Overexposed / blown highlight recovery - help please!

tonykwas schreef op 09.09.2021 om 14:52 uur

New camera (Sony Rx100 mk7) superb 4K footage, but to save battery, the screen that you are reviewing / monitoring with dims to a low setting...inexperience on my part and not used to this camera yet, but I have some nice footage of the grandkids with great grandparents but with blown out / over exposed highlights...

Just upgraded to MEP pro premium 2022 (but not hugely tech savvy) - I've seen many YouTube videos on highlight recovery but all seem to use other software editing systems rather than Magix...before I (heaven forbid) go down the route of extra software and another learning curve, any of you more experienced guys have any suggestions?

I have one...use the damned Zebras and histogram and get it right in the first place...DUH!!!

Thanks in advance if you can help - Tony.

Reacties

CubeAce schreef op 09.09.2021 om 16:48 uur

@tonykwas

Hi Tony. (Wow! only two posts in five years 😃)

It sounds like you know what went wrong and why. Blown highlights in videos are as bad as trying to correct the same problem with jpgs as they both have about the same dynamic range once baked into a file format.

It really depends on how bad it is. Certainly there is an exposure tool or two in the effects sections that will give you an exposure slider and brightness contrast controls but as you know once a photo-site has become saturated it has no effective colour / chroma information to revert back to.

At least the editing is non destructive so no harm done and can be reset so don't be afraid to experiment.

Another suggestion would be a wide brimmed hat or peaked cap to help cover the screen with shade while shooting in future as that screen doesn't look like the type you could add a screen shade to.

Ray.

tonykwas schreef op 09.09.2021 om 17:09 uur

Many thanks Ray...two posts in 5 years eh? - well wouldn't want to be a pest!!! Screen dimming issue only kicks in with 4K, I reckon I just overcompensated...I'll know to be a lot more mindful in the future!

Think I'm going to struggle with this one, but it's a lesson learnt...next hurdle is all the cameras I know have all support LOG footage, so looking to jump into a whole new minefield by trying to load LUTs into 2022 MEP premium - if you know of any threads that have addressed this I'd love to look em up...appreciate your help and advice and really don't want to be asking questions that have been answered 5 times before.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment. regards, Tony

CubeAce schreef op 09.09.2021 om 17:33 uur

@tonykwas @johnebaker

Hi Tony.

I think there may be more forum forum topics than this one but my memory is not as good as others here so I've copied someone into the conversation that should know more.

Ray.

johnebaker schreef op 09.09.2021 om 18:35 uur

@tonykwas

Hi Tony

There are many questions on LUTs in the forum, however the one @CubeAce liked to is probably more appropriate for your needs.

John EB
Forum Moderator

Scenestealer schreef op 10.09.2021 om 02:57 uur

@tonykwas

Hi Tony

Try searching the forum by putting "Adjusting Exposure" in the find box at the top. There are quite a few post where different members describe their methods, although the subject line might not always reflect what is written in the comments.

It is not always easy to make adjustments using MEP without the benefit of the measuring scopes available with VPX but the comments at least give you an idea of what each slider adjustment is designed to do, and can achieve.

With the benefit of VPX waveform and RGB parade I have found a first off adjustment of the Brightness control of minus 5 to 10 brings back any detail that exists in the highs, then as this also lowers the black level - increasing the HDR Gamma control to plus 20 brings back up the dark areas and detail therein.

Peter

tonykwas schreef op 10.09.2021 om 12:07 uur

Many thanks for your help Peter - I am aware that higher level programs such as VPX and others offer better arrays of editing / exposure control but I like the simplicity of MEP...more complex programs inevitably have more complex learning curves !

Whilst this is something I may have to consider in the future I reckon I currently only use 5% max of what MEP offers? - Guess this another good reason for getting it right in the first place eh?

Thanks though for your comments - appreciated - I'll dig back into the forum later...Cheers!