Best way to remove dust spot on sensor in post at DVinfo.net

Nigel Barker · June 18th, 2012, 07:23 AM

I was very pleased with some Steadicam footage that I shot at a wedding the other day using my 5D2. Sadly when I came to review the clips there was a dust spot on the sensor (now removed) visible for many of the shots. There are definitely some shots that I need to use but a grey mark on a white bridal gown is not a good look so does anyone have suggestions to how I might set about fixing this in post? I need the equivalent of the Photoshop/Lightroom healing brush. Ideally this would be in Premiere Pro but if there is some plugin or workflow for FCP7 or FCPX then I have access to those too.

This is the first time in years that I have had an issue with crap on the sensor. It was the bane of my life when I first got the 5D2 over three years ago & I have all the tools & materials for cleaning the sensor (Visible Dust brushes, loupe etc) but since I got more obsessional about hygiene when changing lenses I cannot recall when I last had a clip spoiled.

Chris Medico · June 18th, 2012, 08:50 AM

I have Boris Continuum Complete and it has a pixel fixer that works great for those problems. It is show to work for hot pixels but also works for dust spots.

It is available for all the major edit systems.

Andy Wilkinson · June 18th, 2012, 09:03 AM

Nigel,

One thing I have done successfully in the past for something like this is to make a copy of each affected clip and lay it above the main track. Then I crop it to a tiny spot, maybe only 5-10 pixels square or round and blur the edges of this matte. The bit I crop to would be immediately next to the spot you want to hide (i.e. so it is similar in tone, colour, exposure, texture, etc throughout the clip to what that bad spot should look like).

Then all I do is slightly reposition the upper clip so the "good" spot overlays the "bad" spot that you want to hide.

It may take a bit of playing around to get it right. Pretty fast to do in most NLEs I've tried it on. There are some pitfalls... but that depends on how much changes in each particular shot (especially if hard edges move across the "bad" spot position in the scene). However, the fault that occurs as that happens can be hidden by further masking work pretty easily and quickly once you know how. It's not a perfect method but it is free to try and works well for simple scenes. Maybe this might work for you?

Nigel Barker · June 19th, 2012, 12:55 AM

I realised that I already have some FCP7 plugins similar to the Boris stuff that will do the job. In particular Plugins for Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express by CHV-electronics & Plugins for Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express by CHV-electronics

I also found a couple of other tutorials involving exporting the clip as a series of images into Photoshop or similar. As the dust spot is in the same place on every frame it is apparently relatively easy to use one of the fix-up tools e.g. content aware healing brush & record a set of actions on the first frame & then apply that same sequence to every frame. I also found a guy who said he found it very relaxing just to go through each frame by hand applying the fix!

So I shall have plenty of different options to try.

Andy Wilkinson · June 19th, 2012, 03:20 AM

Tip, don't try that last idea first! ;-)

Brian David Melnyk · June 21st, 2012, 03:49 AM

this free pixel mask plugin for FCP works well:

AJW?s Filters | FinalCutters

June 18th, 2012, 07:23 AM	#1
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Best way to remove dust spot on sensor in post I was very pleased with some Steadicam footage that I shot at a wedding the other day using my 5D2. Sadly when I came to review the clips there was a dust spot on the sensor (now removed) visible for many of the shots. There are definitely some shots that I need to use but a grey mark on a white bridal gown is not a good look so does anyone have suggestions to how I might set about fixing this in post? I need the equivalent of the Photoshop/Lightroom healing brush. Ideally this would be in Premiere Pro but if there is some plugin or workflow for FCP7 or FCPX then I have access to those too. This is the first time in years that I have had an issue with crap on the sensor. It was the bane of my life when I first got the 5D2 over three years ago & I have all the tools & materials for cleaning the sensor (Visible Dust brushes, loupe etc) but since I got more obsessional about hygiene when changing lenses I cannot recall when I last had a clip spoiled.

June 18th, 2012, 08:50 AM	#2
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	Re: Best way to remove dust spot on sensor in post I have Boris Continuum Complete and it has a pixel fixer that works great for those problems. It is show to work for hot pixels but also works for dust spots. It is available for all the major edit systems. Make Bad Pixels Disappear - YouTube __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

June 18th, 2012, 09:03 AM	#3
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Best way to remove dust spot on sensor in post Nigel, One thing I have done successfully in the past for something like this is to make a copy of each affected clip and lay it above the main track. Then I crop it to a tiny spot, maybe only 5-10 pixels square or round and blur the edges of this matte. The bit I crop to would be immediately next to the spot you want to hide (i.e. so it is similar in tone, colour, exposure, texture, etc throughout the clip to what that bad spot should look like). Then all I do is slightly reposition the upper clip so the "good" spot overlays the "bad" spot that you want to hide. It may take a bit of playing around to get it right. Pretty fast to do in most NLEs I've tried it on. There are some pitfalls... but that depends on how much changes in each particular shot (especially if hard edges move across the "bad" spot position in the scene). However, the fault that occurs as that happens can be hidden by further masking work pretty easily and quickly once you know how. It's not a perfect method but it is free to try and works well for simple scenes. Maybe this might work for you? __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

June 19th, 2012, 12:55 AM	#4
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Re: Best way to remove dust spot on sensor in post I realised that I already have some FCP7 plugins similar to the Boris stuff that will do the job. In particular Plugins for Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express by CHV-electronics & Plugins for Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express by CHV-electronics I also found a couple of other tutorials involving exporting the clip as a series of images into Photoshop or similar. As the dust spot is in the same place on every frame it is apparently relatively easy to use one of the fix-up tools e.g. content aware healing brush & record a set of actions on the first frame & then apply that same sequence to every frame. I also found a guy who said he found it very relaxing just to go through each frame by hand applying the fix! So I shall have plenty of different options to try.

June 19th, 2012, 03:20 AM	#5
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Best way to remove dust spot on sensor in post Tip, don't try that last idea first! ;-) __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

June 21st, 2012, 03:49 AM	#6
Brian David Melnyk Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Winnipeg Canada Posts: 532	Re: Best way to remove dust spot on sensor in post this free pixel mask plugin for FCP works well: AJW?s Filters \| FinalCutters