Preliminary
Steps
Prior
to applying filters you should divide your source file
into events that have similar lighting levels and hue
characteristics. You can then effectively use Video
FX filters which can dramatically alter the appearance
of your video. The online help system provides step
by step instructions on how to divide your source file
into Events. As you work through your source file it
is strongly advised that you make frequent saves of
the Vegas .veg file so if you suffer a system crash
you won't lose more than a small portion of the work
you've already done. Every ten minutes or so depending
on your comfort level and how many changes you've made,
click File, select 'Save As' and save
a copy of the veg file. Instead of overwriting the same
file,over and over, your first save could simply be
called A.veg, followed by B.veg. And so on. Making repetitive
copies also allows you to play 'what-if' and return
your project to an earlier state easily without redoing
your work. There is no need to repeatedly save your
source files. In fact the source file should remain
unchanged by you throughout the entire editing process.
All editing is completely nondestructive to your source
file with the .veg file containing all the information
necessary for Vegas to apply the changes you've
made once you're ready to render.
If
the finished video is to be played off a television, it
is important that you use an external monitor during the
color and level correction phase of your editing so you
will make adjustments in 'TV colors and levels' as opposed
to computer colors and levels which are very different.
Details for connecting an external monitor and viewing
the preview window from it are contained in Vegas' online
help with more details in the full manual. It is also
important that any external monitor you use to make adjustments
plus any television you view your finished work on is
properly calibrated. You should be aware that many people
out of habit crank up brightness and contrast as well
as focus or fine tuning on their TV sets which adversely
effects overall picture quality. Using an external TV
with video in capability should not be confused with using
a second monitor to drag portions of your desktop to a
second computer monitor. The following tips address some
of the common problems that can be corrected by applying
various Video FX filters either alone or in combination.
Image
Too Dark, Lack of Detail
Image # 1 illustrates a common problem; a portion of
your video is too dark which results in much of the detail
being lost along with it having an orangish skin tone.
In image #1 the subject in the foreground is of fair quality,
however the skin tone and hair needs correction. Because
the image is too dark his hair color is muddy and the
shading is obscured. The background in nearly black blocking
out the tree behind him on the left and the tractor wheel
to the right.
As
mentioned above, you should begin by breaking your source
file into events that have similar problems. Once you
work through your source file breaking it into events
you're ready to begin applying filters.
For
a video that is too dark your first step should be to
correct the overall brightness (levels) of the image which
frequently will reveal details you may not even be aware
are hidden. By applying filter correction ahead of other
editing tasks you may end up saving scenes you would have
otherwise cast off as unacceptable due to poor video quality.
A
good method to adjust overall brightness levels is to
use the Levels Filters, beginning with Gamma.
I changed the default from 1.000 to 1.200 with the results
shown in image #2. If levels using gamma alone aren't
satisfactory you can make further adjustments using the
four other level sliders.
Image #2 after applying initial Levels adjustment.
One simple adjustment already has made a large difference
in what detail is visible. The tree trunk to the left
and behind the boy is starting to be revealed, along with
the wheel of the tractor. Both the skin tone and hair
colors are better, but still not correct and will be adjusted
in a later step.
What
we want to do next is bring out still more detail and
richness that's likely still hidden in the image. Frequently
the best way is to use Color Curves which will
allow you to adjust the three regions of the image (shadows,
midtones and highlights) separately. If you try to adjust
using Contrast and Brightness alone, all the pixels in
the image get the same amount of adjustment which means
more pixels end up getting adjusted than should be. Such
a brute force method frequently results in a worse rather
than better image. Most would agree the most important
part of any image is normally contained within the midtone
range. By using curves, you won't sacrifice the all important
midtones. Using brightness alone tends to push too much
of the midtones into the highlight range with the result
the entire image being too bright. Using contrast alone
tends to push midtones into the shadows resulting in an
overly dark and harsher looking image. Cranking up brightness
and contrast sadly can result in a loss of detail, exactly
the opposite of what you're trying to accomplish. In fact
you rarely need to use the brightness/contrast filter
at all since much better results can be obtained using
other filters, which is what this tutorial is all about.
While you can get good results using the presets that
come with most of the filters, betters results frequently
can be obtained by applying custom adjustments. The way
to begin is to drag the filter you're using to the event
on the timeline you're adjusting and drop it. Then tweak
the filter settings in the filter control box. If you
want to apply the adjustment to the entire video, drag
and drop the filter on the preview window.
