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Fluorescent Light Flicker
I shot some footage in hospital in India using an NTSC PD-150 in full auto mode. It has a noticeable flicker to it from the fluorescent lights. I tried the flicker filter in FCP5 to no avail. I also randomly tried applying the strobe, motion blur filters to no avail, and the de-interlace (which made it worse.) Obviously I have no idea what I’m doing. Anyone know a solution to this problem?
I do own Nattress Film Effects and am converting this footage to 24p, if that makes any difference. So far, though, the flicker looks the same pre and post conversion. But, perhaps there’s something in the Nattress filter set that I can use?
Cheers,
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3 Replies
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It’s unlikely any filter will take that flicker out but do report back if you find something.
– Rick
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The problem was you shot with a US camera that runs at 60Hz and the lights flicker at the countries native 50 Hz power rate. I’ve edited footage that was shot like this and there isn’t a ‘plug-in’ to fix it. Same issue when DP’s shoot variable frame-rate with HMI lighting and no flicker-free ballasts.
A quick trick on shooting (next time) is to set your US camera’s shutter to 100 Hz (double the 50Hz) and it works pretty well.
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Thanks guys. I thought there might not be a post fix. And, I figured the cause was something to do with the NTSC vrs. foreign electricity, etc. Thanks, also, for suggesting how to fix it the next time.
For this piece, I’ll live with the look. At least the flicker fits with the setting: a somewhat run down hospital room in a low-income district of Bombay.
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