Solved What effects for projects with variable light?

Hello all,

I know that folks say something like "rubbish in" - "rubbish out", however I am getting increasingly fraught. I record sermons at our local Baptist Church, and I guess that we don't have ideal lighting for video work, but we have what we have. That being said, in our morning services in particular we get very variable lighting conditions with the sunlight coming in through the windows. This changes things dramatically when it come to editing before I render the project, as it is impossible to rely on any constant levels throughout the length of the time I record.

I have tried to apply a variety of effects in Sony Vegas Pro 12, but in truth it is very difficult to set the level for any effect, or combination of effects, and then to be certain that it will be ok throughout. The result might be fine say at the beginning, sort of ok a little bit later, and distinctly horrible later.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to which effects I should use, and a possible workflow in applying them? Or, what else I might do to cope with the problem.

I will be very appreciative for any advice.

Best wishes,

Alan (aka OldTimer)

Hi Alan (aka OldTimer),

Your statement at the beginning is true, unfortunately. But, here is something you could try, that I've experimented with just filming within my house while recording computer builds. Since the room I use is the Dining Room (yeah, don't use it for that purpose much), there is a window to my left when I record. No matter what I tried with blinds or shades or something else, always had problems with "natural light" fading in and out. So what I did was start shooting shorter shots, still with the two studio lights I have, but also purchased a cheap "Grey Card" that I can place at the beginning of filming for that shot, move it out of the way after a minute or two, then in post use the "Grey Card" for white balance. You can edit out the card from showing in post. Did this at a recent High School Football game for my nephew (had his sister go hold the card during the course of the game as the light was changing), and just kept up best I could with shorter shots. Its been more work for me while filming, but it has definitely helped with lighting/colors and such. And remember, if you use more than one camera, you'll want to do the same for each.

Hope this helps.

Mike "The Chief" O'Sullivan

Hi Alan,

This is a great subject for a thread, and I will subscribe, in hopes that other members and Dr. Zen will contribute some tips and tricks for which I can also use. In addition to Mike's reply.........

Although not necessarily always the most important aspect of photography, lighting is one of the most important parts, at least for me. I've spent considerable time researching, studying and applying light both natural and artificial for many years. Every time I think I know something, I learn how meager my knowledge is and strive to learn more!!

I'm not aware of any FX which will fix the problem you describe, at least not easily. With that said, here are two things I have done in the past to make corrections for the issue you have described.

1st, I locate on the timeline when the lighting exposure changes and make corrections with the Brightness and Contrast FX (for example), and use the 'Animate' feature using 'keyframes' so the correction smoothly applies from the perfect exposure, to the dark/or light exposure, and then back again to the perfect exposure.

This would be like compensating for a cloud passing over on the sunny day changing the exposure from normal to dark and back to normal as the cloud passes by. Or, if the Auto-Exposure in the camera was on and to compensate for the slow correction most AE are inflicted with.

There most likely will be additional FX's which need to be combined with the 'Brightness and Contrast' FX, such as 'Color Corrector', 'Color Corrector (secondary)', or perhaps 'Color Curves' and I will use the same 'keyframes' to animate those to match what I used in 'Brightness and Contrast'.

2nd, I have used 'B' footage during the transition from under/over exposure to hide the sudden change. This doesn't always work, but if available it is a technique that can be used successfully.

Both one and two are time extensive and if you are streaming live, will of course be out of the question. Dr. Zen has some great color correction tutorials available which helped me a lot when I went to Vegas Pro 13, which you are probably aware of.


Some other ideas.......if we can get ahead of the issue.....

If we set the camera on manual exposure, then the operator can make exposure corrections as the light changes. It's a technique that requires some practice and the cameraman has to be at the camera and ready to read the light changes as they occur. It works if the camera has fingertip manual controls and the camera is mounted on a real steady tripod mount to avoid camera shake. It will not eliminate the exposure changes, but can greatly reduce them, maybe even to the acceptable level.

If the church has plans for a future remodel, it might be possible to work in some fill lights to soften and supplement natural lighting reducing the harshness of natural light changes effecting the exposure. I know you said "but we have what we have", but maybe that isn't forever and in the future a small investment may be acceptable. They don't have to be expensive and can often be hidden.

Same for the camera. A camera with a better HDR (high dynamic range) will help avoid the extreme exposure changes. If you just happen to be thinking about a new camera upgrade, having a better (higher) dynamic range may be a feature to consider. If not, then "you have what you have". That's the boat I'm floating in, no new camera for me for a while!!

Thank you George and Mike for valuable information.

I am completely overloaded with work right now, so I don't have time for in-depth answers.
I do recommend you watch my Colour Correction tutorial.
As George has said, you need to Animate the controls by adding Key-frames for the Video FX you are using, so that you can gradually change the settings over time. I do not have any tutorials on this specific topic. It is something that is part of the work I am doing behind the scenes right now.

