2 more questions: lightening shots and rendering at DVinfo.net

Adi Head · June 19th, 2004, 09:23 AM

sorry about bombarding the forum with questions. this is my first real project using vegas and i'm still learning.

QUESTION 1: i have a few under-exposed shots and wish to fix them so that they look better. i found 3 plug-ins which might be useful to do this: BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST, COLOR CORRECTOR (by adjusting GAIN), and HSL ADJUST (by adjusting LUMINANCE).

i was curious what method you guys think is best to lighten up a dark shot. it was during a wedding reception. it was evening, there was some lighting around, but apparently not enough in certain areas. it is important that the picture quality doesn't change much. i don't want grainy video.

QUESTION 2: what exactly is the difference between pre-rendering and just plain rendering?

thank you all for your patience!

Edward Troxel · June 19th, 2004, 10:05 AM

i was curious what method you guys think is best to lighten up a dark shot.

Put a small light on the camera to lighten the room! (seriously)

what exactly is the difference between pre-rendering and just plain rendering?

Physically, nothing. They both create new files on the hard drive. Prerenders will tend to be a bunch of small files while rendering will be one large file. However, you can lose the pre-renders much more easily doing normal editing. When you want to render a section AND make sure you don't have to render it again, I will either "Render As..." or "Render to a new track".

Adi Head · June 19th, 2004, 10:10 AM

thanks Edward. i hope you're not working TOO much overtime because of me :)

next time i definately will be more prepared as far as lighting up the place. but since i'm stuck with these few shots the way i shot them. is there a "preferred" method of correcting the luminance or brightness or whatever?

thanks.

Edward Troxel · June 19th, 2004, 10:17 AM

Take a look at BillyBoy's tutorials http://www.wideopenwest.com/%7ewvg/tutorial-menu.htm. Hopefully something in there will help you get started.

Glenn Chan · June 19th, 2004, 11:46 AM

1- I prefer using the color curves for boosting brightness. To boost contrast and brightness the same time, make an "s" curve with most of the curve concave down.

2- If you run problem footage through Virtual Dub first there are some filters in it to reduce video noise.

In Vegas you can use the median filter to do this, but it takes FOREVER to render. It's something like 100:1...

Adi Head · June 19th, 2004, 11:49 AM

glen: i'll try it. thanks.
edward: i put the link you reccommended on my "favorites" and will definately read through the relevent tutorials. thanks.

Paul Jason · June 20th, 2004, 04:03 PM

Does Virtual Dub do something that vegas cannot do? I have heard about this program a lot but have never tried it. Is this a program I should try and learn?

Peter Jefferson · June 21st, 2004, 04:54 AM

yeah but some dude (cant remember the link now) is making a shell for Virtual Dub plugins so u can use the plugs in Vegas.
VD has a great stabiliser :)

Mark A. Foley · June 21st, 2004, 06:59 AM

It's Satish Kumar
http://www.debugmode.com/pluginpac/frameserver.php

Guy Bruner · June 21st, 2004, 07:17 AM

Satish's WAX plugin will accept DirectX filters and VDub plugs.

Paul Jason · June 21st, 2004, 08:40 AM

How about some links to those plug-ins:-)

Edward Troxel · June 21st, 2004, 09:33 AM

It was indirectly given above. The root url is http://www.debugmode.com. You can find all of the tools Satish has provided with the various links on that page.

Mark A. Foley · June 21st, 2004, 09:44 AM

Edward,
I don't want to get wrapped around the axle over this...but the link I provided was based on the assumption that Peter was refering to the link to Satish's Frame Server....

Edward Troxel · June 21st, 2004, 10:06 AM

That's fine. But it IS an indirect link to all of the rest of Satish's tools as well including WAX. Wasn't trying to discredit your link in any way, shape, or fashion.

Paul Jason · June 21st, 2004, 12:37 PM

Thanks all, Guess I needed to look closer.

(Update) I looked on his pages and didn't find the great stabiliser that Peter talked about.

