SeMW Auto Levels

Hey Marco, I may be doing something wrong... I tried this plugin but everything it seems to have done in my footage is to push the contrast to a higher pitch. I still keep experiencing a constant change from a clear to dark image constantly...

Maybe I didn't explain correctly what is my issue, so I made a video to show it:

Better find out what causes this constantly change of exposure, instead of trying to repair it in post.

Is there something that corrects for exposure significantly well like that? My usual technique is to split the offending clip portion, adjust it usually with color curves then extend it to fade into the main clip to fade in and out less obviously.

Better find out what causes this constantly change of exposure, instead of trying to repair it in post.

It's the natural light from the window. To stop it he'd need to cover it with a dark curtain and use artificial lighting.

To stop it, he needs to turn the camera's auto-exposure off. It may not be possible if he is shooting with a webcam or something like that. If you cannot turn off AE, best thing to do is buy a camera that can do manual exposure. Trying to fix that in post will be a nightmare that will result in a lower quality product in the end. The cost of a new cam would be more than worth the peace of mind of being able to set it and forget it.

Yes, I misunderstood the problem and thought exposure would vary from shot to shot, not within the same shot. Here again the Graide Color Match plug-in from SeMW does a good job. There is an option where you select one frame of a clip which then controls exposure and color of for all the frames of the same shot. I sometimes use this for auto-correcting timelaps recordings. Graide Color Match isn't freeware, though.

OP using 'mobile phone'.  Not sure what controls available.

Hey all!

I am not a pro producer. My main target is to generate contents for my non-monetized YT channels and record my online courses. I usually shoot the footage using a modest mobile (a Samsung Galaxy J2) and I think that it is the culprit!

Anyway, in my ignorance I thought that there could be a plugin able to take care of correct the problem automatically (pumping up and down like an audio compressor, but with the image).

Well, not the end of the world then. I think I can live with it until I afford a good camera (not in my plans at the moment though).

Thank you very much for all your help!

☺️

"I thought that there could be a plugin able to take care of correct the problem automatically"

There is such an plug-in, see my last post before.

@fr0sty said: "To stop it, he needs to turn the camera's auto-exposure off."

+1 That's the approach I've adopted. Once I got a camera that allows ISO limiting within a range, I started locking it or controlling it within a tight band with the shutter speed and aperture fixed. Before that, I spent countless hours attempting to correct for auto-exposure changes in Vegas. I once shot with a point and shoot camera that recorded video with a fixed ISO of 400 and minimum aperture of f8. What a limited range that was. ND filters were necessary for almost any condition outside. Clipping was the order of the day.

Aside from buying a good traverse rod for your drapes, you might gain more control over the video from your existing camera phone with an app like Filmic Pro.

http://www.smartphonefilmpro.com/what-are-the-best-video-camera-apps-for-smartphone-2017/

It’s probably cheaper than a new camera.