Film gamma in NewBlue FX Film Look

Sebaz wrote on 6/30/2010, 9:05 AM

I downloaded the demo for NewBlueFX's Film Effects and although the presets are somewhat extreme, I really like the knob that changes the film gamma. Since I'm somewhat short on money right now, I would like to find a way to emulate that look with either the Vegas' bundled filters or any free filters. Does anybody know what exactly that particular part of the filter does to the image? Is there any specific way to accomplish that same look with a group of filters, say levels and some other filters combined? It occurs to me that it's a special YUV curve, but Vegas doesn't come with a YUV curve filter like some other NLEs. Does anybody know of a free YUV curve filter for Vegas?

Comments

Sebaz wrote on 6/30/2010, 3:19 PM

After I posted this I noticed that Vegas has a curves filter, although it's RGB, unlike the one in Edius, which is YUV. Of the presets, the high contrast one gives the most cinematic like picture, but also kills details in dark areas. I can move it a little bit to make that less extreme, but I was wondering if there is a preset somebody made to achieve the best cinematic look with curves. I would like to learn more about curves in Vegas, does anybody know of a good tutorial or read?

farss wrote on 6/30/2010, 3:41 PM

Sorry I don't have any presets nor do I know of any tutorials that cover using curves for your purpose.
My best suggestion is to simply play around with them. Try starting with Reset (straight line from 0,0 to 255,255) and add a node near the bottom and another near the top them adjust the handles to get a "S" shaped curve.
Watch video and waveform monitors while you move the nodes and adjust the shape of the curve, doing that yourself should teach you all you need to know.
One basic tip, you add and adjust the nodes the same as you do with the nodes in a Bezier mask.

Bob.

Serena wrote on 6/30/2010, 7:00 PM

Actually you don't need to add nodes to generate an S-curve. When Sony Curves are opened the tangent arms to the top and bottom nodes are visible, so you just grab each of those to rotate and stretch the shape of the curve. If you add Sony Levels (which you may require to keep within 16-235) you get a gamma control. And of course there is Sony Colour Corrector which provides wide control, including gamma. You don't necessarily want all of these to get the effect you're after, and note that the final result is influenced by the order in which the FX are applied.

EDIT: When you apply an S-curve to a clip you will tend to compress blacks as well as increasing overall contrast. This is where you may want to compensate by lifting black levels (using levels) if you are using a 16-235 standard. Just play around, as Bob advised.

Andy_L wrote on 6/30/2010, 8:26 PM

Vegas' implementation of the curves tool is definitely quirky because of the unusual way Vegas handles levels. Creating the "S" shape, for example, shouldn't clip highlights or shadows, but it does, because it pushes values past the video levels clipping points. You can edit in full range to stop this, or try creating nodes on the curves at the video-level clip points, or perhaps use a levels fx to push things back into legal.

Opampman wrote on 6/30/2010, 8:46 PM

I saw a great suggestion for creating film looks on another forum a while back. I haven't had a chance to try it but the results posted looked really good.

Take your original footage, copy it and place on a track above the original. On the bottom track (the original) use a slight amout of sharpening that is just barely noticeable. On the duplicate track above the original, use a small amount of gaussian blur to soften it. Them, reduce the level of the blurred top track to about 10-15%. As I said, haven't had time to try but the posted results were very impressive.

Cliff Etzel wrote on 6/30/2010, 9:15 PM

Kevin R wrote on 7/1/2010, 12:06 AM

>Or this...: Movie Looks HD. Completely free*

That's a 32-bit application. Won't work in 64-bit Vegas.

ritsmer wrote on 7/1/2010, 12:14 AM

Right - and so it is with many other things too.
Thats why most have both the 32 bit and the 64 bit versions installed.
Its free :- )

You can just apply the 32 bit FX'es etc to single clips in the 32 bit version and then render to your delivery format. If it is a format that Vegas can smartrender then you lose nothing as to definition when you put it all together in the 64 bit version.

@Kevin: I know that you know this - my comment was just for others...

megabit wrote on 7/1/2010, 2:20 AM

"[i]You can just apply the 32 bit FX'es etc to single clips in the 32 bit version and then render to your delivery format. If it is a format that Vegas can smartrender then you lose nothing as to definition when you put it all together in the 64 bit version[/]"

Sorry mate, but after applying FX, NO format can smart-render any more :)

Sebaz wrote on 7/1/2010, 9:08 AM

>Or this...: Movie Looks HD. Completely free*

I still would want to try it if it's free, but where is it? I googled it and it seems to be a paid Magic Bullet plugin, not free.

rs170a wrote on 7/1/2010, 9:37 AM

Movie Looks HD came free with Vegas Pro 7.
Boris Graffiti LTD was also a part of this free download offer.

Mike