Best Way to adjust soft image at DVinfo.net

Kit Hannah · January 28th, 2007, 09:49 PM

We did an event yesterday where we had a few cameras set up. We had multiple events going on, so we ended up renting one of the cameras (JVC-HD110) for the shoot. Idiot me didn't check the back focus on their camera, and the image is slightly soft (not the worst thing tht could have happened).

Is their a good / recommended way of "helping" this in vegas 7? I tried a bit of the sharpen feature, but it does introduce a bit of noise. The event was recorded in HDV 30p. It may not be that noticeable by the time we dump it to DVD, but I would still like to see if there are any other options to help correct this. I know it won't be perfect, but any suggestionswould be appreciated. Thanks

~By the way, it is just a static wide-shot on a tripod - never moved the whole day~

Jesse Redman · January 28th, 2007, 10:03 PM

Kit,

Glenn Chan has a great article on correcting soft focus in Vegas using the unsharp mask:

http://www.glennchan.info/articles/vegas/usm/usm.html

Good luck,

Kit Hannah · January 29th, 2007, 12:15 AM

Jesse,
Thanks so much, that little bit of info helped out tremendously. It's not ideal, although since it's not closeups or anything, just a wide shot, it makes it look much more acceptable. Thanks again for the help.
Kit

Bill Ravens · January 29th, 2007, 08:27 AM

there's two ways I've found that help soft images. as with anything you do, a great dela of discretion and care must be used, however, having said that, I've found the following helps:
1-using the sony curves, filter, add contrast with a gentle "s" curve
2-apply the sony sharpen filter, with discretion.

use of the sony unsharp mask, imho, adds a lot of noise and makes sharpening unaceptable.

Jesse Redman · February 9th, 2007, 11:24 AM

Bill,

I appreciate your comments about using a great deal of descretion when trying to repair a soft image. You are right about the addition of noise, which is also posible when just adding contrast. But the article I referenced, goes to that issue, using descretion to keep from overblowing the effect.

Kit Hannah · February 9th, 2007, 05:49 PM

I think using the sharpen tool looked much worse than the unsharp mask. I got very little noise from it, and it really cleaned up the image (although it made it a bit more contrasty). I did a light unsharp mask to the other cameras just to match the color's it was outputting, and it looks very acceptable now.

January 28th, 2007, 09:49 PM	#1
Kit Hannah Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, California Posts: 528	Best Way to adjust soft image We did an event yesterday where we had a few cameras set up. We had multiple events going on, so we ended up renting one of the cameras (JVC-HD110) for the shoot. Idiot me didn't check the back focus on their camera, and the image is slightly soft (not the worst thing tht could have happened). Is their a good / recommended way of "helping" this in vegas 7? I tried a bit of the sharpen feature, but it does introduce a bit of noise. The event was recorded in HDV 30p. It may not be that noticeable by the time we dump it to DVD, but I would still like to see if there are any other options to help correct this. I know it won't be perfect, but any suggestionswould be appreciated. Thanks ~By the way, it is just a static wide-shot on a tripod - never moved the whole day~

January 28th, 2007, 10:03 PM	#2
Jesse Redman Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cedar Park, Texas Posts: 182	Kit, Glenn Chan has a great article on correcting soft focus in Vegas using the unsharp mask: http://www.glennchan.info/articles/vegas/usm/usm.html Good luck, __________________ - Jesse XL2 - Vegas - DVDA - Sound Forge - Acid Pro - Cubase SX 3

February 9th, 2007, 11:24 AM	#5
Jesse Redman Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cedar Park, Texas Posts: 182	Bill, I appreciate your comments about using a great deal of descretion when trying to repair a soft image. You are right about the addition of noise, which is also posible when just adding contrast. But the article I referenced, goes to that issue, using descretion to keep from overblowing the effect. __________________ - Jesse XL2 - Vegas - DVDA - Sound Forge - Acid Pro - Cubase SX 3

January 29th, 2007, 12:15 AM	#3
Kit Hannah Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, California Posts: 528	Jesse, Thanks so much, that little bit of info helped out tremendously. It's not ideal, although since it's not closeups or anything, just a wide shot, it makes it look much more acceptable. Thanks again for the help. Kit

January 29th, 2007, 08:27 AM	#4
Bill Ravens Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: santa fe, nm Posts: 3,264 Images: 10	there's two ways I've found that help soft images. as with anything you do, a great dela of discretion and care must be used, however, having said that, I've found the following helps: 1-using the sony curves, filter, add contrast with a gentle "s" curve 2-apply the sony sharpen filter, with discretion. use of the sony unsharp mask, imho, adds a lot of noise and makes sharpening unaceptable.

February 9th, 2007, 05:49 PM	#6
Kit Hannah Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, California Posts: 528	I think using the sharpen tool looked much worse than the unsharp mask. I got very little noise from it, and it really cleaned up the image (although it made it a bit more contrasty). I did a light unsharp mask to the other cameras just to match the color's it was outputting, and it looks very acceptable now.