The software was designed for Video Cameras
As for eliminating, no, it can still see all the same stuff as you can, but thermally spectral. It sees all the leaves, branches, etc.
If I have time, I've got some demo video from one of the dual head cameras around somewhere (one thermal, one visible, looking at the same scene). I'll try to pull some "same" frames for you.
To be honest, real thermal cameras actually tend to give MORE information then the visible spectrum cameras. So, they tend to be "more" trippy. You have to be smarter with how you do the analytic processing. When you compare visible to thermal, you see the same blades of grass, you see the same everything as you would in visible. You just have to map the temperature gradients to visible colors, or greyscale. Funny thing, the video I'm going to try to locate, I had the pan/tilt pointing at a bush. The visible saw all the leaves. The thermal saw all the leaves as well as the squirrel that was in there, and 5 min afterward, STILL saw the imprint from the squirrel (his thermal shadow). Pretty neat. I think our camera could "see" 0.01th of a degree (rounding the number as the actual number is proprietary). Then talk about at night. You would only need the camera. It sees EVERYTHING. Even at night, the radiant heat from the grass and ground make very pretty pictures. No IR "lights" need (remember, MOST cameras that say IR is not really IR, it's near IR, which is why you need "IR" leds and IR "cut" filters...true IR is one of 3 EM bands. The one I was mostly working with was 5-12um wavelengths (long range). The 3 types are Long Wave (needs a thermally stable head, can be made from Vanadium Oxide, or Amorphous Silicon - has a LONG range for viewing with the least amount of "work" on the viewing side), Mid-Wave (requires a cooled sensor, can see through glass), and Short Wave (requires a cryo-cooled sensor, typically very large due to cooling). The lenses are made from rock that visible light can NOT pass through. The type of rock varies based on WHAT you are looking for. Pretty neat stuff.
I also had the one setup with the satellite modem. Was doing some testing, since I had the camera outside but pointed at the woods, I didn't realize the camera was calling home base to report it's findings...yeah, behind the woods I was looking at was a truck station, so every 5-10 minutes I was hitting the modem ($12/min as space is apparently an "international" call). My boss was not happy, but that was not my choice for the phone plan. Visibly, I did not see ANYTHING. The camera was looking through the trees.
No, they are not cheap. The one that could see 22KM away was ~$104K.
--Dan
Interesting note:
These 3 types of thermal is actually why your car gets hot in summer. The Long wave solar energy is bounced OFF your car, BUT some of the mid, and all the short wave thermal passes through the glass and is absorbed by your seats/etc. Once that happens, it then re-radiates OUT as Long wave, which can NOT pass through the glass...thus trapping it inside.