A clip I did in Vegas 5
 

The following is a clip I recently completed for an opening vignette to a project I'm doing regarding the Nurses Day Celebration at my work. I was very heavy on the filters etc- to try and spruce up the otherwise drab shots. The day was very hot and hazy which gave everything a very grey look. Vegas 5 did a great job of offering the filters, etc to help artistically color correct the footage and make it look more interesting.

Comments are welcome- positive or negative. Thanks.


http://home.comcast.net/~g.elliott3/...g_Vignette.wmv

Wow! Fantastic - I didn't want it to end. Looks great!
What camera were you using and what filters?

Very nice Glen! Good work. That's all I can say after watching it <g>

Glen, very impressive work! Nice soundtrack for conveying the mood.

Glen, thought you did a good job. I liked the "square" of color over the baloons :-).

Thanks for all the kind words. It was shot on a PD-170. Here's a few visual examples of what I did in Vegas 5:

I had an oval Color Gradient on a track above all the clips. It would fade from black (on the edges) to transparent (in the middle). I couldn't get the gradient as smooth as I wanted so I added a modest gausian blur.



With the Rack Focus shot I added a Secondary Color Corrector to remove the color of the walls in the background giving the flowers focus. Overall it started as a colorful shot and could have gone either way but I felt greyscaling the background put more emphasis on the flowers...as I wanted the focus to be the rack focus on them- without it the overall colorfullness of the image distracts from the effect:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Laz...er%20RackF.jpg


With the road shot in the beginning I had to do a bunch of filtering to make this shot interesting. The day was hot and INCREDIBLY humid giving everything a greyish haze. I added a Color Corrector first to help boost the saturation, and lower the black point to give it more contrast. The image still had a discernable humidity haze so I decided to work with it and actually accentuate it using a Glow filter. The 2nd video track with the Color Gradient vignette particularly adds to the depth in this shot:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Laz.../V5%20Road.jpg


There wasn't too much I did to the close-up rose shot. Just a simple Color Corrector to boost saturation and the ongoing vignetting from the Color Gradient:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Laz...0Rose%20CU.jpg



The flower/sign shot is a good example of what I like the Color Gradient vignette to do. This shot was completly unaltered apart from the vignetting. I feel, IMO, it added some depth to the shot and made it a bit more interesting:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Laz...20Vignette.jpg



For the tree tops shot I added a Color Corrector to help add contrast, and boost the saturation of the leaves a bit. I then added a Glow filter to bring out the light peeking behind the leaves:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Laz...ree%20Tops.jpg

Great clip!

I'm wondering... did you mean for the glow effect to give the telephone pole on the left of the opening road scene that little flash? Actually, I guess I'm assuming it was the glow that did it.

I've sometimes been getting some unexpected results when combining the glow with other effects.

-Kevin

Yes it was the glow that did it. It seems if there is something that is within the threshold of the affected luminance for the glow filter entering a the edges of the screen it acts a bit irractically. With closer inspection I can see that it appears right as the pole with some white on it and the transformer on top enters the frame. It's almost like the glow filter doesn't know how to handle new bright areas just as they enter the frame. Good eye- though I was the only one that noticed that.

I'm not worried about it however as it's well into the overscan zone.

Well all in all I really enjoyed the clip. Now I've got to figure that color rectangle across the baloon trick. That's really cool. Don't suppose you want to share the effect chain VEG for it?

:)

-Kevin

Actually it's pretty simple- create a duplicate of your clip on the track above the original. Desaturate the top one- using Color Corrector, B&W filter, and so on (so many way to do it). Then add a cookie cutter to the top (desaturated clip) and tell it to cut away selection. I chose a rectangle then just animated the mask's position using key frames.

Yeah, Glen - I had already figured out the "how" but it DID look good in that situation. I'll have to keep my eye out for other situations where something like that might look good!

Edward yeah I've been looking for a time to use that effect. However my first intention was to have the balloon clip start in greyscale then have each of the 4 balloons light up in color after one another. Problem was I couldn't figure out how to choose more than one color with the Secondary Color corrector. If I could I could simply ad a key frames to animate them lighting up in sequence. Or I could create 3 separate clips...one with the first color, another with the first and second, and a final one with the first second and third balloons in color. Then I could sych the 3 separate clips and do dissolves into each other giving it the effect. This strategy also required that I select more than on color in the secondary color corrector.

