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mixin visuals · Jun 19, 2003, 04:33 PM

ok, i was watching something on tv last night and they had a mafia guy or something on and they had him in a dark room with his face unrecognizable.

i was wondering, seeing the power of final cut pro's color correction capabilities, if it would be possible to attempt to pull out the darkness so you can make the persons face out.

if anyone gets a chance to try this let me know. i don't have a camera to get footage on my computer right now.

rezzi · Jun 19, 2003, 06:07 PM

Good thought, but I don't see how it would be possible to extract the face if it was filmed in a veil of darkness. Now if the shadows were created digitally, there might(?) be a chance....anyone else?

EnVoy · Jun 19, 2003, 07:07 PM

If there is no detail in the shadowed area of the face in the source footage, then most likely there is nothing to get out of the shadows by lightening it up.

mixin visuals · Jun 19, 2003, 08:41 PM

Originally posted by EnVoy:
If there is no detail in the shadowed area of the face in the source footage, then most likely there is nothing to get out of the shadows by lightening it up.

i am not sure about that. i was watching some photoshop guru fix a photograph that was seriously black from lack of a flash, and he said that all the image info was still there but you just couldn't see it until you adjusted the levels.

which he did and turned a black picture to a perfect picture.

tooki · Jun 20, 2003, 12:44 AM

Well, no, the data's not really there... you're closer to the noise floor, so as you magnify the image data, you magnify noise as well.

You know the saying: garbage in, garbage out.

tooki

mixin visuals · Jun 20, 2003, 01:12 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
Well, no, the data's not really there... you're closer to the noise floor, so as you magnify the image data, you magnify noise as well.

You know the saying: garbage in, garbage out.

tooki

i hear you, but i have seen it done with photos very easily. and i have seen final cut take worthless video and turn it into perfect video. even iphoto has the enhance button that can work wonders in one click.

i hope someone can actually try it out and see from video
.

CreepShow · Jun 21, 2003, 02:43 PM

mb a garbage matte? or select the guys face and color correct/brightness/contrast? or Photoshop image (map the area u want dark and put it on top layer, play with opacity?) or call show makers? :c)

dampeoples · Jun 21, 2003, 04:36 PM

You can adjust lighting/contrast in QT Pro, that might help a little bit.

SunSeeker · Jun 23, 2003, 10:52 AM

In photoshop.

Curves
Cmd-Click the area you wish to lighten
Press your up arrow repeatedly
(Hold Shift for bigger steps)

Does curves exist in FCP?

This method will lift any detail that is there, although it will look pretty bad if the area is severely underexposed. To use a technical term it will be as 'Flat as Ar5eholes' (low in contrast), as someone said before 'Garbage in, Garbage out'

EnVoy · Jun 24, 2003, 09:30 AM

i am not sure about that. i was watching some photoshop guru fix a photograph that was seriously black from lack of a flash, and he said that all the image info was still there but you just couldn't see it until you adjusted the levels.

which he did and turned a black picture to a perfect picture.

Ok, but "all the info was there" is the key thing. If the info is not there, you will get nothing but noise (grain). The latitude of a tv signal is much, much lower than the latitude of film. This means that on film you can have black areas that still have detail, even if you cant see it. We in the Photography business call this BW/D (Black With Detail). So the Photoshop Guru was able to pull the detail out of the image, becuase it was there, you just couldn't see it.

All this being said, if the Dir. of Photography lit the mans face to have detail, than you should be able to pull it out, but with the small latitude of the tv medium you would most likely be able to see it however slight. If he lit it to not have detail, you will only get noise.

Those special "enhance buttons", and FCP being able to make good video out of bad, will only work if there is something to work on. No detail, nothing to work on. Like the guy above said, garbage in, garbage out....

DeathMan · Jun 25, 2003, 01:37 AM

Its different with a photo than with tv because with a photo there is detail there even if you're eye can't really make it out. You can scan the photo at a massive resolution, and the computer CAN find the detail, and you can bring it out.

Whereas a tv is 640 px X 480px, and you can pretty much tell if its black, you're not getting much out of it.

It all has to do with how much info is available for photoshp to work with. A photo, can give tons. Video, hardly any.

FXWizard · Jun 25, 2003, 02:52 PM

Check out http://www.virtix.com/fcp/index.asp as it has a "Witness Protection" feature that might work for you. I know it isn't what you were describing but it will obscure the face...