How to use Colour Correction Tools in Sony Vegas Pro

Regards
Derek

Thanks Mike for you contribution and suggestions. Presently the camera we use (Panasonic AG-HMC40) is fixed about 30 feet or so from the place where the speaker stands. So to show my complete ignorance, if I was to recalibrate the White Balance setting on the camera, would I be able to use a standard A4/A3 sheet of white paper, or would it have to the grey card you mentioned (supposing I could locate any)?

Best wishes,

Alan

Hi George,

I am really grateful for your comments and interest.

In pulling together your really helpful suggestions, never having used keyframes before, I have spent quite a bit of time today trying to find a suitable tutorial that sort of covers my situation. What I mean is a tutorial that combines the use of different effects when using keyframes.

Presently I am using Sony Vegas Pro 12, and most of the tutorials I have found cover things like manipulating text, zoom in / zoom out etc...., but so far I have not found any that cover the use of a combination of effects such as Colour Curves, Brightness & Contrast, Colour Correction etc.... I am sure they must exist, but I have not been able to find them. Any ideas?

In the situation we have, with the camera being fixed, it is not really possible to alter any settings during the service (unfortunately).

I am sure that with not having used keyframes before, as well as showing my ignorance on the subject, I am also probably missing some vital clue that would unlock the mystery for me. What I mean is, I can more or less understand the process in using one Effect, but it's when combining several that my brain starts to spin so-to-speak.

I will get there, and learning something new is no bad thing!

Thanks again.

Alan

Derek,

I can well imagine how busy you must be, and thank you for all that you are doing at the moment.

I have watched your Colour Correction videos several times already, and do revisit them from time-to-time. Your videos and tips have proved very useful already.

You will no doubt see the replies that I have sent to Mike and George, so all being well I will get there in the end.

Best wishes,

Alan

Hi Alan,

I don't think Derek has made a tutorial which specifically fits your situation, nor do I remember seeing one elsewhere. Often times I have to watch several tutorials picking out the parts I need to get to me goal. From your reply, I think you have probably watching the following two tutorials Derek made which include using keyframes....

Tutorial Keyframes to Zoom and Pan

Tutorial Keyframes to Animate Tex/Titleshttps://www.moviestudiozen.com/free-tutorials/sony-movie-studio-platinum/12-how-to-animate-text-with-keyframes-using-sony-vegas-movie-studio-hd-platinum-10


I would just concentrate on how the keyframes mechanically work, as they work the same within the FX to correct for exposure. Keyframes will not make any correction for you, that you must perform yourself. What the keyframes provide is a smooth transition from one correction setting to the next, without you needing to cut/split the event hundreds of times. Keyframes provide a simple method to animate a process, regardless of the process.

Often when we have poorly exposed footage, the entire clip (event) is, for example underexposed. We then might use the Brightness and Contrast FX to increase the brightness. This is applied to the entire event.

Your situation is a bit different. (this may be incorrect assumption, please correct me if I'm wrong), your example starts with the correct exposure, because your camera is set on Auto-Exposure, and it has made the exposure adjustment based on the available light (coming through the side windows from the morning sunlight). As time passes by, maybe a cloud passes over and when it does, the scene goes dark, then light again, as the camera AE feature of the sensors detects this light change and makes the adjustment automatically, but there is usually a delay. When the AE accomplishes the adjustment it is now adjusted to a lower level of ambient light and the colors may appear to be washed out with less contrast.

As time again passes, the cloud passes by revealing the bright sunlight and the opposite happens, it goes from dimly lite, to bright overexposure, to normal light. As it does this a chain of events takes place from light, to dark, to light, to really bright, back to light again!

If your camera is set unattended, with the AE set on, this is the result we get and there is no getting over it during the recording. You are now stuck making correction during post-production, and that brings us back to your original question.....how do you correct this??

The simplest answer is, one step at a time! If we use the example I have laid out above lets just work on one FX, 'Brightness and Contrast' for one of the changes.....light, a cloud comes over, and the AE adjust, but you are stuck with the exposure going from normal, to dark, back to normal while the cloud is still blocking the sun.

This is how I would do it......(please forgive me, this is long!!!)

Scrub along the timeline to the point the exposure starts to change from normal (light), to going dark. press the 'm' key. This will place a bookmark at that position on the timeline. The bookmarks are numbered and allow for adding names, but you do not need to name them for this example.

Then continue to move along the time line until you reach the point that the exposure seems to be the darkest and press the 'm' key. Now continue to move along the timeline to the point the exposure has been corrected (for the most part) and once again press the 'm' key.

You should now have three book marks numbered '1', '2', and '3'. Now bring up the 'Brightness and Contrast' FX filter for this clip. Size the FX window so it will not cover up the timeline and position it so you can see the FX window, the timeline and the preview window.

Within the 'Brightness and Contrast' (BC) FX window, look at the Brightness adjustment, there is a sliding scale adjuster that moves left and right. All the way over to the right is an icon that looks like a clock. Click on the clock icon and the window will expand to include the keyframe animate controls. You may have to adjust the BC FX window so you can see the whole contents. At the bottom of the keyframe display there is an icon that looks like a large capital letter 'I' with a lock nest to it. If it is not selected, left click and select it.

