UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel at DVinfo.net

Steve Siegel · August 1st, 2016, 05:37 AM

I need to apologize right off the bat, because saying that my video is about "the backyard" is a stretch. In order to comply with the rules, I sort of made it sound a little bit like it was from a back yard, but you will see right through it. To be sure, only the thickness of a window pane separates where I am playing with the video and the backyard, so maybe it isn't so far out as I think.

What I wanted to do is to show a technique. To me it's new and exciting, because it was only within the last month that I learned that you could edit video in Photoshop. It's been available since 2013 or so, and if you are already doing it, please comment. I watched a tutorial and the guy said he was amazed that more people are not editing their videos in Photoshop, so maybe there is a new niche here.

If this is new to you, don't start salivating yet. You can't use anything that requires a brush. No cloning, no touch-ups, No Magic Wand Tool, no Lens Blur, etc. You can trim and merge and fade, and do all the basic editing maneuvers, but who needs that? What Photoshop lets you do is apply filters that NLEs may not have, like oil paint, fresco, dry brush and a bunch of others. You will see that these give a whole new look to your video, and allow one to resurrect old footage into something fun. They also allow footage to be sharpened in a new way that in some situations may work quite well. There are ways to manipulate colors that other programs don't have. In Photoshop you can play with the pixel density. It's tricky, but in some cases it decreases jagged edges when enlarging.

If you actually want to clone stuff out, you still have to rotoscope, but Photoshop may have a way to make this a little less time consuming. I haven't tried it yet. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. I'm anxious to know what you think. Highest level of criticism is great.

Trond Saetre · August 1st, 2016, 05:55 AM

Steve, "backyard" can be interpreted very wide. No worries.
I'll comment more later.

Catherine Russell · August 1st, 2016, 06:59 AM

Hi Steve:

Fantastic! The sky is the limit with the editing software packages of Adobe. I have never thought of using Photoshop to edit video, but After Effects, it's sister editing software for video offers filters found in Photoshop and also allows for outsider plug ins if you can't find what you need in the package itself. That being said, if you watched a training video specifically for editing video in Photoshop, perhaps the filters you are using can only be found there. Way cool! Not only to augment and improve a shot but to put on full effects that transform the footage all together.

Nicely put together and explained. It was really helpful to compare still frames with the before and after filter application so we can see the subtle enhancements and corrections you were sharing. I absolutely love the tide action with the unsharp mask filter on (you have a still of it as the thumbnail for your video clip), it looks like an impressionist painting. Speaking of which, when you mentioned in your clip about how it is like spending the afternoon at the art gallery it gave me the idea to produce a video where you are at an art gallery and the paintings on the wall in the exhibit come alive with video playing in the frame but (just for fun) really have the unsharp filter turned up so that it really does look like an impressionist painting, like Renoir or Van Gough, Degas or Monet.

I also found the correction of the out of focus blade of grass turned to shadow quite impressive.

Kudos for stepping into something new and stretching your skills. I need to do the same. There are lists and lists of effects and filters in After Effects I haven't ever touched. It's endless and just waiting to be used if I would just take the time to venture there.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Cat

Steve Siegel · August 1st, 2016, 11:57 AM

Cat,

I would love to see you put out a tutorial on using After Effects. I have only tried to do a couple of things on it, and they never turn out right. I just can't seem to understand After Effects.

Catherine Russell · August 1st, 2016, 02:51 PM

Concerning AE, you my friend are not alone thinking it's rather un user-friendly. Often times though, there are plenty of tutorials put out on You Tube by everyday users that can help a lot. These tutorials are really handy because they are very task specific so they can be just a few minutes long and can catch you up to speed really quickly. But it seems you are doing fine without it :).

Trond Saetre · August 4th, 2016, 04:51 AM

Really interesting to see how those effects can have such a dramatic impact on the final result.
All was done in Photoshop?

