Reduce Over exposure

[sundark]

Too much light on my daughters classical dance recital resulted in washing out her facial expressions.

I tried to adjust contrast/brightness/levels. But they all resulted in reducing the light of overall picture including the stage.

I want to isolate my daughter and make the correction.

I would appreciate any help on this.

Thx

Sundar

Using Adobe Premiere pro CS4/AE CS4

[Harm_Millaard]

Copy the clip to a higher track, apply a matte on this copy and then use levels to correct the overlaying clip within the matte only.

[sundark]

Thx. I will try it

Sundar

Sent from my iPhone

[Jeff Bellune · Accepted solution]

My choices:

1. Color Finesse in AE.

2. Fast Color Corrector in Pr.

In either case, set the CC to operate only on the highlights. In AE you

can mask the area to be CC'd before you turn it over to CF.

Be warned: although you can often rescue shadow detail, once the

highlights get blown out they're gone forever. Don't expect miracles in

this case.

-Jeff

[Ann Bens]

You cannot fix overexposure.

What is not there in pixels Premiere or AE cannot magically produce.

[sundark]

Jeff

Thx. I will try it.

As she moves around the stage it may be difficult to mask one specific area

Thx again

Sundar

Sent from my iPhone

[the_wine_snob]

Along with the suggestions, you might also want to add Effect>Shadow & Highlight, take if OFF of Auto and experiment with the settings. I usually apply this before my Levels(NOT Auto Levels), and then once Levels have been adjusted, go back to S & H.

Luma Curves can also help.

As Ann points out, this is a cosmetic fix, as blown highlights contain little, if any data. You are only doing thing to approximate properly exposed footage, and cannot reclaim what is not there. Still, one can usually "improve" on the unaltered footage to some degree.

Good luck,

Hunt

PS - doesn't CS4 offer Blending Modes now? If so, one might want to dupe the Clip, per Harm's suggestion and change the Blending Mode to Multiply. If it does not, then never mind...

[Ann Bens]

Yes CS4 has blending mode. But how does one multiply 0 (zero)?

[the_wine_snob]

Ann,

Thanks for the clarification on CS4. That was what I thouight.

Of course 0 will not multiply, but any value >0 will, Where the highlights are totally gone, they are gone. Where they're "nearly gone," there are values to multiply. What one is doing is helping to enhance the overall, and some help can come from Blending Modes, Levels, and even Highlight and Shadow corrections, plus the gamma settings in Fast Color Corrector, etc. Yes, it's a bit of an "illusion," but sometimes that illusion will be enough to save a Clip.

For 0, a reshoot would be in order, if it occupies too much of the frame.

Hunt

[sundark]

Hi,

Thanks for your ideas.

I wasn't precise when I said that the picture was washed out.

It wasn't that bad. The details are still there. But there is a a shine/glow on her face from the extra light. I will try the blend mode.

Thx

Sundar 

[the_wine_snob]

That is great news. As Ann, and others, point out, if you have a value of 0, there is no detail there. At least you have some detail.

Along the lines of what I now think you're doing, here's a Tutorial on "softening skin tones." In your mind, think about "toning down highlights." Just blank your mind for a moment, and imagine.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

I have the same problem with my clips. The bad news is I am new to Adobe. The good news is there are people that can help whether it is possible to remove light exposure or not.  Now can someone teach me where to go in either after effect  or premiere pro cs4 to solve this. Please help.