Hey,
Well I got my first wedding and I have to say that is hard work. I give my hat out to all you wedding videographers. I was spent at the end of the day.
Now. I have a huge problem. I loaded my footage into my computer and I have big problem on my hands. The footage is over exposed. How in the world do I fix this? Im working on Final Cut Pro. I played around with the Gamma correction and it helped a bit but I need some more fixing, any suggestions? Suggestions on what video filters to put on the footage. Any programs that can help. Anything. I cannot hand a finished product like this.
Im sure one or two of you came across this problem please help.
Thanks,
T.

I will not ask nor comment on the fact that the job is overexposed badly enough to make the comment "that I cannot hand a finished product like this".

Once it's gone, it's gone and there is very little you can do to fix it other than what you've done.

if it underexposure it can be fix with composite mode in FCS but not over because there are hardly any color for you to bring back most of the color now are white. That why if it your first wedding you should shoot auto or spend more time with your camera before go do the wedding you know shoot your dog cat back yard living room or whatever you think ok. Good Luck

Hi Tom
It's sad when you get a shock like that and the decision what to do is a hard one!! Do you scrap the footage and return their money??? or do you try and salvage it, the best you can and offer compensation???

What's a lot more important here is to figure out what went wrong!! especially if you intend to do more weddings!!! In a pinch if you are unsure about exposure it's probably best to set the camera on full auto until you are 100% confident that you can control exposure manually so it doesn't happen again!! I also preview footage after each "event" to make sure everything is OK...that way if something goes wrong only part of your shoot needs to be salvaged. Weddings allow you a few minutes after each event where you can watch the previous 30 seconds of video to make sure everything is still on track!!

I would also have a "fiddle" with brightness and contrast and see if you might be able to achieve a watchable bit of footage.

Chris

Wow. My heart goes out to the B&G. Sorry if that's not a constructive comment - I don't mean to sound harsh, Tom. It's just not a good situation for your client or you to be in - nobody wins.

If there's anything constructive that can be said about the situation, it's that you'll probably never make this mistake again. Live and learn...

over exposed is helpless.. I'm sorry mate.. there is basically no more information than white on your footage. it depends on how "bad" it is but all you can do is use 3 color wheels on fcp and try to drop down the white and the mid a bit and see if that helps. I've been through some of those myself. The one I remember clearly is the one when the bride walked down the isle, lucky that it was still cureable although professionals who watch it can easly tell that its a lot over.

I always go full manual on weddings and sometimes it is hard when everything comes so quickly and you're on steadicam. flicking nd and iris together with focus sometimes just a little bit too fiddly.

One thing I learned is that always check the LCD screen on your camera if you're renting. The LCD might be set to lowest brightness and you crank the aperture up accordingly.

maybe post a clip for us to judge as well?

Santo

Does anyone know if neatvideo.com can work with this?? Maybe not, but I know it helps for low light, not sure if it works with overexposed light. Probably not.


I think your other shot is as Chris Harding said maybe try adjusting the brightness/contrast. Something like -5/+10 or something might help, but chances are it will just turn into some artistic/creative look.

I would do my best, if I were the groom I would still want the bad footage (with my money returned, of course if it's that bad) than nothing at all. Is it the entire days footage that's over exposed, or only the ceremony or dance floor scenes or something. Next time, shoot on auto as much as you can.

Its clear that there is little you can do. If its a little over exposed you can come back to some degree. In Vegas we have levels so you can pull back on them and recover a little. But once its gone its gone. It is hard as the dress could be blown out but skintones are fine (the important bit).

Going forward look for some sort of levels on your camera. On the FX1's we use they have zebras, these little stripes show up on screen when things are over exposed. Or if you set them right will come up when its all perfectly exposed.

Dont get too used to auto mode. While it may seem like an easy answer if you get into that way you may never get out. You see, the camera will see the lovely white, bright dress and close down the iris to compensate and then everything else is dark. OR somone stands in front of a window during the speeches, and people have a habit of swaying when they are nervous. Lots of light, iris close, light goes, iris open and this happens a lot as they sway.

Full manual here, even when on the steadicam. Its a lot to twiddle, but the FX1's make this quick and easy.

Next time, shoot on auto as much as you can.

I agree with Danny - auto exposure is death on a wedding video. The dark suit, white dress, silver car, bright sky, window backdrop - all are specially put there to keep your diaphragm flickin' and rockin' all day long.

Looks atrocious.

