GRADING QUERY FCP7 – Is there a way to make a cloudy day look sunny?

[Shane Ross]

Not really, no. Sunny days cause harsher shadows. Shadows on the face, on the ground…all over. They stand out. Clouds are big diffusers, they soften the lighting. You cannot adjust lighting in post with something like FCP, or even Color. You’ll need higher end software to emulate this. I’ve seen it done on a FLAME…but even then, it looked wonky.

Shane
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[Zoe Westley]

Hi Shane

Thats what i thought might be the case, hmm, i’m not sure what to do as the acting is superb, its just the cloud really ruins it.

thanks

Zoe

[Mark Suszko]

First do a sky replacement, tracking the footage and painting out or keying out/matting out the overcast sky in any shots that show sky.

Second, you can match the colors from the sunny day, but you’re going to have to create shadow detail that wasn’t there under the flatter overcast lighting. Since you’re desperate and have no other options, shy not try combining several tracks of the video using a mix of blend modes and opacity setting, combining a track where the blacks are all crushed, with tracks that have a wider dynamic range. See if this gets you closer. Then flatten the shading in the sunlit shots and see if you can make the two days “meet somewhere int he middle”.

This is never going to be perfect, you an only hope it will be somewhat “better”, and ‘acceptable”.

[Zoe Westley]

Hey Mark

thanks for your reply, we are just signing off the cut and then we are going to try your idea. Fingers crossed it works, but thanks for the advice.