise reduction
• Compression artifact removal

Example (C++):

CVFEffect effect;
effect.Type = ef_denoise_cast;
effect.Enabled = TRUE;

// Moderate noise reduction
effect.DenoiseCAST.TemporalDifferenceThreshold = 20;
effect.DenoiseCAST.StrongEdgeThreshold = 10;
effect.DenoiseCAST.GaussianThresholdY = 15;
effect.DenoiseCAST.GaussianThresholdUV = 8;

pEffects->add_effect(effect);

Adaptive noise reduction that adjusts to image content.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_denoise_adaptive

Parameters:

• pDenoiseAdaptiveThreshold - Noise threshold (0-100)
• pDenoiseAdaptiveBlurMode - Blur method (0-2)

Use Cases:

• General noise reduction
• Video cleanup
• Quality enhancement

Reduces mosquito noise (compression artifacts around edges).

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_denoise_mosquito

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Reduction strength (0-100)

Use Cases:

• Clean up heavily compressed video
• Remove MPEG/H.264 artifacts
• Post-processing for streaming

Adds color noise (grain) to image.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_color_noise

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Noise amount (0-100)

Use Cases:

• Film grain effect
• Retro/vintage look
• Artistic texture

Adds monochrome (black & white) noise.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_mono_noise

Parameters:

• pAmountI - Noise amount (0-100)

Blends interlaced fields together.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_deint_blend

Parameters (CVFDeintBlend structure):

Use Cases:

• Deinterlace analog video
• Remove comb artifacts
• Convert interlaced to progressive

Triangle interpolation deinterlacing.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_deint_triangle

Parameters:

• pDeintTriangleWeight - Interpolation weight (0-100)

Quality: Better edge preservation than blend

CAVT (Content Adaptive Vertical Temporal) deinterlacing.

Effect Type: CVFEffectType.ef_deint_cavt

Parameters:

• pDeintCAVTThreshold - Motion threshold (0-100)

Quality: Best quality, most CPU intensive

Use Cases:

• High-quality deinterlacing
• Broadcast video conversion
• Archival processing

Multiple effects can be applied simultaneously. Effects are processed in the order they were added.

Example: Professional Stream Enhancement:

// 1. Denoise
CVFEffect denoise;
denoise.Type = ef_denoise_adaptive;
denoise.Enabled = TRUE;
denoise.pDenoiseAdaptiveThreshold = 15;
pEffects->add_effect(denoise);

// 2. Color correction
CVFEffect saturation;
saturation.Type = ef_saturation;
saturation.Enabled = TRUE;
saturation.pAmountI = 15;  // Slight saturation boost
pEffects->add_effect(saturation);

// 3. Add branding
CVFEffect logo;
logo.Type = ef_graphic_logo;
logo.Enabled = TRUE;
logo.GraphicLogo.Filename = SysAllocString(L"logo.png");
logo.GraphicLogo.x = 20;
logo.GraphicLogo.y = 20;
pEffects->add_effect(logo);

// 4. Add timestamp
CVFEffect timestamp;
timestamp.Type = ef_text_logo;
timestamp.Enabled = TRUE;
timestamp.TextLogo.DateMode = TRUE;
timestamp.TextLogo.DateMask = SysAllocString(L"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S");
timestamp.TextLogo.x = 20;
timestamp.TextLogo.y = 1050;  // Bottom left
pEffects->add_effect(timestamp);

Low Impact (< 5% CPU):

• Color filters
• Greyscale
• Invert
• Flip/Mirror

Medium Impact (5-15% CPU):

• Text/graphic overlays
• Contrast/brightness
• Posterize
• Simple deinterlacing

High Impact (15-40% CPU):

• Blur (large radius)
• Denoise (CAST, adaptive)
• Mosaic (small blocks)
• Marble/artistic effects

1. Limit simultaneous effects - Each effect adds processing time
2. Use appropriate parameters - Larger blur radius = more CPU
3. Disable unused effects - Set Enabled = FALSE instead of removing
4. Process at lower resolution - Downscale, apply effects, upscale
5. Use GPU rendering when possible - Check for GPU-accelerated effects

1. ef_denoise_adaptive (threshold: 15)
2. ef_contrast (amount: +10)
3. ef_saturation (amount: +15)
4. ef_flip_right (mirror mode)

1. ef_greyscale
2. ef_contrast (amount: +20)
3. ef_mono_noise (amount: 15)

1. ef_deint_cavt
2. ef_denoise_mosquito (amount: 20)
3. ef_saturation (amount: +5)

1. ef_mosaic (size: 20) on specific region
2. ef_blur (amount: 80) as alternative

• Processing Filters Pack Overview
• Video Effects Interface Reference
• Chroma Key Interface
• Video Mixer Interface
• Code Examples