Looking to soften Skin tones in Vegas.

Jerry K wrote on 4/13/2009, 8:21 PM
I'm editing a wedding that was shot with two JVC GY-DV5000U camcorders.

The Bride & Groom are in there late 30's and have rough skin. One of the camcorders must of had its detail/sharpness control turned up to high.

Every time I see a close-up of the Bride or Groom they look very over
enhanced. This only happens with one camcorder. The other one
looks normal, other wise the two cameras match perfect.

I'm editing with Sony Vegas Pro 8.0c and have tried most of the filters but could not come across one that was suitable to bring down the detail with out making the picture look out of focus.

I know some higher end cameras have skin detail softening and leave the rest of the picture alone.

Could some one help me and recommended a way to soften skin tones in Vegas with out blurring the picture. Is anyone aware of any tricks in Vegas or a after market plug in that might help.

Thanks, JK

Comments

MarkHolmes wrote on 4/13/2009, 8:44 PM
Check out this tutorial:

http://vegas.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=175789

I use these filters all the time and they work wonders.
TorS wrote on 4/13/2009, 10:12 PM
I can't help with the filters as I haven't been there. But THIS tip could help anyway: Mask out the part you want to change.
Copy the video event(s) to a track above. Solo that track and mask out the part of the shot you want to correct. It can be done with Track motion or Cookie cutter. Apply filter - it will only affect what's visible of the upper track. Apply a little feather if needed. You may need to use keyframes to move the mask around. It's a bit of work, but when you're out there without a paddle, that what you get.

Tor
Coursedesign wrote on 4/13/2009, 10:34 PM
If you know somebody with AE, PP, FCP, C*, Boris RED, etc., this inexpensive tool could do the job automagically.
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 4/13/2009, 11:04 PM
Hey mark - that link was really very useful for me - especially the 2nd page, it along with a large soft vingette, and I basically don't need to use my Magic Bullet standard interview look anymore :).

(at least as long as I've got multi-threaded preview rendering turned on)

Dave
farss wrote on 4/14/2009, 12:44 AM
Haven't tried this myself but it could work and it's free.

Copy track, add Chromakey FX. Sample skin, adjust watching mask to select just the skintones. Invert mask (you want to select these colors, inverse of what you do in a usual CK).

Now add a blur or whatever after the CK, adjust CK feathering as well. You might also like to add a garbage mask so you don't soften anything outside the face.

I got this idea from playing with the Skin Detail setting in the EX1. Maybe it has something smarter than what I'm trying to emulate, don't know.

Bob.
craftech wrote on 4/14/2009, 3:20 AM
f you know somebody with AE, PP, FCP, C*, Boris RED, etc., this inexpensive tool could do the job automagically.
===========
Bjorn,

Unless it's a typo, the compatibility section states:

"Adobe After Effects 5.0 and up on Windows; 7.0.1 and up..."

John
TeetimeNC wrote on 4/14/2009, 3:33 AM
Unless it's a typo, the compatibility section states:

It actually reads: Adobe After Effects 5.0 and up on Windows; 7.0.1 and up on Mac OS X, including native Intel Mac support for AE CS3 and up.

Jerry
farss wrote on 4/14/2009, 4:35 AM
Just tried this, seems to work OK except I stuffed up the instructions as the CK FX has no invert so:

Duplicate track. Apply CK FX to upper track selecting skin tones.
Apply a blur FX to lower track, try adding Unsharpen Mask after blur.

Adjust all to taste.

Bob.
rs170a wrote on 4/14/2009, 6:17 AM
Take a look at the Video Essentials plugin pack from NewBlue for an FX Called TouchUp that may be what you're looking for.

I'd also suggest mentioning what you discovered to the owner of the cameras so that he/she can have this issue looked at. After all, no one wants the bride to look bad.

Mike
busterkeaton wrote on 4/14/2009, 9:24 AM
System Requirements state

* System Requirements
* Mac OS X 10.2.8 and up
* Windows 2000 or XP and up
Jerry K wrote on 4/15/2009, 8:21 PM
Thanks for all the input.

I tried Bob's idea below and it did the trick. It is some what painful because the Croma Key is very sensitive to lighting conditions.
you really need to play around with the settings for every scene but the out come is what I was looking for. Thanks again Bob.

From Jerry K.
____________________________________________________

Reply by: farss
Date: 4/14/2009 3:44:02 AM

Haven't tried this myself but it could work and it's free.

Copy track, add Chromakey FX. Sample skin, adjust watching mask to select just the skintones. Invert mask (you want to select these colors, inverse of what you do in a usual CK).

Now add a blur or whatever after the CK, adjust CK feathering as well. You might also like to add a garbage mask so you don't soften anything outside the face.

I got this idea from playing with the Skin Detail setting in the EX1. Maybe it has something smarter than what I'm trying to emulate, don't know.

Bob.