Black level setting ?

arcorob wrote on 8/30/2004, 7:53 AM
Hello,

On recommendtion from this forum, purchased a book on color correction. At first, I felt the book was not the ABC of Vegas correction I desired (it is not) however, conceptually, it is awesome and appears to make sense. I do have one problem.

Where is the BLACK LEVEL video FX pluging ? I have HSL adjust for Luminance, I have gains and gammas, but there is no black level ..And its not BLACK RESTORE as that just crushes black (raises the level by which black will be seen to a higher number )

So BLACK LEVEL anyone ??? THANKS

Comments

arcorob wrote on 8/30/2004, 12:01 PM
No One ?
BillyBoy wrote on 8/30/2004, 12:18 PM
Setting proper back and/or white levels really means getting rid of any color cast. Blacks should be black and whites should be white. Use the Color Corrector filter and use the Color complement eyedropper (left eyedropper) under the low wheel for black point and the high wheel for white point. See my tutorials for more specifics. Vegas help goes into it too.
arcorob wrote on 8/30/2004, 12:32 PM
Billy, I have seen your tuturials (very good) but I am trying to set the white and the black using scopes. I can set the white 100IRE level (raising the luminance till the highest bit hitst the 100 line without crushing)
but nowhere in vegas do I find a corresponding Black Level that should be there to do the same on the bottom.

I am familiar with what you said ( I learned it from your tutorial, thank you !) but it does not take black down to black if you do in fact have BLACK (such as a black tux). I tried that and it takes it way right into BLUE territory leaving a color cast. Then I have to cheat and use CONTRAST to eliminate.

Anyway, thanks for answering...One quick question on your tutorials
for your white point black point , shoudl yo ufind the brighest white point and blackest dark point to set ?

And color curves are still not dymystified for me...It seems to be an art form...LOL

Thanks again and sorry for the long reply
rdolishny wrote on 8/30/2004, 6:09 PM
The "setup" you're seeking is not there.

Play with the Levels > Input Start slider.

- R
db wrote on 8/30/2004, 6:26 PM
if your clips are from a DV25 type camera then use the 16-235 scale on the waveform .. blacks will be 0 ( 7.5 if you use the 0-255 scale) ... the black level is already set to dv specs ( no set up) .. if you over exposed you can use GAIN , color curves to set it back to 0 ...IMO do not add set up to dv25 if you are going back to dv tape ....
BillyBoy wrote on 8/30/2004, 8:33 PM
If there is a way to set a specific value for white or black point by IDE number in Vegas I haven't found it. You can dance all around it, messing with levels, gain, gamma, curves, etc.. Like DB said above looking at the scopes you can "see" where thing are then fiddle a little.

As far a color curves the new tutorials on my Flash sight expand on that more and I tried to explain and illustrate it better. If you are set to 1280x1024 they should be readable. Click on the fourth button. Forget which on of the five has it, my brain is mush about now. Think they all add a little something. Just remeber still a work in progess. Lots of rought edges. Want to resolve the text size issue first.

I kind of like to find the darkest and brightest spots in the image. Not always the absolute best point, but frequest is, at least should get you close.
arcorob wrote on 8/31/2004, 5:56 AM
Again, thanks to Billy and to all

what I am trying to acheive is
1) A better understanding of correction
2) A simplified process (a by the numbers approach rather than as an art form)
3) Better wedding videos

I purchased the book Color Correction for DV by Steve Hullfish and James Fowler. At first, I thought 'Oh god, way too much theory, this is not for me". But as I read on, things started to click. My first attempt at trying the idea's read (versus my fumbling with the tools) came out pretty awesome.

The net result was a very vibrant cooler color wedding video, where purple gowns where actually purple and not grey/purple...LOL, skin tones good, etc.

But one of the items they mention in chapter 7 is setting th black and the white, in other words something MUST touch 0IRE and inmost cases 100IRE to get he full range. It is the starting point...

Anyway, AGAIN sorry for the long post just wanting to explain my goal and my infancy in color correction

Much thanks to all
To Billy for the fine tutorials and lessons
To any who try to make this easier for us all........