Much better to ask the camera. In auto, point the camera at the important subject and lock in that reading. If half the screen's white and half black that gives perfect exposure - and funnily enough that's what you get when bride and groom stand next to each other.

tom.

You will also want to use your ND filters. If you close the iris too far you can get a sort of halo around people (you do on the FX1) so use the ND to control the light.

When I started out I had such a dilema. How do I control light and brightness when we have ND, exposure, gain and shutter speed which all seem to do the same thing and then I figured it all out and do it in this order.

Shutter speed I pretty much lock at 50 (60 for you USA boys and girls). Unless Im trying to get a specific look.

First control using the ND
Then the iris
Then use Gain

Gain adds grain so its a last resort. Take off the ND, open the iris and then use gain.

spend more time with your camera before go do the wedding you know shoot your dog cat back yard living room or whatever you think ok. Good Luck

That's very good advice. You really need to become very familiar with your camera. When you are shooting you are multitasking and need to be able to flow with everything without being overwhelmed. In addition to controlling the camera, you have to monitor your audio as well as be aware of what you are shooting and what is going on around you.

I recently shot a wedding which had bright sun to full shade interspersed at the ceremony venue. I did a decent job of riding the iris but I was out of focus on a couple of shots because the sun was shining on my LCD monitor and I didn't have a hood for it. As a result, I didn't see the out of focus shot.

It pays off to anticipate the shooting conditions and plan accordingly.

Can you add a screenshot? Overexposed is one of the hardest problems... but maybe it can be cracked.

Overexposed parts can be replaced with photos or videos teken by guests at the same time. You have the sound track in order so in a way you have "half" of the final product. This is the only way I can think of partly damage footage. If all of it is overexposed then it is a bit harder to deal with.

Hey,
Well I got my first wedding and I have to say that is hard work. I give my hat out to all you wedding videographers. I was spent at the end of the day.
Now. I have a huge problem. I loaded my footage into my computer and I have big problem on my hands. The footage is over exposed. How in the world do I fix this? Im working on Final Cut Pro. I played around with the Gamma correction and it helped a bit but I need some more fixing, any suggestions? Suggestions on what video filters to put on the footage. Any programs that can help. Anything. I cannot hand a finished product like this.
Im sure one or two of you came across this problem please help.
Thanks,
T.

Tom, as bad as it may be, we can't help till we see it. We've all been in recovery at times, it's just a matter of how much we can salvage of what we have left. You may be able to go to B&W, presumably you still have the vows. You could salvage by putting together a video slideshow using the photogs pics with the vows voiced over for the ceremony etc.

This forum is like 'Videoholics Anonymous"... Hi my name is Ken... and I set up my main camera on a tripod in a bad spot and had sunlight coming in thru a window over the brides shoulder, (while I was roving with the 5d) and didn't monitor the footage close enough.

We can all relate at some level.

Ken.

Black & White tends to look ok if the image is hot to a certain extent, maybe some scenes are worse than others and you can mix it up a bit? Would advise running it through waveform before doing any corrections.

Steve

Tom:

Post a grab of a typical overexposed scene for us to look at and work with. If you have a place to upload a native clip, that would be a great help too.

I would be upfront as possible and correspond with the B&G by email (probably on a honeymoon still) ASAP if this is a big problem. The B&G can help pull friends & family video together for a last ditch effort. Never wait to ask for help, but jump on it immediately. Sure they will be disapointed, but its your job to produce a video no matter what it takes.

As for an explanation, I would just tell the B&G there was a problem with the video camera(s), don't get into details.

Also, if it looked reasonable on the camera LCD, I think it can be made to look reasonably like that in post. If the LCD was just white, that is what you captured. Please post a sample.

Yeah Tom

I Know most user in here a expert maybe they have some trick to help you out. Capture and post the raw footage to megaupload so some of us might have some time and take a look at then post result to help you how to fix. without seeing the footage nothing going to help you best.

Sorry to hear that

Even just a few stills pulled from the timeline might give some idea of the options. I know some cameras tend to overexpose a bit, but this sounds worse, and once you blow the highs out, there's nothing there - same with overly dark footage, if your footage simply goes out of bounds, it may require some trickery to make it usable... hopefully.

You can't replace data thats outside the normal ranges, BUT sometimes there are ways to salvage - really need to see some sample footage or stills to see what might be doable. don't give up just yet, till we see what you've got, maybe post a couple short clips in the private area if you don't want them public, and let us know here to go look-see!

Lots of potential help here, we've all had those times...

