Lightening up a dark video

thief_ wrote on 11/18/2004, 11:08 AM

I know not to expect much in terms of quality, but what's the best way to lighten up a dark video file in Vegas?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 11/18/2004, 11:58 AM

Use the Color Curves effect. This will let you move the overall range of tones smoothly without washing out the highlights or losing the shadows.

Spot|DSE wrote on 11/18/2004, 12:00 PM

You'd be surprised at what you can expect and accomplish. Start with the Color Curves tools. DON'T use brightness/contrast.
The concept as explained at http://www.dmnforums.com/cgi-bin/viewarticle.cgi?id=28848 should help.

BillyBoy has some good tutes on the subject as well, he just recently moved everything to a new flash site so I don't know the link.

epirb wrote on 11/18/2004, 2:08 PM

using those tutorials and then Mike Crashes video noise reduction plug (http://mikecrash.wz.cz/)
I was amazed at what i did with some dark grainy footage some one gave me.
so good I shoot everything wihtout lights now! ; 0 )
Seriously, much better results than I expected, just take your time tweaking.

Grazie wrote on 11/18/2004, 2:15 PM

Gamma Gamma Gamma . .DON'T TOUCH THE brightness on anything . .do the GAMMA before any colour thingy .. . did I mention using gamma first? Oh, you'll find it in Sony Levels . .it works for me . . Learnt it from BB's site, oooh about 12 month back .. .

Grazie