Now move down to the timeline and move the cursor so the scrub line aligns with the bookmark number 1. As you move the cursor along the timeline, a similar cursor lines moves within the keyframe window. Now go back to the BC FX window, within the keyframe display and left click on the icon at the bottom that has a '+' sign in it. This will insert a diamond icon in the keyframe display that aligns with the cursor position within the keyframe display.

I no this is getting long, we are almost there!! Now, back to the timeline and move the cursor to align with the number 2 bookmark. At this point if you look at the preview display window the lighting should be at the darkest point. Go over to the BC FX window. We need to adjust the brightness, so grab the brightness slider (left click and hold) and move the slider until you think it looks normal and release it. Now look down at the keyframe display and you will see that another diamond has been added at the current cursor position within the keyframe display.

Now go back to the timeline and move the cursor to bookmark 3. While looking at the preview window display, adjust the brightness slider until it appears correct. Again, anther diamond will be placed at the keyframe cursor position.

Also you should notice there is now a line below the diamonds with circles! This is another display which shows the difference in the brightness adjustment we just made. How much it goes up and down will depend on how much adjustment you made in the brightness, and I very rarely pay any attention to it.

Now position the timeline cursor on the event, and play through your adjustments to see how it looks. It's not going to be perfect, at least mine aren't, but it should be much better.

That is all there is to animating a color correction using keyframes. Of course it doesn't necessarily end there. Almost always when we make a brightness adjustment, we need to make a contrast adjustment, Sony was smart to put them together. If the contrast needs adjustment click on the clock to the far right of the contrast slider. Align the keyframe cursor with the respective diamonds and make a contrast adjustment.

The 'Color Corrector' and 'Color Curves' work the same way (Color Corrector has the animate clock icon to the right of each color wheel, the Color Curve has a button at the bottom 'Animate'.

Hint.......As you add correction FX filters and leave the keyframe animation display window open, the keyframe timelines will start to stack on each other at the bottom of the FX window. This way you can see all the correction FX filters one below the other and may help speed up the process of moving from one bookmark to another.

Now Alan, if you have read this far and are shaking your head, I understand. Keyframes are the not easiest to feature function to understand, at least not for me. Therefore, it's probably not the easiest to explain. However, I do know this......once I finally got the basics of keyframe down, it became very clear how powerful and easy it is to use them.

OldTimer wrote: In the situation we have, with the camera being fixed, it is not really possible to alter any settings during the service (unfortunately).

So I assume this means, where the camera is positioned, it does not allow for a person to be hovering over the camera to make adjustments, is that correct? This is not unusual, often the best, or only place, to position a camera means it has to run remotely, or turned on before the sermon starts and turned off after the sermon ends.

Hi George,
Your last comments relating to this topic exudes the essence of this forum - members who take the time and care to educate via. clear, complete instruction.
The explanations are as such that the techniques are then able to be applied to other situations - their base use having been exposed.

Regarding the application of key frames (and other editing features) - one thing that has and no doubt will continue to help me is to create a very simple example where I am able to apply what I am trying to achieve.
In the case of over or under exposure occurring within a video clip I would expressly generate a short clip with exaggerated under exposure. Apply it to the time line then practice applying the required effect to observe how it works, trying to get a feeling for its finer points.

One point about Keyframes is understanding what happens between each keyframe. It's easy (for me) to mistakenly have the application of an effect run in or out incorrectly. Early on, a classic example would be placing a keyframe as the start point, then place the second one as marking where I considered the effect to be at the required maximum influence, place one at the point where I required the effect to be removed - but being troubled about where to place the keyframe to start reducing the effect.
Then, having understood the basic placing sequence, the correct placements allowing for varying of an effect to occur within a multiple keyframing episode.

Creating on a piece of paper how I would want something to happen and placing inked in dots at points on the "timeline" ensured that missing or extra keyframes where not applied.

Derek's tutorial re: Keyframes does touch on this problem but its relevance for me did not hit home until I started obtaining strange "happenings". Producing a paper schematic allowed an understanding of what each keyframe was there for and what happened between each one.

Those who are able to mentally visualise are at an advantage - counting sheep before falling asleep never worked for me as I couldn't see the sheep!

Peter

Hi Peter,

Peter wrote: counting sheep before falling asleep never worked for me as I couldn't see the sheep!

What a great line to explain the huge value to visual aid explanations, it put a smile on my face, because I can relate.

I agree, although I have been blessed with an imagination which affords me the ability to visualize in my head, there are many times I lean towards paper and pen. Trying to come to terms with some of the FX's we use during post production is a good example when I pull out paper before I make a complete disaster of editing!

What I enjoy about the interface of features and functions of Vegas Pro/Movie Studio, is watching the changes in real time and seeing the effect and results of the manipulation. And many times as I start learning a new FX I take the adjustments to extremes so I can see the breaking point, before I bring things back to reasonable changes.

And, Thank You for the kind words. Also, I'm going to use your sheep metaphor in the future, Thank You.