Help needed with curves (BB?)

farss wrote on 8/27/2003, 6:43 AM
I maybe trying the impossible here. I've got footage shot on stage with way too much light on the MCs rather bald head. Background is either black or very deep blue. Probably should have switched on spotlight on cameras but too late now.

Anyways I've tried using the color curves and can certainly get things to look a bit better but it seems to me that the reflections off the shiny 'chrome dome' are impossible to pull back, looking at the histogram there's always a bit stuck at 100%, I've tried using brightness and contrast but all I can achieve is making the shiny patch grey. With the color curves if I try pushing it to far the image just starts to fall apart (ie looks posterised).

I guess I could mask it but that's a serious amount of work, I'm talking maybe 20 minutes of video and he moves around a lot.

Just to add to the grief the audio was recorded with a feed from the desk, I suspect the audio man gave them a feed from the foldback buss, and guess what wasn't on that, the lecturne mikes. So all I got was what the band's mikes picked up back from the speakers, about 20 dB down to boot and fukk of echoe and crap.

Comments

mark2929 wrote on 8/27/2003, 8:25 AM

A long shot but how about
copying the track use a cookie cutter to roughly cut shape of head then..... chroma keying out the bald bright part.
Then a solid color sampled with a good bit of said head below.
Im probably talking out of my hat (an old english saying)but it could work hope it does.
mark2929 wrote on 8/27/2003, 8:31 AM
The cookie cutter only needs to be roughly the size as its only to stop chroma key spill on similar light levels in rest of picture
BillyBoy wrote on 8/27/2003, 9:58 AM
Can be hard to fix, sometimes you can't totally. Since it sounds like the problem is too much light hitting that guy's top of the head, you may have some luck playing around with the lighting this way:

Go to the bump map filter and try one of the spotlight effects. Its kind of like a semi-transparent mask placing light on only some areas and darkering others more like a real spotlight, but should be much easier to track than a mask in the traditional sense as the guy moves around the stage using key frames.

Like many filters in Vegas, this one is pretty sensitive to slight movement, so placement is the key. With a little luck you may be able to get a better effect. Once you get close, then try color curves to improve it more. To start do the bump filter first with the color curves turned off.
craftech wrote on 8/27/2003, 2:37 PM
Try using the Color Correction tool using the low and high eyedroppers to take a sample of the dark areas of the stage for low and the top of his head for high. Then mess with the mids until you get it close. May involve a couple of trials and errors.

Next time, use zebra stripes if your camera has them and set the white balance for indoor.

John
BillyBoy wrote on 8/27/2003, 3:37 PM
Or yell MAKEUP.... and maybe someone will run out with a giant powder-puff to dull down the guy's shiny head. ;-)
mark2929 wrote on 8/27/2003, 3:46 PM
Well I reckon the Camerman was unaware to be able to shout makeup so still the zebra pattern angle or perhaps a different angle. thanks billyboy made me laugh
Jsnkc wrote on 8/27/2003, 4:10 PM
I used to get that a lot when shooting with spotlights and sweaty foreheads of actors and musicians. I know it's too late now, but in the future use the spotlight setting on your camera and also pick up a UV filter for your camera, I was amazed at the diffrence it made in my videos. No more bright glowing heads and faces.
farss wrote on 8/27/2003, 4:29 PM
Thanks guys,
a few good ideas I'll try now that I'm awake again. The problem is sort of made worse because I was manning one of the cameras which had zebra but it didn't look too bad but I was pretty occupied trying to keep focus. The three cameras we had were then fed composite to a mixer and then recorded onto SVHS. Why did they do that, we'll it was also supposed to feed a projector on stage but at the last minute the producer decided he didn't like the look of and had that pulled out.

Yeah you used to be able to get this stuff called Dull It, came in a spray can, I always wanted to spray it on someones shiny dome.
farss wrote on 8/27/2003, 6:00 PM
BillyBoy,
thanks for the tip on bump map, who would have thought to use that.
It can certainly improve things a lot with very careful use.
I'll see if the client want's to pay for the time its going to take to get it as good as possible.

I've tried using brightness and contrast, being able to adjust contrast mid point is very useful. What I really need is a precision monitor, I've got access to a very good Sony one that'll even take a SDI feed but the bloody thing is so big trying to fit it into my limited space is going to be a drama