One thing I learned is that always check the LCD screen on your camera if you're renting. The LCD might be set to lowest brightness and you crank the aperture up accordingly.
maybe post a clip for us to judge as well?

I use the exposure meter on my cam ALL THE TIME. If you can't doesn't have an exposure meter, then you probably need a better cam if you are going to attempt this again.

I rented cams for the first 3 years I did this, because I didn't want to sink multiple $K into cams & gear if I sucked at it or couldn't take the pressure. :-)

I ended up thriving on the pressure (extreme wedding adrenalin junkie?) and got decent results. That and I saw a place in the market right below Travis to do great productions.

but back to the OT..... it might help our comments if we saw a frame grab. Otherwise all the "OMG you are screwed!" or "just do the thingamabober wheel and adjust the whosamawatchacallits" are just wild speculation.

maybe post a couple short clips in the private area if you don't want them public, and let us know here to go look-see!

Wait . . the private area is up now????? How did I miss this?

Wait . . the private area is up now????? How did I miss this?

if you can't see it you must not have access...

only joking - I can't see anything either

I'll be filming my second wedding tomorrow, and one thing I always use is the zebra pattern. My camera has a mode to show stripes for 85% and then one for 100%. This way if I see the stripes, I know i have a little lattitude before it blows out. In my limited experience, I tend to underexpose. I gotta get better at that.

Good luck recovering what you can. Like someone else mentioned here, things look great on the LCD, but that's not indicative of the final product.

Sorry Dude... sounds like a mess. I also shot a small party and it was overexposed, but I was able to cover with some clever editing. Lucky I only charged a few bucks and was able to cover.

I'm actually shooting my first wedding with my PANNY HMC150 (non-paid for a friend - thank god) and am looking for some general down and dirty scene file and camera settings for the HMC150 that will get me through the day. These are very good friends and I don't want to mess it up.

I am going to need some outdoor settings suggestions for daytime, Church settings and some nighttime settings for indoors at for the hall with some of windows that will let in light. Some general indoor settings for bridal shop/ bridal prep and house etc would be great also. I'm knee deep in terminology so till I ramp up I was looking for a little help.

Someone please help me ( and Us) through this world of GAMMAs Knees and other stuff? Also suggestions for best shutter in these environments would be welcomed. I'm thinking I will shoot in 720P @ 60P because 1080/60i seems to be hard to work with in FCP. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance all !

Cheers,

Also willing to help dude. I had the same problem and with a little time shifting and filters and VO work you might be okay! There might be a better way to tell the story by not using all your footage.

I'm actually shooting my first wedding with my PANNY HMC150 (non-paid for a friend - thank god) and am looking for some general down and dirty scene file and camera settings for the HMC150 that will get me through the day. These are very good friends and I don't want to mess it up.

I am going to need some outdoor settings suggestions for daytime, Church settings and some nighttime settings for indoors at for the hall with some of windows that will let in light. Some general indoor settings for bridal shop/ bridal prep and house etc would be great also. I'm knee deep in terminology so till I ramp up I was looking for a little help.

Someone please help me ( and Us) through this world of GAMMAs Knees and other stuff? Also suggestions for best shutter in these environments would be welcomed. I'm thinking I will shoot in 720P @ 60P because 1080/60i seems to be hard to work with in FCP. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance all !

Cheers,

Steve,

Personally I wouldn't shoot presets at a wedding - once they're on, you can't get them off. I used to shoot presets on my XLH1 a lot but stopped and used cc later if needed. I don't know your 150 at all, but we used to think the stock colors on the H1 were pretty flat - which they are - but they're easily tweaked in post. So... unless you have a lot of experience with a preset - I would advise to shoot stock settings and cc in post. Then just make sure that you're properly white-balanced for each changing setting, that you're properly exposed for each setting, and that you're getting clean audio.

For weddings, especially in the beginning - it's WAAYYY better to play safe and risk being a little boring than take risks and have it blow up on you.

I stand alongside Ken on this one. Get the exposure correct and locked, get the framing right, shoot clean, unadulterated interlaced video if you're starting out fresh. Next, it you've got the time, lock in the correct white balance and use manual focus. Lastly (with your third hand and third eye) use manual audio levels. That is, leave the audio limiter on and concentrate on all those other things.

In post you can muck about as much as you like, and most importantly click the 'undo' tab.

tom.

count me in with Ken and Tom on this one. Shoot simple clean steady footage that is BORING! They'll love it. Once you get familiar and used to the camera you can try different settings, different things, but NEVER practice on the job.

