Hi there,

have 2 quick query's - . Hope someone can help!

1) One of my scenes was shot with a dirty lens. I didnt realise at the time, but its blatant in post. Its just the usual dust/fluff. Is there anyway to clean this up in post?

2) I need to block light. Some daylight has leaked into the shot when its supposed to be a 'night scene'. Is there anyway to block this light? Superimpose something over it etc? Can I isolate one part of the image and colour correct it/change the brightness etc? Without effecting the image as a whole?

THANKYOU for taking the time to read, hope someone out there can help me! It may be that i cant do this in FCP, but if you could reccomend any other program with the capabilities then please do!

Thanks again, jack :)

Hello,

Those sound like some tough problems to fix. Anything is possible to fix in post, it's just a matter of time, money and someone who knows how to use Flame or Smoke. The first problem isn't something FCP can fix alone. You may be able to export each frame and clean them up in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. But, that's very time intensive. The second problem could be masked using a color correction gradient. The key would be to fool the audience into thinking that the light in the scene is emitted from a non-organic source or possibly a full moon if the light works that way. The color correction gradient will assist in the illusion. It's hard to say how that would be applied without seeing what the scene looks like. But, CC effects and building on an illusion idea is a place to start.

Good luck,

Your first problem with the dust can be cleaned up with a plug-in for FCP. I forget which one it is, but it essentially does nearest neighbor approximation for spots of dust, or a dead ccd pixel. A bad pixel or a speck of dust will always be in the same location of the frame which makes it easy for a plug-in to track and correct the flaw once it's told where the x/y location of the flaw is at.

-gb-

I think Digital Heaven makes a plug-in like that. http://www.digital-heaven.co.uk/ you should be able to downloada a demo and see if it will do what you want.

If the leaked light is just in the background and not on the actors (or anything else moving) you can use a garbage matte and then change the brightness in that area. I've also used Commotion (no longer available) to paint out mistakes.

Cheers guys! I'll download the plug in, dont mind if it takes me forever, aslong as i dont have to reshoot! Re: the other problem - i have no idea how to do it. I played with the garbage matte but havent got a bloody clue! will have to get someone to show me how. Atleast I know its possible, which is the kind reassurance i need right now. Really appreciate your help!

Cheers, jack:)