Hi Guys
Looking for pointers on how to reduce just the white in a video of swans where they are still bright. If i use the standard brightness settings it darkens the whole video.
Any suggestions ?
Using vegas movie 17
If the whites are clipped there is nothing you can do, because there is no data to work with.
The best you can do is to normalize the levels for delivery using the Computer -> Studio RGB Levels filter on the Vegas output, which will reveal all of the highlight and shadow data that is in your source.
Thanks for your prompt reply and the suggestion.
The video is shot on a sony camcorder, but at times it doesn't seem to cope well with something that is white😢
Why don't you upload a short clip from your camera showing the problem to Drive or Dropbox (not Youtube), and someone here will have a look at it.
Thanks for the offer but i don't use either of these.
Here you can see two screenshots from the video's no processing on the pictures/video
The whites are badly burnt out. You cannot recover the lost detail only make them less white i.e. very light grey. Try using Video FX - Curves, or Levels, and adjust just the highlights not the entire tonal range. Using Levels it's the "Output End" value you could try playing with.
I agree that they are unrecoverable in any meaningful sense.
Your camera is averaging the exposure and giving more weight to the dark surroundings.
If your camera has facial "spot" exposure, use it. If it has zebras, use them. Or study the Ansel Adams trifecta and learn to estimate zones visually. ...
.... or get a different camcorder.
It doesn't look like a sunny day so I am surprised it blew the whites that much. Do you have some type of SCENE settings to use?
It doesn't look like a sunny day so I am surprised it blew the whites that much. Do you have some type of SCENE settings to use?
That was also my impression. It looks like a camera setting problem.
Thanks for the pointers guys
I have checked the camera it only has three settings on the white balance :-
1 WB/Auto, 2 Adjusts for outdoor or day white flourescent., 3 adjusts for indoor or incandescent light.
The camera has been working on the first, i have changed the setting to option two and will try and give it a go asap(Weather permitting).🙂
There is no other processing being done by the camera.
White Balance and Exposure are two completely different things. That's why I suggest learning basic photography first.
My comment about using the non-auto setting of the camera was about trying to see if the camera responded better as there is no other settings. Yr second sentence is un-called for.
@WallaceWithoutGromit What is the make and model of your camera?
Sony camcorder HDR-PJ410
I see it has an Auto iris and Manual. You could set to manual and adjust to compensate for whites. You might have missed Musicvids point. The WB is not the issue, it is the exposure which the iris will adjust.
Since this is white, you might try the SNOW scene setting. That will compensate for bright whites, but of course will affect the surrounding landscape.
I see it has an Auto iris and Manual. You could set to manual and adjust to compensate for whites. You might have missed Musicvids point. The WB is not the issue, it is the exposure which the iris will adjust.
Since this is white, you might try the SNOW scene setting. That will compensate for bright whites, but of course will affect the surrounding landscape.
Thanks Doug for yr advice i will certainly have a few options to play with the next time i'm able to get out Cheers🙂
I see it has an Auto iris and Manual. You could set to manual and adjust to compensate for whites. You might have missed Musicvids point. The WB is not the issue, it is the exposure which the iris will adjust.
Since this is white, you might try the SNOW scene setting. That will compensate for bright whites, but of course will affect the surrounding landscape.
I'm not able to capture the swans at the moment as in lockdown. Took a look at using the camera on the white pot in the back garden. The first picture is manual at F5.2 the second picture uses the auto and set the apperture to F3.1.
I tried the scene selection method as well but this just made the white pot even more whiter and left the scene set the aperture at F3.1.
In the past i have always relied on the auto setting which as i have found tends to over illuminate the whites and colours.
Manual seems to be best in this situation.🙂
Thanks for all the pointers👍
Glad you're off to a good start.