Using Photoshop during the film editing, is a whole new world of untouched terrain for me. But I'll definitely try it out sometime. Like you, I have been struggling with After Effects, only learned some basic stuff there.

The best part for me was when the shadow of the straw changed from brown, into the color of the beach, and the sharpening of the bird sitting on the beach. Worked out well.

Thanks for sharing!

Steve Siegel · August 4th, 2016, 07:14 AM

Hi Trond,

No, it wasn't all done in Photoshop, just the actual application of the artistic filter. Adobe Premiere Pro
has such a complete set of video effects, that you can do almost anything there. The color change in the phalarope clip, for example.

I hope to be able to do more with these techniques. You may agree that nature video has become standardized now that everyone's video looks like everyone else's. The only ways to stand out is to get even more detail, which requires more expensive equipment, or get into unique situations, which requires more time and physical ability than many of us have.

My big hope is that by doing this "reductive" technique, it will be possible to blow the images up to large-screen size without significant blurring. I'm working on that now.

Trond Saetre · August 4th, 2016, 09:57 AM

Ah, that's what I meant. Only the special or "new" effects were done in Photoshop.
Yes, I'm using Premiere myself (CS6) and have tried out a couple of the effects there a couple of times. Didn't really work out as well as with your photoshopping, and I usually try to keep things as natural as possible. Have to re-think that after seeing your film and how your effects actually enhance or bring back natural looks, like the out of focus bird.

You are definitely on the right track here. I agree that mastering these techniques, can bring that little extra, to make you stand out.

Paul Wood · August 8th, 2016, 07:26 AM

Hi Steve,

Really interesting ideas you put forward - I'm not a premiere user any more, or AE for that matter, but I do agree that your can get great results by using a few artistic filters, or by stretching the imagination using color grading in shots to enhance a look - I think it is great to see some techniques used without getting into the usual bla bla of how to use or not use LUTS or Log or ISO settings!

I promise to try some out on a future entry!

August 1st, 2016, 05:37 AM	#1
Steve Siegel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Posts: 840	UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel I need to apologize right off the bat, because saying that my video is about "the backyard" is a stretch. In order to comply with the rules, I sort of made it sound a little bit like it was from a back yard, but you will see right through it. To be sure, only the thickness of a window pane separates where I am playing with the video and the backyard, so maybe it isn't so far out as I think. What I wanted to do is to show a technique. To me it's new and exciting, because it was only within the last month that I learned that you could edit video in Photoshop. It's been available since 2013 or so, and if you are already doing it, please comment. I watched a tutorial and the guy said he was amazed that more people are not editing their videos in Photoshop, so maybe there is a new niche here. If this is new to you, don't start salivating yet. You can't use anything that requires a brush. No cloning, no touch-ups, No Magic Wand Tool, no Lens Blur, etc. You can trim and merge and fade, and do all the basic editing maneuvers, but who needs that? What Photoshop lets you do is apply filters that NLEs may not have, like oil paint, fresco, dry brush and a bunch of others. You will see that these give a whole new look to your video, and allow one to resurrect old footage into something fun. They also allow footage to be sharpened in a new way that in some situations may work quite well. There are ways to manipulate colors that other programs don't have. In Photoshop you can play with the pixel density. It's tricky, but in some cases it decreases jagged edges when enlarging. If you actually want to clone stuff out, you still have to rotoscope, but Photoshop may have a way to make this a little less time consuming. I haven't tried it yet. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. I'm anxious to know what you think. Highest level of criticism is great. It Ain't Pixar But It's Fun - UWOL39 - By Steve Siegel on Vimeo

August 1st, 2016, 05:55 AM	#2
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Steve, "backyard" can be interpreted very wide. No worries. I'll comment more later.

