A Basic question on filters and editing

[bsinger74]

I've shot a lot of stills underwater, using a Canon PowerShot SD950IS and it's "underwater" shooting mode, and then just some basic post production with Picasa's "I'm Feeling Lucky" option. It tends to work VERY well for general purpose. If I need something more advanced, I use Gimp or Photoshop (depending on my computer).

So, I'm thinking of going digital HD video. I have a Sony HDR SR12, and am thinking of the Equinox HD6 housing for it. So, on to the questions. I've reviewed the forums and lots of good info on white balance, filters, etc, but I have bit of an integrated question:

- How much can the post production in Vegas compensate for white balance or filters? Rather than buy a bunch of filters for all the different conditions I dive, I would prefer to perhaps have one filter (whatever that might be), or no filter, and then do the post production edits in software.

This is the way I shoot most stills to reasonable effect (for my purposes), and wondering to what extent I can do that in video.

 

[rab1412000]

ive tried using vegas pro but i found it too archaic.
i now use power director. with it i can adjust color, white balnce, shrarpness, contrast, hue, brightness etc.
it can also make the video sharper and has a stabilization feature. as well as crop, time lapse, slow down, flip or play your video in reverse.
it got a lot of effects and transitions and supports up to 16 pips i think. you can do chromakey effects to produce those 'star wars' like effects.
its got a feature called particles and framing which i seldom use but really look good in some videos ive seen.
it can upscale your post processed videos and renders quite fast.
im sure the other programs have similar capabilities.

my 2 psi hope that helps a bit

 

[Blackwood]

ive tried using vegas pro but i found it too archaic.
i now use power director. with it i can adjust color, white balnce, shrarpness, contrast, hue, brightness etc.
it can also make the video sharper and has a stabilization feature. as well as crop, time lapse, slow down, flip or play your video in reverse.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have Premier, and find it daunting.

 

[PerroneFord]

How much can the post production in Vegas compensate for white balance or filters? Rather than buy a bunch of filters for all the different conditions I dive, I would prefer to perhaps have one filter (whatever that might be), or no filter, and then do the post production edits in software.

This is the way I shoot most stills to reasonable effect (for my purposes), and wondering to what extent I can do that in video.

Anything you can do with your stills, you can do with video. Mostly with Vegas, but you might have to use photoshop depending on how severe the issue is. White balance cannot make up for light that isn't there. And you are nearly certainly going to be red deficient dependent upon depth.

Good luck.

 

[OceanView]

Generally I shoot video during the day using ambient light, the UR Pro red filter and white balance with the Amphibico slate. On occasion I will white balance on the sun or sometimes sand. Minor tweaking of colour balance in Vegas to reduce green produces the final results. Most still photographers are firing strobes when they take their shot so the scene is infused with light. With video, you need to be really close to your subject for the lights to have the desired effect. On the rare occasion that I have forgotten to use the red filter or if I am not correctly white balanced during shooting it becomes very difficult to correct in post and the clips usually end up on the cutting room floor.