color correction

[scotman]

i need a little help and obviously it wont be perfect. a buddy of mine was filming me speak in front of teens and forgto to white balance and the par lights overkilled the shot. i know it wont be perfect but is there a way to salvage this footage


2260

[skettalee]

I added a Hue & Saturation
Hue up 8
Saturation down 10

Added Levels and brought white up a tad
Then finally unsharp mask with the 20, 50, 0 settings.

This is what turned out: (a sudden but I think good difference)

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5049/samplehx0.jpg

[Shaw]

Create a yellow solid on top of the footage and set it's blending mode to 'color'. Adjust opacity to taste. :)

[rsbush]

Add a levels effect and adjust each channel to taste. If you're not familiar with this technique Andrew Kramer has a tutorial on his website, www.videocopilot.net, that includes a basic example - 01. Basic Sky Replacement.

[scotman]

i tried all the methods above. and the best result came with just simply adding a yellow solid with a overlay blending mode at 30% opacity.



2265

[milksac]

Shaw and rsbush are heading in the right direction.
If you looked at this image on a vectorscope the display would show the signal pushing to the right towards blue. The center of vectorscope is white, you need to drive that signal back towards the center of the scope. You do this by adding in the opposite color on the scope - yellow. You should have Color Finese, if not toss in the AE disk and install it (it's a seperate install). Color Finese will give you the most control in correcting your image.

[scotman]

ok, is there a good book that explains how to use vectroscope, i have CF but only understand small concepts of it. i see the vectroscope and just click out of that scene cause i dont get it at all. the the coor histogram. i thought by looking at those there would be a way to balance the color correctly i just dont understand how to cause i dont get what the diagrams mean.

[milksac]

Here's some books:
http://www.synthetic-ap.com/support/reading.html
Enjoy!

[scotman]

yeah, i just tried messing with the CF with the scope image on and adjusting the colors, but then there are gammas, pedestool gain, cmy, rgd, ycbcr, and i just cant seem to get it right, well not as good as adding the yellow works. will those books explain it to me well. thanks again for the help

[milksac]

I haven't read the books myself. I learned color correction by working with mentors. I've heard good things about the Steve Hullfish book. A little knowledge goes a long way. Pick up one of these books and start understanding what gamma, pedestal, midtones, etc. are about.

[ChrisLyon]

Milksac, did you really just suggest scotman a book? What is it we do here? Promote people to pay for help we can give them for free?

The problem is the lighting sucked. There is no escaping it except coordinating with the lighting guys. A production is a well oiled machine and if you ask nicely enough, just about anyone will bend to your will as a videographer- especially if you are doing it for the performer.

But for this situation, a decent color correction was achievable. It still looks low qual, but not as bad, by far.

Here is what I cranked out using only what comes packaged with AE:

http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/daveanchoredcc.jpg

And here is the AE project file:
http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/colorforscotman.aep

For a quick look at the settings used without downloading the AE file, look here:
http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/daveanchoredcc.gif

And if the look is a tad too dull for ya, just use an untouched layer (adjusting opacity) to give it a little flare:

http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/daveanchoredccwcolor.jpg

[scotman]

other than the fact that i look like a jerk in that pic, well a big goof ball, that looks great. i guess looking at the AE file i would have never know to use what you did to get the same effect. thats why i tried my Color Finnesse. Let me post my results

2266

[scotman]

how do u get the pictures bigger.

[ChrisLyon]

Another version. I like this version of the AE file better. Give this a shot too:

http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/colorforscotman2.aep

http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/anchored2cc.jpg

Of course, if you wanted to, you could add some of the color back in by just using an untouched layer and adjusting the opacity- like this:

http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/anchored2ccwcolor.jpg

And the original just for kicks:

http://www.perennialmedia.com/outgoing/anchored2nocc.jpg

[ChrisLyon]

how do u get the pictures bigger.

I don't use the attachment thing. I upload to my own server.

[milksac]

Milksac, did you really just suggest scotman a book?

Yes, I did. I'm not sure if you've ever read a book before but they are wonderful things. If you open one up you can learn all sorts of interesting things.

I think it's commendable that you posted an AE project to help out Scotman. But what happens when you're off on holiday and Scotman needs to fix a shot and you're not there to fix his problems for him? Scotman might not know where to begin because he doesn't know what pedestal is.

"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." I think that was written in a book somewhere.

[ChrisLyon]

I'd give him a rod and have him teach himself, personally. But in this case, he seemed in a bind and by giving him the AE file, he can see how the blending options and effects work together. It's no different than a book, just cheaper and faster.

I like books, but a forum where instantaneous support is the norm a book seemed a bit drab and out of place is all.

Books are great but they can't teach rationality- which is exactly what I used to make the color correction. I didn't use a tutorial, just my understanding of colors and effects.