Adjust lighting levels

bjdavis wrote on 11/23/2008, 6:08 PM
Can any one please help me. I have Movie Studio Platinum 8. After shooting a Wedding reception where it was very dark, my footage is also very dark. Is there an easy way to adjust lighting levels ? Brightness and Contrast just seems to wipe out my video. I am so used to using Photo Shop with my photos. PLEASE HELP

Thank you

Comments

Ivan Lietaert wrote on 11/23/2008, 9:46 PM
Filming in low light is a pain. You should use your camera's 'night mode'. Or you must use 500 watt lighting, which nobody will like at a wedding... There isn't much a video editting program can do here. Anything you try will have side effects like washed out color, or too much grain. One speck of hope: often, footage looks better on tv than on a computer screen, so give it a try anyhow, perhaps with the best scenes only.
In video often the old saying applies: you can't make silk out of a pig's ear...

Greets,
Ivan
bjdavis wrote on 11/24/2008, 7:50 AM
Thank you Ivan, Not the answer I was hoping for..but..the answer I expected !
What watt lighting would you suggest for recording wedding receptions in low light ??

Thanks again
BJ
Ivan Lietaert wrote on 11/24/2008, 10:01 AM
I have no experience with filming weddings, so I'll leave that answer for others.
You should experiment with various settings of your camera. Some camera's, like the hv20/30 do really well in low light conditions, while other won't.
richard-amirault wrote on 11/24/2008, 3:30 PM
Well .. a lot (an awful lot) depends on *how* bad the footage is. And without seeing it .. we can only guess what might work.

Have you tried Sony Color Curves ?

RE: how big a light?

That depends on how far away you are shooting .. and how much ambient light there is. Up close a 3 to 5 watt light might work, but in general I would shoot for a 10 watt light as a good "basic" light.

I have a 3 watt light that is specific for my camcorder .. and it is powered *from* the camcorder, but a 10 watt light uses too much juice and they all have seperate battery packs.