When I went with the idea of having a shape scroll across the screen in color I originally had the clip and it's duplicate (which was needed to achieve the effect) nestled where they belong on the timeline. Despite the dissolve in and out matching on both clips...towards the beginning and end (during the dissolve) you could see the beginning of the clip fade in at full color. I'm assuming because during the dissolve in each clip is in partial transparancy- 50% color clip and 50% black and white.........so that give you a clip that is roughly 50% colored. To fix this I had to move the two clips off of the original sequence to a vacant area of the timeline, get rid of the disolves (in and out) then render the clip as a separate DV AVI. Once rendered separately I moved the new rendered clip back to where the original two clips resided and added the dissolves they originally had, maintained conveniently by some well placed markers. lol Sounds like a lot for a 4 second shot....all in all it took maybe 3 minutes though. If you look closely I added a bit of a glow to that clip too...you can see it in the highlights of the balloon relections. I'm a glow'aholic! lol

I believe you would have needed FOUR extra clips (fifth would have been the B&W version) EACH with a secondary color corrector for one single balloon color. Could have looked cool, though.

Hmm- how could I do that...use a "color" compositing mode to blend them?

Glenn . . I've said it all elsewhere . .. still it is very beautiful indeed!

Grazie

<<<-- Originally posted by Glen Elliott : Hmm- how could I do that...use a "color" compositing mode to blend them? -->>>

I think you could just put them all on a separate track. Can you send me a full color JPG or PNG of one of those frames?

Not sure if this would work but I will offer it up because it seems to make sense.

I find the secondary color corrector can choose more than just one color. If I make my selection over a yellow flower and extend it to an adjacent red flower when I desaturate the picture only yellow and red show. I need to be careful to have one flower overlapping the other so there is no other color between them.

So since we are unable to make a selection on the yellow, then click the control key and make another color selection, thereby grabbing two colors I figure you can fool Vegas. I haven't tried this and have to run out or I would do it....

Take a snapshot of one frame with all the colored balloons. Put it in photosop and move one balloon next to another...possibly cut them in half and but the left half of yellow balloon to the right half of red balloon. Put this still on the timeline and select the two balloons. Copy the properties to another color corrector that you would use with the clip...or use the effect on the entire track so it works the still and the clip. If this works, then you could do it with three balloons.

Would this work?

Have you tried using 4 secondary color correctors?

Great job Glenn. Where did the music come from?

Glenn:Have you tried using 4 secondary color correctors?

Problem is if you add one the rest of the image is desaturated so you can't make a color selection for the second one. Unless....you can make multible secondary color correctors and make color selections on each PRIOR to reversing the mask and desaturationg the other colors. Then again, still, once you go back to desaturate the background of the first color corrector it's going to counteract the other ones....*just thinking out loud here*


Michael:Great job Glenn. Where did the music come from?

The track is entitled "Reunion" off the Children of Dune TV series soundtrack.

Yep, all previous praise echoed here too. Looks and sounds great.

I'm also interest to know what camera you used and what settings, in particular with regard to the rack focus with the flowers clip. Are you one of the lucky ones with a zoom ring or are you just super-dextrous?

Again, nice job.

Thanks Ian. All shots were done on a PD-170. The rack focus shot was achieved by opening the iris as wide as possible (lowering the depth of field) in addition to getting really close to the subject. I don't think my distance from the first set of flowers affected the ability to do a rack focus but made the effect look more drastic beings it occupied more of the frame.

I still am amazed at what SOUND and MUSIC does for a picture ;)

Ok what about 5? :D
For one of them, limit just saturation with 0 minimum. The max should be high enough to get everything except for the balloons. Desaturate.

Then use the 4 other CCs for each balloon.

OR

Use *8* secondary color correctors.

Superimpose the video onto itself. You can use the CC to punch holes for each of the balloons to let the bottom layer show through.

