Preprocessing Options

Preprocessing stages clean and correct your source before the AI stages run. The order of operations matters — anelo applies them in a sequence designed to maximize downstream quality.

Denoise

Removes sensor noise, grain, and high-frequency artifacts. Two methods are available:

• hqdn3d: Fast, GPU-accelerated. Good for light-to-moderate noise. Default choice.
• nlmeans: Slower but preserves more fine detail. Best for noisy sources where texture matters.

Denoise runs first because sharpening and depth estimation both amplify noise. Removing noise before these stages prevents false structures in the depth map.

Deartifact

Repairs compression blocking, ringing, and mosquito noise. Most useful on heavily compressed sources (low-bitrate streaming, old DVDs, aggressive web compression). Enable only when the source has visible compression artifacts — on clean sources, deartifacting can soften the image unnecessarily.

Sharpen

Enhances edge definition and fine detail. Two methods:

• CAS (Contrast Adaptive Sharpening): Adapts sharpening intensity based on local contrast. Avoids over-sharpening already-sharp areas.
• Unsharp mask: Traditional sharpening. More aggressive, useful for very soft sources. Risk of halo artifacts at high strength.

Sharpen runs after denoise so it enhances real detail, not noise.

Color correction and LUT

Apply a .cube LUT file for color correction. This stage runs after spatial processing (denoise, sharpen) and before stereo stages, ensuring both eyes receive identical color treatment. Standard 3D LUT files in .cube format are supported.

Grain management

Film grain is an aesthetic choice, separate from noise. You can strip grain before processing (cleaner depth maps) and re-add matched grain after compositing (preserved film aesthetic). The grain profile can be matched to common film stocks or set to a custom intensity.