I've done a LOT of this over the past five years, both on stills and video. You should definitely read BillyBoy's tutorials. Make sure you scan the headings of these tutorials before you read them, because the earlier tutorials were created for Vegas 3, and Vegas 4 has the Primary Color Corrector which is a far better tool to use than was available previously.

The result will never look as good as modern, unfaded film. However, you should be able to at least get whites to look white rather than pink, etc.

If in the end you are not satisfied with the result, you can reduce color saturation so the off-color look isn't as offensive. Another option is to simply use the Black and White fX and change the whole thing to B&W. This can sometimes be more pleasing to look at than lousy color.

However, most likely you will be able to correct the color so that it looks pretty darn good.

John,

I read some of your other posts on using VirtualDub (or other) filters on video. Do you use any of these types of "external" fitlers to improve the look of captured film? Do you have a process after you capture film?

I just receive my WorkPrinterXP and I'm on the front end of the learning curve so any help would be great.

-Jason

http://www.wideopenwest.com/%7Ewvg/tutorial-menu.htm
Billyboy has this one licked. Your one click away from yor answer.
Hope this helped. JW

What I've found useful when working with old faded or color shifted source files is pay extra attention to setting as accurate a white and black point as you can, and do it first in conjuction with setting levels.

I almost always make a quick run through the entire source file setting markers for what look like good canidates to set these points at those frames for reference to which ever ends up working best. Then I tweak the middle color wheel. By moving more towards the edge you'll gain saturation. Offset by dropping the saturation a bit if necessary. You'll be amazed how much color still lives in those old faded files. You just got to dig it out and Vegas excells at it.

Tip #1: Where human subjects are the main part of your video, its OK to cheat a little and don't be overly fussy trying to hit a netural gray for the set point for midtones. You frequently will make nice gains in overall improvement in skin tones by nudging the middle color wheel up and to the left about midway between Y1 and R and anywhere from just a slight shift to maybe a 1/4 or 1/5 the distance from dead center to the edge to get warmer flesh tones. Drag between Cy and B for cooler flesh tones. How far you go towards the end of course depends on the source file. Unless the source files is in really pretty bad shape you shouldn't have to go too far.

Tip #2 A minor nudge of the highlight wheel using the above steps also can improve the richness of skintones. Since raising the white point will many times make the image shift noticeablly more into stronger highlights the residual effect is to also lighten shadows. Becasue of this you should set the white point first, then the black point and lastly adjust the middle color wheel.

Tip #3 You can improve or even create the illusion of a sun tan by dropping the angle more toward Y1 for the middle wheel and/or use a bit of the sunset preset on the Gradient Map. While it will alter all the colors of course if you use just a little (between .300 and 1.000) seems to work good overall.

Reading BillyBoy's last post reminded me of one thing: You will probably need to apply different color correction for different parts of the film. This depends a lot on how the film was transfered to video. For instance, if the video camera used to "read" the film is auto white balanced, the colors may shift. If the white balance is fixed, you can still get color shifts going from underexposed to overexposed film (or vice versa).

"John,

---------------------------------------------------------------

I've written some pretty long posts on this subject which you can find by searching on my user name and either "Workprinter" or "Film". Here are links to some of those:

Workprinter Workflow

and

My Original Workprinter Posts

Yep, generally a good idea to apply color/level correction on a event by event basis, which is easy in Vegas, just split your source into events then drop the filter on the events. If one one event (scene) is way different than the one ahead and you don't want to make them all the same you can use key frames to slowly blend one into the other meaning slowly change the levels/colors over time so it isn't so stark.

Thanks Storm, I'm reading now.

Dr.X

Thanks for answering John.
Yes, StormMarc pointed out the tuts and I'm reading now. I'm going to try and avoid making it into a black and white even though it sounds quite appealing. It's a nstolgic thing. The video was actually narated for my company by Rod Serling. I think that's a keeper. I found another copy with better color but the sound kinda sucks. I think I'm going to end up copying the audio from the red film.

ok, I'm back to work. thanks again.

Dr.X

JIm,
I wish it really was just one click. :-P

thanks. I'm reading the tutorials now.

Dr.X

BillyBoy,

thanks for the tips. I've been doing that with poor results so i've resorted to playing with that S curve thing you mention in the tutorials. I seem to be having better luck with that. Maybe i'm just dense. ;-)

Dr.X

Hi again John.

It looks like the file faded at about the same rate throughout and I think if i adjust the color for the whole file, it should look ok. I haven't noticed any over or under exposure anywhere that stands out, but i'll be sure to give it another close look before i commit.

Thanks again.
Dr.X

You're not dense, just sometimes color curves works better, other times just messing with the color corrector does, sometimes a combination. If still not happy with the results also try the secondary color corrector, not the mask option, just its color wheel alone and the saturation, gain adjustments. Again, alone or in combination with the other filters. Want more? OK, for really tough corrections after all that and you're still not there try the Gradiant Map filter that's new in version 4 or you can try some of the older things I mentioned in the first few tutorials. I still sometimes like to add a second track (overlay) and push the opacity way down after adding black which should bring out more detail and its less harsh than contrast.

I'd say its been transferred from the one print so all the film was from the same batch and was pocessed the same therefore whatver has happened to it over time will be pretty consistant throughout. On that basis you should be able to get away with just one setting fo the color correction over the whole thing.

You may find that the first section was more affected than the rest as it was more exposed to the air but if it was stored in a sealed container even that may not have happened.

Its pretty remarkable what happens to fim over time, I'm now working with a lot of 8mm, the really old stuff seems to be at times in better shape than the more recent, probably the devloping was better done initially. Thing that makes trying to improve the look withour a huge amount of work is having short bits sliced together and each bit has faded differrently. I'm sure wonder could be done with, problem is the clients just don't want to pay for the time it takes.

At least in your case it's a labour of love so you should get some enjoyment out of it.

I'd say its been transferred from the one print so all the film was from the same batch and was pocessed the same therefore whatver has happened to it over time will be pretty consistant throughout. On that basis you should be able to get away with just one setting fo the color correction over the whole thing.

You would think this would be true, but as I said in my earlier post, the problem color correcting film transfers is not just the color variation in the film itself, but the color variations introduced by the video camera's non-linear color response to different exposure settings on the film; different lighting (tungsten, daylight issues) that you may now want to correct; and also major problems introduced by using the auto white balance when doing the film transfer. The white balance issue is a really difficult one, and is dealt with extensively on some of the 8mm forums. No one has a technique that works all the time (e.g., set white balance using the white leader and then lock it).

Bottom line: In my experience in transferring many hours of film using the workprinter, if you want good color balance, read BillyBoy's tutorial and learn to use the color corrector. For REALLY good color, expect to make different color corrections on different scenes.

OK, I think i have it as good as it's going to get. I'll revisit it eventually, but for now, it is what I am capable of with the short time i have with Vegas and suits the needs of the project. I still have all the originals and if i learn some more tricks, i'll go back and try again. For now, this copy of Vegas does not belong to me and i have to return it. I guess i better start saving up my allowance (my share of company budget) and I'll buy a copy of Vegas 4. I see what a powerful tool it is.

Thanks to all of you who helped me with this. I would be in big trouble with out you.

Dr.X