MicrostockGroup
Microstock Footage Forum => Video Equipment / Sofware / Technique => Topic started by: CaptainYoung on March 22, 2015, 02:50
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I am confused about if I should retouch my stock footage, like to do some adjustment in brightness, contrast, saturation and white balance etc.
I use Canon EOS 7D and EOS-M to shoot footage, most of them are editorial, I am not very sure if the original footage from the camera is good enough for sale.
What you guys do?
And I have about 400 clips on sale in different sites, and only have less than 10 times sale every month...
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I rarely submit footage and sales are even more rare. However, I always retouch it (prefer the word "edit", since retouching is more applicable to handwork with photos). Brightness, contrast, white balance, selective color correction as well as skin filter on models. Often I would do it in AE 16 bit to avoid noise after manipulations.
To me it is the same as with photos: commercial value could and should be enhanced during manipulation. Greener grass sells better :)
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I rarely submit footage and sales are even more rare. However, I always retouch it (prefer the word "edit", since retouching is more applicable to handwork with photos). Brightness, contrast, white balance, selective color correction as well as skin filter on models. Often I would do it in AE 16 bit to avoid noise after manipulations.
To me it is the same as with photos: commercial value could and should be enhanced during manipulation. Greener grass sells better :)
Thanks! I have installed the Davinci Resolve today and have a try with my timelapse footage! It's so amazing! Much easier than AE, and after just a little edit, it looks absolutely better than before. It seems I need redo all my files, for the better sale~! :)
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Never heard of it, will take a look :)
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What is DaVinci resolve? Does it have anti shake? That seems to be the only thing i need
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What is DaVinci resolve? Does it have anti shake? That seems to be the only thing i need
This is color grading software, most people use it to get cinematic look.
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If you are shooting in a cinema mode like Cine V as I do, it is almost like shooting in raw. You have to color correct, adjust for contrast, brightness, etc. So I retouch nearly every video except for what comes off my iPhone. I'm using Final Cut Pro X.
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Ia there sometime similar for a Windows user. Probably easier to use than premier?
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Davinci Resolve is available as a free application in a 'Lite' version, but this version has everything you are likely to need, including excellent stabilization but not noise reduction. It is however, a professional program used by colourists on movies and TV programmes and is very powerful - the manual is over 1000 pages long. It takes some getting used to even if you have some video editing experience, and may be more than some can get to grips with if relatively new to video work. I have used Premiere Elements and PowerDirector in the past and these are much more user friendly, being aimed at consumer level use. Some tutorials can be found on YouTube, though be aware that the current version (12) has new features and a slightly different interface to previous versions.
DaVinci Resolve is demanding on computer equipment - 8gb memory minimum and a decent graphics card are advised. It also works in a slightly different way to Adobe, using Nodes to work with effects such as transparency and mattes rather than layers and this takes a little bit of getting used to. I've been using it for a few weeks now and am trying to do all my work on it. The one downside for me is I can't import my old Canon HV20 footage (.m2t) without converting it to ProRes first. Also, I can't export in my favoured MOV/P-JPEG. I have to export in H.264 and convert in MPEG Streamclip.
All in all though, well worth a look.
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Ok, wow, will give this a shot. I'm struggling with premier as of now so guess this will take some time to get used to
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Any other suggestions on easy to learn video editing software?
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If its quick and simple you need then MPEG Streamclip might be worth a look, especially as it's free. It has the ability to trim clips and adjust export quality settings. There are also basis brightness, contrast and saturation controls under 'Adjustments' in the export dialog box. The only trouble with basic brightness & contrast controls is you so often want to adjust different parts of the image in different ways, (darken highlights, lift shadows etc) and simple controls don't cut it for this.
Premiere Elements and PowerDirector are better equipped for entry level colour processing, but I found that the quality of the finished video could be quite poor (artefatcs etc) if going beyond minimal adjustments. Having said that, I have used each of them for several years before finding Davinci Resolve. For the beginner, though, they may be a good bet especially if the full version of Premiere/After Effects/Final Cut etc is a leap too far financially.
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If its quick and simple you need then MPEG Streamclip might be worth a look, especially as it's free. It has the ability to trim clips and adjust export quality settings. There are also basis brightness, contrast and saturation controls under 'Adjustments' in the export dialog box. The only trouble with basic brightness & contrast controls is you so often want to adjust different parts of the image in different ways, (darken highlights, lift shadows etc) and simple controls don't cut it for this.
Premiere Elements and PowerDirector are better equipped for entry level colour processing, but I found that the quality of the finished video could be quite poor (artefatcs etc) if going beyond minimal adjustments. Having said that, I have used each of them for several years before finding Davinci Resolve. For the beginner, though, they may be a good bet especially if the full version of Premiere/After Effects/Final Cut etc is a leap too far financially.
I agree. And their customer service SUCKS!!!
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> Re: Will you retouch your stock footage?
Editorial = No, or only in some special cases
Commercial = Yes
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I've been trying out Magix movie edit pro for some time. Looks like a good enough software with all the basic features
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I mainly do motion graphics stuff directly out of After Effects, but when I shoot video I always use a flat color profile and then color correct in After Effects. If the footage has been shot well then, for me, it's just a case of adding a levels adjustment to add back in a bit of contrast and saturation. If there's a an issue with the color then I can usually fix that with just a curves adjustment. I try and limit myself to correcting the color rather than actually grading the clip... if I do grade at all, then I'll keep it very subtle.
I guess it depends where you're selling your footage. If it's somewhere cheap and cheerful, then your buyers might not be professionals. As a result, they might want stuff ready to go, and if they see a flat color profile they might think it looks 'wrong'. On the other hand, if somebody is paying $299+ for one HD clip, then they're probably going to know what they're doing. I could be wrong, just a thought!
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Ok so after a little bit of effort finally figured out how to do basic stuff in after effects liek using the warp stabilizer and exporting for stock. What else can I do ? how do I do this color grading and other contrast improvement stuff that people keep talking about
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I was reading on another forum that there was one particular stock agency (can't recall which one) that recommended that submitted videos should have no (or at least very minimal) colour grading. In other words a very neutral look. The reason being is that companies buying the footage will do their own grading to match the clip with the rest of the project's footage.
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Well that reduces the chances of a sale as well
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Well that reduces the chances of a sale as well
Although ungraded footage may look less appealing, I guess in some circumstances, it might increase the chance of a sale if a media company is after untouched footage to colour grade themselves. By the way, I made a video sale just recently with an ungraded clip.
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Look at any top list of bestsellers, and they are all graded and ready to go. But yes, there is a market for ungraded, flat clips as well, but you won't clean up with volume sales.