Over the last ten years two pairs of letters have given us all the power to make movies, DV and PC. Even modestly priced DV cameras can produce surprisingly good video but with a few tweaks you can improve the look of any camera's output from mediocre to stunning. The problem is that most DV cameras typically produce images low in both contrast and vibrancy. Unfortunately we can’t add detail that was never there, but most video editors have a few tools that to give that wishy washy DV video more punch and vibrancy. The first thing you should understand is how to use 'curves'. The following advice is Vegas specific but the technique can be applied in most decent editors.

Image 1 below is our unprocessed image straight from the DV camera.  It was shot in natural light from a window on the upper left and the exposure carefully set. 

The image looks acceptable and for years this is the sort of look my films had.  With a bit of work we can make the video appear as if you spent a whole lot more on your camera than you actually did. The first big improvement comes from playing with the 'colour curves' effect in Vegas: 

1) Open Vegas,
2) Bung in a bit of video
3) Now look at the icons just to the right of the track name / number, click the third icon in, image2, which opens a new window (the plug in chooser)

4) Select 'Sony colour curves'. 
5) The video track FX window will open showing the curves plug in, image 3 

Any further effects you add will appear in a chain at the top of this window and be switched on or off with the tick box.  Clicking an effect in the chain shows the effects parameters in the window. We are now going to liven up the look of the video by pulling the curve.  At present you should see a straight line, this means that a particular brightness level input produces the same output from the curves plug in, or effect.

This is a very complex plug in but we will be using it in a straightforward way, leave 'channel' on RGB so we adjust all colours at the same time.  Near the bottom left and top right of the box, on the line, you can see black dots, these are the handles that can be used to pull the curve, grab them and hold the LMB and you will see what I mean.  Adjust them so they look something like image4. 

Now our video looks much more interesting:

In comparison the flat unprocessed image looks really dull and uninteresting - in just a few clicks we have lost some of the DV drabness and have a much more film like involving look. You can curve colours separately and add more handles with the left button to create some really interesting and just plain weird effects such as the image below. The basic curve shape is one I now use on most of my films to give them more impact.

Look our for my next article on ‘saturation’