August 1st, 2016, 06:59 AM	#3
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Hi Steve: Fantastic! The sky is the limit with the editing software packages of Adobe. I have never thought of using Photoshop to edit video, but After Effects, it's sister editing software for video offers filters found in Photoshop and also allows for outsider plug ins if you can't find what you need in the package itself. That being said, if you watched a training video specifically for editing video in Photoshop, perhaps the filters you are using can only be found there. Way cool! Not only to augment and improve a shot but to put on full effects that transform the footage all together. Nicely put together and explained. It was really helpful to compare still frames with the before and after filter application so we can see the subtle enhancements and corrections you were sharing. I absolutely love the tide action with the unsharp mask filter on (you have a still of it as the thumbnail for your video clip), it looks like an impressionist painting. Speaking of which, when you mentioned in your clip about how it is like spending the afternoon at the art gallery it gave me the idea to produce a video where you are at an art gallery and the paintings on the wall in the exhibit come alive with video playing in the frame but (just for fun) really have the unsharp filter turned up so that it really does look like an impressionist painting, like Renoir or Van Gough, Degas or Monet. I also found the correction of the out of focus blade of grass turned to shadow quite impressive. Kudos for stepping into something new and stretching your skills. I need to do the same. There are lists and lists of effects and filters in After Effects I haven't ever touched. It's endless and just waiting to be used if I would just take the time to venture there. Thanks for the inspiration! Cat

August 1st, 2016, 11:57 AM	#4
Steve Siegel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Posts: 840	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Cat, I would love to see you put out a tutorial on using After Effects. I have only tried to do a couple of things on it, and they never turn out right. I just can't seem to understand After Effects.

August 1st, 2016, 02:51 PM	#5
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Concerning AE, you my friend are not alone thinking it's rather un user-friendly. Often times though, there are plenty of tutorials put out on You Tube by everyday users that can help a lot. These tutorials are really handy because they are very task specific so they can be just a few minutes long and can catch you up to speed really quickly. But it seems you are doing fine without it :).

August 4th, 2016, 04:51 AM	#6
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Really interesting to see how those effects can have such a dramatic impact on the final result. All was done in Photoshop? Using Photoshop during the film editing, is a whole new world of untouched terrain for me. But I'll definitely try it out sometime. Like you, I have been struggling with After Effects, only learned some basic stuff there. The best part for me was when the shadow of the straw changed from brown, into the color of the beach, and the sharpening of the bird sitting on the beach. Worked out well. Thanks for sharing!

August 4th, 2016, 07:14 AM	#7
Steve Siegel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Posts: 840	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Hi Trond, No, it wasn't all done in Photoshop, just the actual application of the artistic filter. Adobe Premiere Pro has such a complete set of video effects, that you can do almost anything there. The color change in the phalarope clip, for example. I hope to be able to do more with these techniques. You may agree that nature video has become standardized now that everyone's video looks like everyone else's. The only ways to stand out is to get even more detail, which requires more expensive equipment, or get into unique situations, which requires more time and physical ability than many of us have. My big hope is that by doing this "reductive" technique, it will be possible to blow the images up to large-screen size without significant blurring. I'm working on that now.

August 4th, 2016, 09:57 AM	#8
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Ah, that's what I meant. Only the special or "new" effects were done in Photoshop. Yes, I'm using Premiere myself (CS6) and have tried out a couple of the effects there a couple of times. Didn't really work out as well as with your photoshopping, and I usually try to keep things as natural as possible. Have to re-think that after seeing your film and how your effects actually enhance or bring back natural looks, like the out of focus bird. You are definitely on the right track here. I agree that mastering these techniques, can bring that little extra, to make you stand out.

August 8th, 2016, 07:26 AM	#9
Paul Wood Major Player Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 485	Re: UWOL 39 It Ain't Pixar, But It's Fun by Steve Siegel Hi Steve, Really interesting ideas you put forward - I'm not a premiere user any more, or AE for that matter, but I do agree that your can get great results by using a few artistic filters, or by stretching the imagination using color grading in shots to enhance a look - I think it is great to see some techniques used without getting into the usual bla bla of how to use or not use LUTS or Log or ISO settings! I promise to try some out on a future entry!