With HD, the question arises; do you soften closeup shots of people (especially the bride) when it looks like they skipped a few too many appointments with their dermatologist? Occasionally you encounter someone whose complexion is hard to look at with closeup shots. I understand this an ongoing issue with Hollywood actresses. If so, is this something you just do or do you mention it to the bride?

Ive found that Neat Video does wonders for the complexion. ;-))

I use Neat Video especially for low light / high noise footage. It's a great product. My question is more; do you soften faces by whatever means? There are several ways to do it. I'm asking; how do you handle it with the bride?

Just do it! Don't even mind telling her, just make her look beautiful on whatever filter gradings possible, and believe me she will say... oh wow!!! and next time she has an event, you will be on top of her list.

That is what I do. If she asks about it, I suppose a good thing to say is that you made a minor adjustment to compensate for the harsh lighting. I do believe whatever is said should be tactful. You definitely don't want to use words like fixing 'wrinkles' or 'pimples'.

kodak has a plugin that is made for this
KODAK PROFESSIONAL Image Enhancement Plug-Ins: GEM Pro Plug-in (http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/software/imgEnhancePlugIns/gem.jhtml?pq-path=13941)

or even better
Beauty Box : Skin Retouching Video Plugins for After Effects & Final Cut Pro :: Digital Anarchy (http://www.digitalanarchy.com/beautyVID/main.html)
they got it as video plugin

We do... We use Beauty Box, great plug-in. Of course we often go a lot further than just fixing blemishes or wrinkles, we often find ourselves doing extensive roto work to remove unwanted objects in the shot.... really, there are probably better uses of time then spending hours on an edit that the bride would probably never notice in a million years, but if it doesn't get fixed it will drive me insane.

we often find ourselves doing extensive roto work

I had a real ROTFL moment with that one. I envisioned a bride with a recent 'outbreak' getting a major rotoscope job. Now all we need is a fat filter and an ugly filter. ;-)

I once told my wife I wanted to practice rotoscoping on her. She said "that's discusting" and I truely thought she was going to collect my life insurance. I strongly advise choosing word more carefully than I did when or if discussing this "procedure" with a bride.
O|O
\--/

Hahaha! When I said roto work I didn't mean on a bride... I'm talking about unwanted objects in the background. For example our own gear that was left on the floor or some other object that is distracting.

I hope the amusement value of this message will allow it to be off topic.

In 1972, when my then wife and I returned to the UK after 3 years in Chicago, amongst our possessions air-freighted home was a then new gadget for removing creases from hanging curtains. It was declared on the manifest as a Wrinkle Remover. When I went to Customs to pay my import duties, the officer said he had no idea what a Wrinkle Remover was but had charged it as a Cosmetic Appliance. I replied that my wife, then 29, would be aghast and explained what it actually was. The Customs officer said I should soften the blow by telling her that, if he'd known what it really was, the rate of duty would have been double.

On a more serious note, Jim is right about the history of retouching techniques in film. I recall when the TV series "Moonlighting" was made they used a half filter which softened one side of the picture (Cybil Shepherd's) whilst leaving the other (Bruce Willis's) unchanged. However, the filter wasn't made for this series but discovered at the studio - a relic from earlier days when it was made (I think I recall correctly) for Bette Davis though it's hard to imagine even her needing it as a young woman.

Jim, have you used the SKINTONE DTL feature on your FX1? If so, what's your opinion of how well it works in situations like this?

Hey Adam, I need to update my profile info. My main camera now is an EX1R and I'm adding a Panasonic GH2 to my 'bag' as soon as it's released.

I didn't try the Skintone DTL on my FX1. I'm generally afraid to use in-camera FX for fear of damaging footage. I do use the Cine 3 setting in a Picture Profile because I like the way it reduces crushing blacks. This whole subject of in-camera correction is something I should become more familiar with.

Yeah, I never tried it when I had my FX1's either for the same reasons you describe. Always wondered if it worked.

Hmm, this sounds like old fashioned wedding thinking, where authenticity was exchanged for "perfection." I think these people own mirrors. I'd rather highlight what makes people unique, rather than feed into this outdated concept that you should hide any imperfections. Do your best to make your production perfect, and let the reality come through full force IMO.

We have had brides request to more or less remove them from the video - one bride in particular due to an imaginary double-chin. In that sort of case you should just show you're attempting to "fix" it but don't lose perspective on what your real job is.