High FPS flicker removal ideas

[Matt Cikovic]

So I shot this video with the FS700:

blacksmithingraw - YouTube

A single fluorescent light way up in the roof on this porch practically ruined my entire slo-mo shoot.

But lately I've been doing HDR work with the Canon Magic Lantern software, and using (of all things) FCP X with this plugin: Free Final Cut Pro plug-in: Alex4D Magic Lantern HDR effect | Alex4D: Editing organazized to blend the frames.

So I had this idea in the shower. And I put my poor messed up FS700 footage into FCPX, dropped the plugin on it, set the mode to "Frame -" and got this:

blacksmithingfinished - YouTube

I gotta say, I'm pretty happy with the results!

[Kent Beeson]

This does look great as a real fix - so do you have to have Magic Lantern installed, which one? Or just the Alex4D Magic Lantern HDR effect?

What were the steps you used to fix?

[Matt Cikovic]

I used Magic lantern on my Canon 60D for HDR work unrelated to this shoot and the FS700. I merely realized the same technique to get HDR shots to work could be adapted to fix footage shot on the FS700 under fluorescent lighting.

Step by step:

-Capture footage,
-Load up FCPX,
-Drop footage onto new sequence. Make sure that the sequence frame rate and the footage's frame rate and resolutions all match,
-Drop the Alex4D plugin onto my footage,
-In the plugin's parameters under "Effects" I make sure the "Project Frame Rate" was set to the footage and composition frame rate. In this case 24P.
-Now (still under the Effects parameters) you can do one of two things. Set the "Background" option from 'black' to 'white'
or
-Set the "View" option to "- Frames Source" they both seem to do the same thing. More experimentation is really needed with all of this.
-Check that your footage works and looks like it's supposed to, render it out of FCPX, and finally cut your project in a real editor. (That's not FCPX.)

[Kent Beeson]

Thanks Matt

So you don't need anything but the Alex 4d plug in and FCPX? Don't need the Canon Magic Lantern software?

[Chris Medico]

The BCC Flicker Fixer plugin is well suited for that kind of flicker as well.

[Matt Cikovic]

Originally Posted by Kent Beeson

Thanks Matt

So you don't need anything but the Alex 4d plug in and FCPX? Don't need the Canon Magic Lantern software?

Correct. I just noticed that the type of footage that HDR on Magic Lantern and "bad" high FPS footage from the FS700 looked similar with an exposure change alternating every frame.

[Yash Bagwandeen]

I like your fix but the footage looks rather jittery in my opinion, I guess there has to be a trade off. My fix was to use CC Time Blend in Adobe After Effects. I can upload the video once the client has signed off if anyone is keen.

[James Barbosa]

Originally Posted by Yash Bagwandeen

My fix was to use CC Time Blend in Adobe After Effects. I can upload the video once the client has signed off if anyone is keen.

I'm interested in seeing a before and after of that.

[Chris Medico]

Here is what the BCC plugin fix looks like. I started with the "FAST FLICKER" preset and changed the method to "TEMPORAL YCC" since only highlights in the frame were flickering.

The source was the 1080p Youtube video so it isn't as crisp as it would be if I were staring with the camera footage.

FixedFlicker - YouTube

[Yash Bagwandeen]

Originally Posted by James Barbosa

I'm interested in seeing a before and after of that.

There is no before, but here is the finished video. Almost all shots flickered as if it were a Canon Magic Lanter HDR shot, basically like each frame was an entire stop lower/higher.

4U RAGE Intro - Street Party on Vimeo