Set each CC to alpha = 0, and the effect range on each color of each balloon.

And then set 4 CCs on the bottom track.

I would use 4 secondary color correctors BUT I WOULD DO IT ON FOUR SEPARATE COPIES OF THE CLIP. The secondary color corrector can make a mask for that one color. So you could use 4 of them on 4 clips to create 4 masks that let each individual color show through. Then put the B&W version for the background.

Glen, e-mail me a JPG or PNG from one of the balloon frames and I'll experiment.

Edward, good thinking there. I wonder which method renders the fastest and gives good results?

Edward- the jpg went out to you yesterday. Check your mail- if you don't have it I'll re-send it.


*Anyway, the only part I don't quite grasp is how this will work with multiple layers. In the Secondary Color Corrector when you make a selection for a "mask" that mask is only defines what the Secondary Color Corrector affects or doesn't affect on that layer. The mask doesn't denote transparancy to allow layers beneath to show.*

Glen, I never saw it. Try again and I'll keep a careful lookout for it.

Back to commenting on the music part of this video. Glen I think the cutting of the music you did on the closing of your last recent Nurses' Day celebration was more impressive than this piece...and it was upbeat to meet the mood of the celebration.

I think you need to post that so people can comment on the cutting and pasting the clips to the music.

Don't you guys think so also??

heh heh

Alpha = transparency. In the secondary color corrector, you can set alpha to 0 (hence, the affected footage becomes transparent; you can invert mask to make everything else transparent). Does that make sense?

<<<-- Originally posted by Glenn Chan : Alpha = transparency. In the secondary color corrector, you can set alpha to 0 (hence, the affected footage becomes transparent; you can invert mask to make everything else transparent). Does that make sense? -->>>

Makes perfect sense- just never knew or thought to try that.

Charley- Yeah the highlight Vignette from the Nurse's Day Awards Ceremony a few months back was a bit more upbeat and hip w/ fast cuts and a more charged score. Personally I feel this peice is better from an objective videography standpoint. There were "more" things in that peice that bothered me than this one. I'm my own worst critic.

Btw, Edward has been sending me some .VEG's with some cool results he achieved using the balloons clip I sent him.

Feel free to post them if you want, Glen. You'll need to post the picture too.

The webspace I have available only allows JPG, MPG, WMV, and TXT files.

Very nice... I need to learn more about the filtering and slomo in Vegas ..What do you do at the hospital?

Vince

I have a clerical position. Even if I end up doing Wedding Videography full-time I'd most likely still work there at least part time to continue recieving my state benefits.

I hear that... I work for a pretty good media co. the bennys are good and I like what I do ...doing weddings on the side since HI8 Canon L1. I want to grow the wedding business some more but would stay at my day job ..What camera did you use ..I think I saw a post where you had Pana. 100 but moved to the Sony 170 true? I have the 150 and love it at this time I am looking for a backup camera vx 2000 or pdx10.. I know the pdx10 is not very good in low light but it would be the backup so....

Vince

Yes it was shoot with a PD-170. All my current weddings are shot with a PD-170 and VX2100. I've worked with the DVX100, GL-1, XL-1s..and the PD-170/VX2100 are by far (IMO) the best wedding videography cams. Not only are they small and versitile they are unsurpassed in low light quality- dark receptions are no longer a hassle.

thanks Glen

I am a big Sony fan, very robust in the broadcast indst. and it is so in the videography world


Vince

<<<-- Originally posted by Charley Gallagher : Back to commenting on the music part of this video. Glen I think the cutting of the music you did on the closing of your last recent Nurses' Day celebration was more impressive than this piece...and it was upbeat to meet the mood of the celebration.
-->>>

I didn't see the previous clip but I didn't think the music quite fit on this one. Unless I misunderstand this was a celebration video, right? The music was a bit too somber for my taste.

Just my opinion.

Dennis Vogel

<<<-- Originally posted by Glen Elliott :
The track is entitled "Reunion" off the Children of Dune TV series soundtrack. -->>>

Oops! Did you secure the rights to use this? As an experienced videoographer I'm sure you're aware of copyright issues. I'd hate to see you get burned.

Dennis Vogel