Correcting GoPro Hero3 Protune files to match DSLR footage

[Norman Black]

GoPro Protune will require a number of edits to get to a normal/typical visual look. Protune is designed with a log curve so it is very flat in contrast. Also saturation is low, sharpening is low, and noise reduction is lower than standard GoPro output.

Canon standard picture style is deigned to be a nice contrasty final look, unlike GoPro protune.

In trying to use the Sony colormatch FX you might have better results with that after doing typical protune type adjustments of contrast (curves) and saturation adjustments.

As for camera matching skills and workflow I cannot help there.

I played with some protune footage and compared against Cineform studio presets of the same footage. I compared my adjustment to those of the GoPro Cineform adjustments.

I added
Color Curves for contrast
Color Corrector for saturation and overall gamma.
Levels, a little red gamma tweak
convolution kernel for sharpening

[Scott Simpson]

Thanks for laying out a roadmap, Norman. I’ll give those elements a try.

After posting here, I did further digging, and some of that also made me suspect the Color Curves would hold part of the solution — much like using the Technicolor Cinestyle requires the s-curve in Curves to bring the clips back to normal.

I’ll try your recommendations.

I may also give the GoPro studio software another look — I went straight from import to convert, but there’s an optional step in the editing section to tweak the white balance and other options before converting. I might save myself some later work if I can bake the desired changes into the file before the mp4 -> avi expansion.

Thanks!

Canadian broadcaster brought up in analog, living in digital. Radio’s my career, audio-video-photography are hobbies that make a buck here and there.

[Norman Black]

GoPro Studio has some presets, one called protune. That preset takes a protune file and basically make it look like a normal GoPro video. Not terribly useful since the whole reason for using protune is to customize the contrast curve to the situation instead of something canned.

Still that preset is something I used to compare my vegas adjustments to the protune file against a GoPro standard. Actually I did not try to match exactly and I liked my tweaks better as they were custom to the scene.

GoPro studio does not have a curves tool for contrast adjustment. Just a contrast slider.

[Scott Simpson]

If I were to do it again, which I might in the future, I’d just choose a basic setting. If my goal had been to create a spectacular first-person video of a breathtaking moment, I’d want maximum flexibility for fine-tuning the image. In this case, I just wanted another angle to cut in with the other shots…..protune camraw 2k might have been a little bit of overkill for what I was after. You live, you learn.

Canadian broadcaster brought up in analog, living in digital. Radio’s my career, audio-video-photography are hobbies that make a buck here and there.

[Scott Simpson]

FWIW, I tried the effects chain you suggested… still couldn’t get a handle on the white balance being so off. Brought it into the GoPro app instead and made my changes there. The ‘Temp’ slider took me right to where I needed to go, and I was able to adjust contrast, exposure, sharpness, etc., as needed. I’ve then exported that to the high-bitrate Cineform AVI for cutting in Vegas.

This may sacrifice some flexibility for the next step in Vegas, but it takes me 98% of the way toward where I needed to get, and I won’t have the overhead of the Vegas filters weighing on me as I edit.

Thanks a ton for your help. I hope this thread may be useful for someone with a similar question in the future.

Canadian broadcaster brought up in analog, living in digital. Radio’s my career, audio-video-photography are hobbies that make a buck here and there.