Image #3 after applying Levels and Color Curves
adjustment. Now the rim and the sidewall of the tractor
tire are visible including a couple bolts. The skin tone,
hair and eye colors are more natural. If you look closely,
the fence post--hardly visible in the original--is now
seen along with the top wire along with some moss growing
on the tree. Each source file will require a slightly
different adjustment. The "S" curve shown is illustrative
only and not the exact one used in these illustrations.
Generally for darker images you want to begin with adjusting
levels before you apply color curves. If your image is
too light and washed out you may have better results if
you first adjust curves. Regardless what you do first
you frequently will end up with better results if you
make further minor adjustments once color correction is
finished which is explained in a later step.
At
this point your image should be well balanced with a good
distribution of pixels without any one area dominating,
but may still lack overall fidelity. We will address that
next by using the HSL filter as illustrated in Image #4.
Image #4 after applying Levels, Color Curves and HSL.
By slightly reducing the saturation to .88 and increasing
the luminance to 1.03 we have further modified and brought
out a little more detail. Adjusting saturation and luminance
in opposite directions by a slight amount your image may
be improved further. Note the minor differences in the
hair color, shirt, tree trunk and more natural skin tones.
Rarely should you have to reduce saturation below .80
or increase luminance beyond 1.10.
Tip:
This is the time you may want to use the Brightness/Contrast
filter. Usually you'll want to reduce brightness and
increase contrast. If your image is still too dark you
can either further adjust curves or increase Gamma. If
your other adjustments were good, rarely would you want
to adjust brightness or contrast by more than a few points
in either direction. Remember doing so will change all
pixels and effect what you already did with levels and
curves.
We
now have what most would consider a pretty well adjusted
image. It is balanced with proper brightness levels revealing
much more detail than the original did. We have good contrast
and brightness with a major gain in detail. Now is the
time to apply any needed color correction. By waiting
until you adjust levels and curves you avoid having to
adjust and perhaps over correct what appeared to be hue
problems which frequently will resolve or become more
obvious once levels and curves have been adjusted making
any color balance adjustments easier and less extreme.
While it isn't that much, there is still a slight red
tint that should be removed, which we'll take care of
next.
Image #5 after applying Levels, Color Curves, HSL and Color
Balance. I reduced the red from the default 0.0000
to -0.0170 and also reduced the Blue to -0.0350. Note
the effect on the shirt and especially the hair along
with a slight warming up of the skin tone. To warm up
images, especially where there are close up shots of people
you'll want to use the Color Balance filter reducing
Red and Blue. I generally reduce Blue first, then if needed,
Red. Sometimes you'll get better results if you decrease
Blue and increase Red, each slightly.
To
cool off skin tones reverse the process increasing blue
first, then increasing Red. Unless they are badly off
you won't want to change the green hues very often if
people are present in your scene. While you can, you'll
spend lots of time readjusting the skin tones.
While
not necessary, I finished by applying the Unsharpen
mask as shown in the next image. How much or if you
should even use any sharpening depends on the starting
quality of your source files. With digital cameras the
images should already be crisp. If you do add sharpening,
remember a very small amount is all that is necessary.
If you apply too much you'll make the edges of many pixels
too obvious.The image below only had a very slight amount
of sharpening applied and already you can begin to see
it distorts the hair. So if you use any sharpening, remember
a little goes a long way.
Image #6 after applying all filters. Note that the unsharp
filter actually sharpens the image which is most visible
in the tree bark, hair and eyes. I used the preset
light which is a bit more than I would normally use.
Sharpening videos in general isn't necessary unless you
are working with some pretty bad source files. However
sometimes just a little can improve your video a lot.
In addition to the Unsharp filter there is a sharpen filter
as well.
OK,
finished.
As
you can see just using just a few of the many included
filters you can really improve less than pristine source
files. Human nature being what it is, the effect of applying
the various filters often results in you wanting to tweak
further what you did in previous steps. After sharpening,
I increased luminance to 1.05, and brought back a little
more contrast by pushing up Input start level to
0.030. I also decided a value of -0.0300 was better for
blue. Experience and trial and error will tell you when
you're starting to overdo it. Spending lots of time applying
filters is just as bad as not applying any filters when
your source files need some help. Strike a balance between
not applying any filters and getting carried away.
Of
course the best time to correct images is while the subject
is still in front of the camera. Still you can still make
real improvements post production. With a little practice
it will become second nature. Even extensive use of filters
doesn't take that long to do and the benefits are well
worth the effort if you have less than pristine footage.
