ok this is a first time post for me so i apologise in advance if its abit scatty. i've been editing low budget music videos for local artists for some time now and it's been going quite well, i've been using vegas 6 to edit and magic bullet in after effects to get a 'film look' by just dragging the filter onto the footage and using the auto setup feature and then finally adding the broadcast filter.

Now even tho the artists have always been pleased with the end result and the local tv music channel will play it i cant help but feel i can get more out of magic bullet, i know the default settings seem to be doing an ok job but im sure theres settings im not taking advantage of.

my main concern is the black levels. i've seen short films and indy music videos alike and despite the fact they have very low lighting and they feature a night scene where the only lighting is a dim street light they somehow manage to make the dark and black levels look half decent. when i try to do this i always end up with a grainy video and the blacks just look hideous, i really want to learn how to control this, i think i heard it refered to one time as 'crushing or crunching the black levels' but im not too sure. I hear some videographers talk about using scopes to manage the colours but i have no idea how to use or even what they really do, ive always just tried to go with what i can see with my eyes and correct that way.

Any help would be much appreciated as i feel im very close to figuring out how to get good colour corrected video as i know magic bullet has stepped in to save many projects and can make something suitable for viewing. thank you

May sound a daft question, but have you tried useing the "black restore" in the FX menu? :twisted:

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ggmabaapbnebtrbatst

Most night scenes are actually filmed in the day then made to look night in post.

Less contrast, decrease brightness, increase blue, something like that should do it but I am sure mb has some night presets.

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Lowering the tone of video since 2004.

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Yes, Magic Bullet Editors has a day to night preset.

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thanks for the reply, yes i have tried the restor black fx in vegas but i always find that instead of doing what i want it to which is obviously restore the black to pure black it instead 'fuzzes' up the picture and adds unwanted noise to the image.

In reply to marks comment thats a really good idea im going to give that a try and see what i can come up with, thanks for all your help