Fixing a visual "oops" of your set in post at DVinfo.net

Tim Bickford · June 25th, 2008, 01:54 PM

This may be obvious to most of you. However, I wanted to share this to perhaps help someone else in a similar predicament. I also wanted to see if anyone else has had a different solution.

I recently shot a skit for a "spoof" commercial. It was shot in a kitchen. In one shot the actor is standing in front of a black "side by side" refrigerator. I did not notice during the shoot... but there was a dent in one of the two doors about a foot from the actors head. The dent showed up like a sore thumb in the video. A re-shoot was out of the question.

Fortunately it was a tripod shot and at no time during the shot did the actor or any part of her body move in front of the dent. So... I took one frame shot of the scene and had a Photoshop proficient buddy fix the dent. I then used an 8 point garbage matte in P-Pro CS3 on the photo-shopped image to key out the part where only the good video would play underneath. I simply laid the video track under the matte. Presto... when the video is played you would never know the dent was there.

Any similar experiences? I'm guessing I'm not the first to do this.

Edward Phillips · June 25th, 2008, 02:27 PM

I've used this trick to fix wayward boom mics that slip into the shot. Another point to remember is to keep the same F-stop. Anything on auto iris will give it away.

Bill Davis · June 25th, 2008, 06:46 PM

Not knowing what software you're using, but in most NLE systems, you wouldn't really even need to go to all the hassle of shooting and using a digital still.

Just duplicate a COPY of the current video track to an adjacent video track such that the second copy of the shot sits in front of the original one.

Then CROP the foreground shot to an area right above or below or adjacent to the blemish where the door texture is undamaged.

Then just slide this digital bandaid over the bad area.

Presto. No more dent.

(It even works on moving shots, tho you have to keyframe the band-aid in order for it to track the shot motion.)

Dean Sensui · June 26th, 2008, 04:05 PM

The clone tool in After Effects can be useful for something like that. Depends on what the dent looks like. It works just like the clone tool in Photoshop.

Clone from a clean section to cover up the dent, and have that effect applied to all the frames in the clip.

Tim Bickford · June 27th, 2008, 02:16 PM

These are all great ideas. I appreciate the feedback and will add these to my bag of tricks.

Thanks

June 25th, 2008, 01:54 PM	#1
Tim Bickford Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 448	Fixing a visual "oops" of your set in post This may be obvious to most of you. However, I wanted to share this to perhaps help someone else in a similar predicament. I also wanted to see if anyone else has had a different solution. I recently shot a skit for a "spoof" commercial. It was shot in a kitchen. In one shot the actor is standing in front of a black "side by side" refrigerator. I did not notice during the shoot... but there was a dent in one of the two doors about a foot from the actors head. The dent showed up like a sore thumb in the video. A re-shoot was out of the question. Fortunately it was a tripod shot and at no time during the shot did the actor or any part of her body move in front of the dent. So... I took one frame shot of the scene and had a Photoshop proficient buddy fix the dent. I then used an 8 point garbage matte in P-Pro CS3 on the photo-shopped image to key out the part where only the good video would play underneath. I simply laid the video track under the matte. Presto... when the video is played you would never know the dent was there. Any similar experiences? I'm guessing I'm not the first to do this. __________________ Tim Bickford

June 26th, 2008, 04:05 PM	#4
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	The clone tool in After Effects can be useful for something like that. Depends on what the dent looks like. It works just like the clone tool in Photoshop. Clone from a clean section to cover up the dent, and have that effect applied to all the frames in the clip. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

June 27th, 2008, 02:16 PM	#5
Tim Bickford Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 448	These are all great ideas. I appreciate the feedback and will add these to my bag of tricks. Thanks __________________ Tim Bickford

June 25th, 2008, 02:27 PM	#2
Edward Phillips Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 118	I've used this trick to fix wayward boom mics that slip into the shot. Another point to remember is to keep the same F-stop. Anything on auto iris will give it away.

June 25th, 2008, 06:46 PM	#3
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	Not knowing what software you're using, but in most NLE systems, you wouldn't really even need to go to all the hassle of shooting and using a digital still. Just duplicate a COPY of the current video track to an adjacent video track such that the second copy of the shot sits in front of the original one. Then CROP the foreground shot to an area right above or below or adjacent to the blemish where the door texture is undamaged. Then just slide this digital bandaid over the bad area. Presto. No more dent. (It even works on moving shots, tho you have to keyframe the band-aid in order for it to track the shot motion.)