BTW, you're issued the 3rd hand and eye after about 10 to 15 weddings. After a couple hundred you get a 4th hand and after the first 1000 you get the 4th eye and 3rd ear.
People may look at me funny but the worst is finding shirts with 4 sleeves!

Thanks guys,

Tom I noticed that you said shoot “pure interlaced video.” Can you explain? I shot with 1080i/60i on the HMC150 the other day for a small event and it was a nightmare for FCP to handle. I had to convert all the footage to progressive and it took like 10 hours or more to render and then it needs to render each time you make a new cut or apply a filter. Yikes! I was thinking of shooting 720P/60P at least 60 to 100+ FPS.

So, net, net it seems to be keep it simple. I agree. Just wanted to find some best practices for securing the best images possible. I have to keep it on at least one setting ---any recos on which one to use. Also for the HMC150 there is a setting called DSR seems to really help with keeping the whites and blacks in check for situations where there is no light consistency helping to avoid over exposure.

Apologies if I hijacked the thread… but I think this info is very helpfully for all of us novices. And certainly helps us develop our 3rd and 4th hands.

Thanks again,

Thanks guys,

Tom I noticed that you said shoot “pure interlaced video.” Can you explain? I shot with 1080i/60i on the HMC150 the other day for a small event and it was a nightmare for FCP to handle. I had to convert all the footage to progressive and it took like 10 hours or more to render and then it needs to render each time you make a new cut or apply a filter. Yikes! I was thinking of shooting 720P/60P at least 60 to 100+ FPS.

So, net, net it seems to be keep it simple. I agree. Just wanted to find some best practices for securing the best images possible. I have to keep it on at least one setting ---any recos on which one to use. Also for the HMC150 there is a setting called DSR seems to really help with keeping the whites and blacks in check for situations where there is no light consistency helping to avoid over exposure.

Apologies if I hijacked the thread… but I think this info is very helpfully for all of us novices. And certainly helps us develop our 3rd and 4th hands.

Thanks again,

Hmmm... I think (quote: 'think') Tom may suggest interlaced mean because the video will ultimately be shown on a TV via DVD. Have you followed your existing workflow thru to rendering and burning to dvd?

Because we all use different cameras, the 'best all around' setting is going to be different for each camera. This is where you probably should ask others who use it. Generally I just use the out of the box setting for all my cams. Another good thing to do is to calibrate your LCD viewfinder for brightness at least - you don't have to get all techy, just shoot different footage in different light and see if it looks the same when played back on a monitor. Oh, and for sure... don't expect your on-board mic to pick up anything useable at all, most likely just someone near the camera making inappropriate comments.

One of the best ways to play it safe is to have an extra cam on a tripod. The last 2 weddings I shot, I ran 3-cameras solo, (just for the ceremony) but I wouldn't recommend that. If you shoot only one-camera, shoot lots of b-roll for cutting in later. I used to always shoot one cam and would try to get neutral crowd shots just before the ceremony started, just to use for cut-aways when someone invariably stood up in front of the camera, or or something similar. In this case you want to continue to record audio - quickly adjust your position, and keep going.

Re: 'best images possible' = the images of the couple, their families and the special parts of the day - well composed and exposed. Does not equal - the back of someone elses head or similar (even if it is in focus and well exposed).

Herein lies the problem. Many people think that they will start out on weddings, that they are easy... To shoot them properly, Weddings are one of the toughest challenges a shooter can face. I've shot lots of stuff in nearly 20 years, and weddings are far and away harder than most things. Largely, this is because of the pressure, and we have so little control over things.

I was shooting a promo piece for a realtor a couple of months ago and he had flicked on the mute button while fiddling with the wireless transmitter in his pocket. No problem... yell "cut", find the problem (I had to sweat for a few minutes while I figured it out) and re-take. Most jobs are like that, and if worst comes to worst - reschedule and reshoot. Not possible at a Wedding.

BTW, Hahaha, good one Don! 4 sleeves...

Tom I noticed that you said shoot “pure interlaced video.” Can you explain? I shot with 1080i/60i on the HMC150 the other day for a small event and it was a nightmare for FCP to handle.

If you're shooting 60i your camera is capturing everything that happens in front of it. You can de-interlace this footage later should you wish, but progressive footage is generally more 'stuttery' looking on the pans and with subject movement - the film look, if you like.

But your description of FCP's reaction to this makes me think twice about the recommendation in your case. The whole point about SD card capture being a quick file transfer process is negated somewhat. So it's good what you're doing - shooting and checking and shooting some more.

tom.