Effects to the rescue
- — 24 February, 2004 07:58
In this column we take you through how to rescue your footage step-by-step with some time-honoured tools. Video editing applications provide various tools you can use to transform your movie and make it more compelling and entertaining, but you may not have considered using them to help rescue a piece of footage.
How often have you unearthed a video file that you would love to use but can’t, because some aspect of the footage is not up to the required standard? The colour may be unbalanced, camera shake may be too pronounced, or the focusing may not have been razor sharp.
High-end applications allow you to correct some of these problems, with powerful colour correction and stabilising tools to rescue bad video from the digital trash can, yet often these tools are not available in entry-level video editing appli-cations. Thankfully, through the use of video effects that are commonly avail-able within most affordable packages — and even Microsoft’s free MovieMaker 2 (www.microsoft.com/windowsXP/moviemaker) — you can breathe new life into even the most problematic video clip.
Speed Up/Slow Down
Changing the speed of a clip can often add a dramatic effect, controlling the tone of a movie by making a clear statement on how the scene is to be viewed.
For example, you may not be happy with a wedding scene where the bride appears to be virtually running down the aisle to the altar, taking any solemnity out of the occasion. Naturally, you can’t ask the bride to redo the big moment, and it’s possibly the only footage you have of a very important scene.
By slowing down the footage so that it is virtually a slow-motion clip, the scene now becomes a dramatic piece. The first step is to determine where you want the effect to begin, split the clip and apply the effect. In Microsoft Movie Maker 2, go to the Movie Tasks pane and select the View Video Effects section, and then the Slow Down, Half effect (FIGURE 1). If you want to slow the clip more, simply drag the Slow Down, Half effect onto the clip and the footage will be slowed further.
To create a comic element in a piece of footage, the Speed Up, Double effect can be used. Remember that when you alter the video speeds, the audio will also be affected, so try to use these effects when you plan to include background music rather than use the audio recorded on the original footage.
Entry-level programs such as Ulead VideoStudio 7 (www.asiapac.ulead.com) offer tools that can achieve similar results. To alter the playback speed of a clip when working within VideoStudio 7, select the clip you want to alter in the timeline, right-click the mouse and select playback speed from the resulting window. Once you are satisfied with the altered speed (either faster or slower), click OK and the clip will be ready to go.
Working with colour
VideoStudio 7 has a useful Colourshift filter that alters the colour balance of a particular clip. This means that a clip with a blue or red cast, but which is otherwise perfect, can be rescued and used in a movie project. The Colourshift filter can be found in the Video Filter section of the selection panel. Remember, though, that this could quickly turn into a tedious affair if you are working on several clips, so decide if the clip is valuable enough to include before you begin fixing it.
Unfortunately, some entry-level pro-grams may not allow you to alter the colour balance of a clip.
With a little investigation, you may be able to utilise other effects from your video editing program to bring a sub-standard clip back to life.
For example, if a clip doesn’t have perfect colour balance, why not transform the footage completely? Some effects allow you to give your video an old 16mm film feel, which may be an effective way to create a nostalgic atmosphere.
VideoStudio 7 has a few effects, in--cluding Monochrome and Old Film (FIGURE 2), that transform your footage into either a straight black and white film or gives a grainy, scratchy effect that makes the footage appear as if it had been taken a generation ago. Microsoft Movie Maker 2 also has an impressive series of effects to make your film look older, grainy or even sepia.
Experienced video editors often criticise the overuse of effects and filters as a distraction.
However, if you need to rescue some footage that you particularly like, take a fresh look at the tools you have at your disposal. You may be able to perform some restoration magic with a couple of clicks of the mouse.
