How to darken highlights (bring back detail) without darkening the whole image – levels? plugin?

[Todd Kopriva]

Check out the Curves effect.

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
After Effects quality engineering
After Effects team blog
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[Vishesh Arora]

guy

You are changing the Output White Value which is affecting the whole image.

Try tweaking the Input White and Input Black values.

Vishesh Arora
3D and Motion Graphics Artist
Films Rajendra

Blog:
https://digieffects.wordpress.com

Demo Reel(3D):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPgIJU_BR8

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

I’m with Todd on this – Curves is a good choice for selectively lightening/darkening an image. A Curves setting similar to the image below should do the trick.

FWIW, Exposure is also a viable alternative.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects ACE/ACI (version 7)

[Vishesh Arora]

Roland

I agree with both of you to use Curves effect. But I gave the Levels settings just in case if guy want to stick with it.

Vishesh Arora
3D and Motion Graphics Artist
Films Rajendra

Blog:
https://digieffects.wordpress.com

Demo Reel(3D):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPgIJU_BR8

[Chris Wright]

i think the shadow/highlight effect is way easier to use.

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Shadow/Highlight is not supported by the Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously multiprocessing feature. The following, in italics, is taken from here – https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/memory-storage.html.

If a composition uses any of the following effects, the composition will not be rendered with the Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously multiprocessing feature:

Auto Color
Auto Contrast
Auto Levels
Cartoon
Lens Blur
Particle Playground
Shadow/Highlight

Note:
Some third-party effects—such as CC Time Blend and RE:Vision Effects Video Gogh—are also incompatible with the Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously multiprocessing feature

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects ACE/ACI (version 7)

[Darby Edelen]

You can achieve similar results to the Shadows/Highlights effect by duplicating your footage, then on the duplicate:

1) Invert the footage.

2) Set the layer to Soft Light.

3) Apply an optional Blur (this behaves like the radius in Shadow/Highlight).

4) Apply Levels and tweak to taste.

The big difference here is that the nature of the Soft Light blend mode does not allow this technique to change the white/black levels of the image but instead reduces contrast in the midtones (like an inverted S-Curve).

Other similar methods can be used to only reduce highlights, such as Inverting the footage, setting the layer to Multiply, adjusting Levels and reducing the opacity (this will change the white level).

Darby Edelen

[Kevin Camin]

@Roland-

I don’t think your curve is a good idea. It lowers the white point for the entire image there by reducing it’s contrast. It is the same as what the OP was doing with levels’ outputs.

I would keep the curve ends at the corners and go in and then create a shape like you are suggesting.

If this is a serious issue with a big client where everything has to be perfect, you might have to create a matte for just the blown out sky, and then work on it separately. You have a nice shot and you want to keep the specular highlights looking very bright on the metal binocular gadget.

If this is a still image for your AE project. Just fix it in PS and just mask the sky. PS is an infinitely easier program to work on stills.

Best regards,

Kevin Camin

[Chris Wright]

a long time ago i made a blow out template with sliders for ae cs3.
it’s vivid blends with alpha mattes. you can change the precomp to soft light for a different look. it should work with multiple frames and is 32bpc too.

ae cs3 aep
https://www.mediafire.com/?5vkfg7ash7tgvj7