So I recorded a video on my digital camera, unfortunately the lighting was not the greatest. Is there anyway to enhance the video to make it brighter?
Best answer:
Answer by fhotoace
Maybe, it depends upon how sophisticated you video editing program is.
Next time you shoot video, light the scene with enough light. This could be as simple as turning on more lights or adding a 500 watt work light with it aimed toward the ceiling.
What do you think? Answer below!
Yes, but you will make everything brighter. Every object, every little detail will be brighter.
ReplyDeleteIts really necessary to have proper light when shooting a video. You cannot add it afterwards without losing quality.
An application like final cut pro, motion, adobe after effects. These are more professional tools for editing video. If you recorded it with a simple handycam and don't have enough money, time or experience you cant work with these applications and you will be forced to re-record your scene.
There is hope.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, the great thing about digital is that it's easier to get a good image from a dark one than it is from one that's overblown. The reason being is this: the sensors on a digital camera only soak up so much light before they turn to white. If a pixel is recorded as white (blown out, zebra striped, etc.), there is absolutely no way of bringing it back down to a color.
When shooting film, the exact is opposite. A bit off topic but good to know.
So, unless what you shot is completely black, and even if it is, there's sure to be some data in those pixels, and data in pixels is a good thing! Having data in a pixel means it recorded the image. However, finding that image requires the proper software.
A basic editing program with decent image control is Final Cut Pro. I would assume Windows Movie Maker and most video editing programs would have the most elementary of controls as well. What you want to look for is:
1.) Levels - If you have the option of working with levels, you can bring the blacks / shadows up to a visible range, while leaving the midtones and highlights relatively untouched.
2.) Brightness / Exposure - If you have the option of working with brightness or exposure, you can boost the blacks / shadows up to a visible level, but keep in mind anything that looks good now will become overblown or white.
3.) Saturation - If you have the option of adjusting saturation, this may be a good step after adjusting the light levels of your image. Usually when you boost the 'brightness' of an image, it also becomes more washed out, which can be countered by boosting the saturation until you get a natural look.
4.) Noise Reduction - This adjustment would be the icing on the cake. When you boost those shadows, you'll quickly notice that they're very grainy. Noise reduction helps to lower than grainy look, but also tends to slightly blur an image. Worth a try at the very least.
In the future, there are a few things you can do to avoid a repeat. Look for these settings on your camera:
-F Stop - rare for low end cameras, but if you have control of the F stop, you can adjust the brightness and depth of field (area of picture that's blurred or clear) by increasing or decreasing the numbers. The smaller the number, the brighter the picture. Also, the smaller the number, the less depth of field you have. This is also known as aperture.
-ISO / film speed - Film speed or ISO is how quickly the sensor records the image. This affects the amount of light necessary to light a scene. A lower ISO (200) is slower to absorb light, but will give you less grain or noise in your video. A higher ISO (1600) will be easier to light with little light, but will also be much more grainy (noise).
Hope that helps!