June 19th, 2004, 09:23 AM	#1
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	2 more questions: lightening shots and rendering sorry about bombarding the forum with questions. this is my first real project using vegas and i'm still learning. QUESTION 1: i have a few under-exposed shots and wish to fix them so that they look better. i found 3 plug-ins which might be useful to do this: BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST, COLOR CORRECTOR (by adjusting GAIN), and HSL ADJUST (by adjusting LUMINANCE). i was curious what method you guys think is best to lighten up a dark shot. it was during a wedding reception. it was evening, there was some lighting around, but apparently not enough in certain areas. it is important that the picture quality doesn't change much. i don't want grainy video. QUESTION 2: what exactly is the difference between pre-rendering and just plain rendering? thank you all for your patience!

June 19th, 2004, 10:05 AM	#2
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	i was curious what method you guys think is best to lighten up a dark shot. Put a small light on the camera to lighten the room! (seriously) what exactly is the difference between pre-rendering and just plain rendering? Physically, nothing. They both create new files on the hard drive. Prerenders will tend to be a bunch of small files while rendering will be one large file. However, you can lose the pre-renders much more easily doing normal editing. When you want to render a section AND make sure you don't have to render it again, I will either "Render As..." or "Render to a new track".

June 19th, 2004, 10:10 AM	#3
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	thanks Edward. i hope you're not working TOO much overtime because of me :) next time i definately will be more prepared as far as lighting up the place. but since i'm stuck with these few shots the way i shot them. is there a "preferred" method of correcting the luminance or brightness or whatever? thanks.

June 19th, 2004, 10:17 AM	#4
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Take a look at BillyBoy's tutorials http://www.wideopenwest.com/%7ewvg/tutorial-menu.htm. Hopefully something in there will help you get started.

June 19th, 2004, 11:46 AM	#5
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	1- I prefer using the color curves for boosting brightness. To boost contrast and brightness the same time, make an "s" curve with most of the curve concave down. 2- If you run problem footage through Virtual Dub first there are some filters in it to reduce video noise. In Vegas you can use the median filter to do this, but it takes FOREVER to render. It's something like 100:1...

June 19th, 2004, 11:49 AM	#6
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	glen: i'll try it. thanks. edward: i put the link you reccommended on my "favorites" and will definately read through the relevent tutorials. thanks.

June 20th, 2004, 04:03 PM	#7
Paul Jason Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 163	Does Virtual Dub do something that vegas cannot do? I have heard about this program a lot but have never tried it. Is this a program I should try and learn?

June 21st, 2004, 04:54 AM	#8
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	yeah but some dude (cant remember the link now) is making a shell for Virtual Dub plugins so u can use the plugs in Vegas. VD has a great stabiliser :)

June 21st, 2004, 06:59 AM	#9
Mark A. Foley Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Bonaire, Ga. Posts: 356	It's Satish Kumar http://www.debugmode.com/pluginpac/frameserver.php

June 21st, 2004, 07:17 AM	#10
Guy Bruner Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ashford, AL Posts: 937	Satish's WAX plugin will accept DirectX filters and VDub plugs.

June 21st, 2004, 08:40 AM	#11
Paul Jason Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 163	How about some links to those plug-ins:-)

June 21st, 2004, 09:33 AM	#12
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	It was indirectly given above. The root url is http://www.debugmode.com. You can find all of the tools Satish has provided with the various links on that page.

June 21st, 2004, 09:44 AM	#13
Mark A. Foley Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Bonaire, Ga. Posts: 356	Edward, I don't want to get wrapped around the axle over this...but the link I provided was based on the assumption that Peter was refering to the link to Satish's Frame Server....

June 21st, 2004, 10:06 AM	#14
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	That's fine. But it IS an indirect link to all of the rest of Satish's tools as well including WAX. Wasn't trying to discredit your link in any way, shape, or fashion.

June 21st, 2004, 12:37 PM	#15
Paul Jason Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 163	Thanks all, Guess I needed to look closer. (Update) I looked on his pages and didn't find the great stabiliser that Peter talked about.