Blue Video

[billwil]

EXPLAINATION OF THE COMPLIMENTARY COLOR EYEDROPPER TOOL (for gearheads only): The color wheels in the Sony Color Corrector Plugin allow the user to choose which hue to add from the color wheel (this is what a white balance does...adds a hue bias). The angle of the point selected from the center indicates the hue, and the distance from the center point indicates the intesity or ammount of hue to add. If you select the complimentary color eyedropper tool, and then click on your video somewhere in the frame, the point on the color wheel will automatically be moved to the complimentary color from the color under your cursor when you clicked on the frame (complimentary color means directly opposite on the color wheel).

So, say you shot some wide shot underwater video in the channel islands in California, and there is a greenish blue (mostly green) tint to your video. The color balance card that you shot at the beginning (see above) also has this tint. That means, the white part of the card is a bright, slightly green color, the grey is a darker, but still green color, and so on. By using the eyedropper as explained here, you will be clicking on or video on this sligtly green color. The complimentary color to green/blue is magenta/violet (look at a color wheel), and so this magenta/violet color is chosen in the color wheel, at the same intensity that the green/blue is in the video. Bam! Color corrected video.

Hope this helps.

Bill~

 

[drbill]

I should add that I am partially red-green color blind so I can't rely on a visual evaluation of any post-processing technique, which certainly affects my judgment on how useful post processing is.

 

[ScubaBob92651]

I should add that I am partially red-green color blind so I can't rely on a visual evaluation of any post-processing technique, which certainly affects my judgment on how useful post processing is.

That has to make things a bit difficult. Though, So Cal waters make me feel a bit colorblind sometimes..

 

[billwil]

LOL...Agreed about the colorblindness in CA. Still love it though (I'm a native of Santa Barbara county)! DrBill, even colorblind people could use my "white balance card" trick...even if doing it in post. You use an HC7 in a Top Dawg, right? Are you able to white balance at depth with that rig? Or maybe because you do so much macro you can just set it beforehand for your lights?

<Hijack>
As an aside...I've gotta be in LA on business on June 1st...so I'm staying over for the Scuba Show in Long Beach. DrBill, didn't I see your name in the film part of that? I'm looking forward to seeing some of your stuff...if I'm remembering correctly and you are in it.
</Hijack>

 

[ScubaPhd]

Thanks Bill and Nitroxinator,

your input has certainly made my learning a lot easier and most importantly - faster. I am in the process of upgrading my PC in order to have the needed computing power to process all of these video adjustments. My old PC lags - but the new one that I have just purchased should do just fine - (P4 2.6 Ghz, 2gig ram etc).

I will be posting parts of the edited video as soon as I fix it up. I attempted to fix a small 2 minute segment and it turned out quite well (not as good as the photoshop picture but acceptable).

Bill - regretably I did not have a white balance card with me on the dive. I now realize how much easier it would have been if I had one. I will be using the sand as an anchor for white and I will try to find something in the video that should have been black ( my console for example)...

Once again, I will post asap and I would like to thank you for your help.

Cheers,
Atanas

 

[Empty V]

If you can get your hands on a copy of combustion you can so some amazing things. It's a compositor and color corrector that works more on the professional level but is accessible to everyone. I took some video with my digital still camera that was all green. With the color correction tools in combustion the difference was remarkable.

http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/...current=OctoVideo05-12-07SantaRosaIsland2.flv



I only spent about 5 minutes on it and have never used the program before and I didn't touch the exposure or deal with keyframing or anything. If you can figure out the interface it's an amazing tool.

Billy

 

[kroorda]

I agree w/Dr. Bill. If you don't get the colors right at first, then adding them later isn't a good idea. You can get away with it with stills, but video is a different, and much more complex thing. If you really want to do color correction with video, then Adobe Premier CS3 is absolutely the best. But, there's a learning curve! With video, your best best is to get your colors correct WHEN you record them. Use a filter lower than 10-15 feet (unless you have lights on). If your camera & housing allow you to set white balance, use it about every 15 feet that you go down. (More color is lost as you descend so you need to continue to White Balance as you go down - or as you ascent). I got some White fins (Tusa X-pert Split Fins) so that when I need to White Balance, I stick a foot (fin) out in front of me and can quickly set my WB. No need to carry a White slate or more junk than I already have.
Happy Picture Taking! Kent

 

[Empty V]

...If you really want to do color correction with video, then Adobe Premier CS3 is absolutely the best...

In April Apple released a new program called Color which is bundled with Final Cut Studio 2. It's not an easy program to figure out but once you get inside it, it's on a level never seen before on a consumer desktop computer. But it's more on a consumer/prosumer/professional level opposed to just a consumer level.

Billy

 

[dittohead]

I've been playing around with this; I'm not willing to spend the big bucks on a high end video editor, because I'm a hobbyist. I have Vegas Platinum with an HC1, which has a better color balancing tool than plain old Vegas (not Vegas 6, whatever they call their lowest cost tool - it also edits HDV). Vegas Platinum, and I'm guessing most other editors, will allow you to take a still shot from your video to the clipboard (in Vegas Platinum, preview with best full). You can paste the clipboard shot into a photo editor (I'm using Paintshop Pro X and/or Adobe Lightroom), deinterlace, and use the white balance in the photo editor, as well as use the photo editor tools that allow you to look at the histogram. If you can get a decent white balance in the photo editor, you can then use the color balancing tools in the video editor to attempt to get the video looking close to what the photo editor gave you (with a decent 'puter, you should be able to view both side by side). If you have segments that stay within a reasonably constant depth and light profile, once you match your single still, it will match the segment. If you can't get a decent white balance in the photo editor, don't waste time in the video editor - the photo editor is definitely faster, has more automatic controls, and has a lot of specific algorithms for figuring out white balance. If the photo editor can't handle it, convert to black and white, delete the segment, or accept that your video is going to have funky colors. I only just started experimenting with this, I haven't posted anything where I have used the technique throughout the video (although I've gotten great reviews from divers and non-divers on video from Bonaire that I gave to them on a DVD, and I've gotten really good results with this technique on Sea Lion video from Anacapa shot without any white balance, albeit at 25-30 feet). My wide angle Bonaire video from 60+ feet was marginal in terms of color.

That sounds way more complex than it really is. Great idea, and it works perfectly. It takes just a couple of minutes once you figure it out and the results are great. It is hard to remember that for many this is a fun hobby, not a passion. I have three jobs, 4 kids, a wife, I mountain bike, hockey, rock climb, dive, jeep, hunt, snowboard, etc. Underwater videography is something truly simply enjoy, but to spend countless hours or dollars to take some video underwter is just not feasible. I like to get decent results cheap, and in a minimal amount of time. That video fix is a great way to save time and tons of meny. Of course the results will not be perfect, but I am not working for the Discovery channel either. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[ScubaPhd]

So I finally have the video done and uploaded on youtube!
Check it out at: YouTube - Santiago Scuba Dive
This is my first video made with a miniDV sony camera and a homemade housing. I had no access to white balance controls, actually no access to any controls but thanks to Sony Vegas and your invaluable help I managed to get the colors to somewhat acceptable level.
I would like to thank everyone for their input!
Cheers,
ScubaPhd
p.s. I know that some of you are tired of the Enigma song constantly used as background music but I just couldn’t help it =).