skin softening filter?

tbush wrote on 5/7/2006, 2:02 PM
Hi,
I am editing an interview of a older couple. I have been trying to soften the woman's look a little. So far on the close up shots, I copied the video and put copy on track above orginal. To the copy I did add Magic Bullets "dream glow" with 14% opacity. It does give a very nice effect...especially helped with the lightiing that was coming in from the window (as the day went on and the lighting changed).

It would be good if I could soften her neck a little more, but I am not sure how to do this. or even if I can. Plus, I was using 2 cameras, and the wide angle was catching a couple of skin cancer spots when she would cross her legs and her pant leg would rise up.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate your help.

Thank you very much,

Tara Bush

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 5/7/2006, 2:15 PM
OrganiBlur from Pixelan is outstanding for this. For 39.00, hard to go wrong. It'll add a softness somewhat like a Schneider Black Mist Pro 1/2. Perfect for softening wrinkles.
tbush wrote on 5/7/2006, 2:21 PM
Thank you so much...I will check it out. Tara
winrockpost wrote on 5/7/2006, 3:09 PM
zenote offers a glow filter which works pretty good, has a preset 1/4 pro mist that softens nicely
johnmeyer wrote on 5/7/2006, 5:32 PM
If you are looking for something even more advanced, you can export your footage as individual frames. Then, you can use the batch feature of your photo editing program (if it has one) and use it's skin softening features.

My photo program (PhotoImpact) has a "Beautify Skin" filter that lets you select a range of skin tones, and it then applies a softening filter to just those tones. It is a little like making a mask using the secondary color corrector and then applying a blur just to the masked portion of the video, only better. However, it is a very slow process, so if you've got 1/2 hour of video, this is probably not the way to go. The secondary color corrector/mask approach might work, but I haven't done that, whereas I have done the PhotoImpact approach.
GlennChan wrote on 5/7/2006, 5:55 PM
The secondary color corrector/mask approach does work... it's just convoluted.

Do three tracks:

Track 1- This generates the mask.
Put a secondary color corrector to isolate flesh tone. Set alpha to 0.
Add a mask generator, set it to alpha.
Composite mode: Multiply.

Track 2- This had the diffusion/blur effect.
Put Mike Crash's Smart Smoother here, or Gaussian blur.
Set this is a child to the track above.
Set opacity to 50% or so.

Track 3- Original footage.

---You should blur the alpha on track 1 to clean up the mask if necessary.

Hopefully I remembered everything correctly. Cheers.
tbush wrote on 5/7/2006, 6:29 PM
Thanks to all of you...you guys never cease to amaze me with all you know. Tara
johnmeyer wrote on 5/7/2006, 7:21 PM
I created a VEG file that uses Glenn's approach. You can download it for seven days from this site:

Selective Blur Based on Secondary Color Corrector

I happened to use very dark-skinned people for the correction, so you may need to adjust the Secondary Color Corrector colors for lighter skin.


Spot|DSE wrote on 5/7/2006, 8:13 PM
John,
you're welcome to put this on the VASST site if you'd like.
As far as the technique, this is shown in a slightly different form on Glenn's Color Correction DVD.
I like the Organiblur because it's one event, one plug, and very fast, with masking and mixing/blending that the Pixelan plug gives, but it also costs 40.00...If you only need to do this once, then buying the plug prolly doesn't make sense. If you're constantly doing it, then the plug saves a lot of time, IMO.
johnmeyer wrote on 5/7/2006, 9:27 PM
you're welcome to put this on the VASST site if you'd like.

Spot,

I only spent a few minutes putting that together, so it isn't in the league with a lot of what you've got on the site. I don't have the time to do a tutorial and, as you point out, you've got better solutions for anyone looking for an everyday tool.

However, if you'd like to post it in your freebee section "as is," then you are certainly welcome to do so.

The VASST site just keeps getting better every day. You should be very proud of what all of you have done there.

Grazie wrote on 5/7/2006, 9:30 PM
Thanks John! Sharing veggies like this guides my Vegas education into areas I wouldn't have thought of. I'll have a play with it today.

Best regards,

Grazie