This is a very serious problem, as “over-iris” can be difficult to correct (it loses image data in the too-bright areas.)
But, I saved this from last year on the COW:
Name: Philip Hodgetts
Date: Mar 26, 2005 at 11:09 pm
Subject: Re: footage way 2 bright!
Multiply mode is particularly effective – if there’s any detail in the highlights it will build up (Multiply mode always darkens an image). Don’t be afraid to stack more than 2 copies to get the density you might need.
if you want to thicken up the highlights without darkening the darker areas, try isolating the highlights with a chroma key filter (yeh, don’t worry about the name) set to near white to pick out the highlights (you’ll need to invert the chroma keyer but that’s easy).
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Or you can add the Color Corrector 3-Way Filter and slide down the “White” and “Mid” level controls.