out of focus video- fixes in post?

[Robert Schwieger]

Question for you, Is the camera out of focus for long periods of time or is it on auto focus and it’s bouncing back and forth between two focus points frequently?

Also what type of project is it and do you have any other footage, (b-roll, cut aways, etc)?

The reason I ask is because I don’t know of any great solutions to out of focus camera work other than some good old fashioned creative editing. For example if the interview where for a “Behind the Music” for example you could make the footage an extreme color tint and throw in fast cuts of other scenes. You could also use the motion control to zoom in or out of the subject and really get crazy with it and make it look like it’s supposed to look like that.

On the other hand if it’s a coorporate gig where there’s no room for anything like that then you could be in a little bit of a bind.

[Zak Mussig]

Only thing that’s going to fix that is good old-fashioned B-roll.

Zak

[Tom Matthies]

I would deliver a quart of Scotch to your client exactly one hour before you deliver your video.
Tom

[Colin Mcquillan]

you can sharpen the video somewhat with filters,, but it will never look great and will really bring out the ‘video uglies.’

If you can, do a picture in picture, or side by side,, shrinking the image will make it appear a bit sharper.

Other than that, find a new camera op and re-shoot.

Colin McQuillan
Vancouver BC

Octo 3.2, 8gig, 8800GT, 2×23″ ACD, 2TB G-Speed eS, Kona LHe….
MBP 2.4, 4gig , 2xLacie Quadra 500gig….

[Colin Mcquillan]

Here’s another trick,

If the person isn’t horribly soft, Duplicate the video and stack on top of each other, then on the top layer(V2) throw either a feathered oval mask or garbage matte around the subject. Next, throw a gaussian blur or soft focus blur filter on the background layer (V1) and make it subtly softer than the top layer. This will make your subject “sharper” than the BG and bring them out a little better.

*disclaimer* Results may vary depending on footage, operator, and tool available.

Colin McQuillan
Vancouver BC

Octo 3.2, 8gig, 8800GT, 2×23″ ACD, 2TB G-Speed eS, Kona LHe….
MBP 2.4, 4gig , 2xLacie Quadra 500gig….

[Susan Staton]

footage out of focus for several minutes at a time–it IS a corporate project so unfortunately limited as far as getting crazy with it. You brought up some good ideas, and now I’m thinking it would probably be better to just do some really crazy stuff than to let it live as is. Either that or deliver with a bottle of scotch–maybe both:)
Thanks! -S

[Susan Staton]

Thanks Colin- I’ll give that a try.
-S

[Sally Lundburg]

Great tip!
Thanks so much..I searched the cow and found this thread during my online (right now).
love it…rescued the shot.
many many thanks. sally

[Oren Hercz]

Me too! Three years later. . . hey, if FCP X comes out with a post focus feature, I’ll buy it for sure!

[Jake Sullivan]

Collin, your solution is nothing short of a miracle. I shot an interview on a DSLR where the camera had to be off to the side and I was by myself. Although the focus looked good on the camera screen when I got it imported it was clearly off. I followed your advice and it is going to salvage the shot.

Obviously, it won’t look as good as getting it right the first time, but I’ll take it.

Can’t thank you enough.

Jake