Edit out 'black spot'?

I read the 'edit out smoke' posts with interest as I have a similar but hopefully somewhat easier clean-up task

Earlier this year I took some (totally un-repeatable) underwater footage off Belize of migrating whalesharks. Unfortunately - sod's law - during this dive (probably the most amazing dive I've ever had in 30 years) there was a small speck of black plastic loose in the u/w housing on the inside of the lens port and much of the footage has a small but highly distracting 'black spot' just off center in the frame. The size and edge sharpness of the spot varies with the focal length of the shot - telephoto it is gone, wide angle it is quite sharp and black, but still has 'fuzzy' edges.

I have 'made do' with much of the material, especially the medium shots which are thankfully very useable.

Now I'd like to re-address the issue. Question: is there any post production technique that could be used in FCP5 with DV material that would allow me to 'clean off' the spot and salvage more clips?

I've heard talk of a 'scratch filter' but so far not been able to track anything down. I'd like to preseve the overall quality of the images and not 'dumb down' the sharpess with use of a 'blurring' type filter

> Now I'd like to re-address the issue. Question: is there any post production
> technique that could be used in FCP5 with DV material that would allow me
> to 'clean off' the spot and salvage more clips?

If the spot is stationary, it's a much easier job. You should sample a part of the frame which has a similar colour to the missing speck, matte it, smooth out the edges with feathering, then lay it on top of the frame needing the repair. If the colour doesn't match completely, use Color Corrector or RGB Balance to fine-tune the "repair spot" to match. You'll still need to adjust whenever an object in the frame crosses over the speck, but your situation sounds a lot more manageable. However, it's definitely a job for when you've locked down a cut, since you'll still probably need to do frame-by-frame repairs at some spots.

With a stationary problem, you're in much better shape. There is more than one technique that might serve you depending on the shot. A simple garbage matte atop a duplicate clip above the initial shot. Cut out a bit of the ocean that is clean, or better yet find a clean shot and use that and composite it over the black spot.

In some places where the spot isn't as large and noticable, you might be able to get by with a small matte and a blur effect.

Andy

Hi Nick,

You might want to take a look at the CHV 'clone tool', it was created to fix this type of problem.

[www.chv-plugins.com]

--ken

These are great suggestions, thanks guys.

I've been working with the Color Corrector filter to match hues on other clips (BTW thanks Ken for the excellent new article on your website about this) and now it looks like I need to start getting profficient with mattes - I'll begin with this route to get a better feel of the size of the problem and then maybe buy CHV's plug-in if I run into issues.

Unfortunately there is a lot of movement in the damaged clips - although the black spot is stationary, the beasts swimming in front are in constant motion, and if you ever looked at the back of a whale shark you'll know it is a fantastic pattern of camouflaged stripes and spots! so it seems that quite a lot of frame by frame repairs will probably be necessary. Luckily I don't have a deadline on this - goes into the 'labor of love' category

The CHV clone tool looks like an extremely useful plug-in, I've now contacted CHV to see whether I can download that separately as I don't really need the full suite of creative 'paint tools' that it's packaged with.

Ken, great tip, I'm getting that Clone and Paint pack, it just looks too cool a tool. Should have researched that product line years ago.

- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Paste Overwrite- Command-V.
Paste INSERT- Shift- V!

The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

"too cool a tool" Loren - you should be in marketing! There is a branding tag in there somewhere .....

I'd be interested in your feedback once you've played with the CHV Clone stuff. I'm currently matting furiously but an easier way could help save my failing eyesight

Cheers, Nick

I would write a review for Mike or Dan but I need a specific project for it. I've had them in the past and we've found clunkier ways around, such as you mention; matting, or PIP 'cloning"-- all tortuous. This looks like fun. Must find some bad camerawork!

I bet the Digital heaven pack form martin Baker has something useful for this as well. I wonder if DH_Dropout could be employed.

- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Paste Overwrite- Command-V.
Paste INSERT- Shift- V!

The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

Hi Loren,

thanks that you like my Clone-tool. For stationary dirt-spots on your lens and (for example) broken pixels of the CCD, the Clone plugin ist very useful to eliminate such errors by simply doing a "copy" of surrounding pixels.

Even is your dirt slowly slides down the lens (what a mess), Clone can follow the dirt by keyframing the area the should be overwritten.

Any questions ? Let me know.

Hi, Chris-

I was wondering when paint-on tools for FCP would arrive, (should have been more attentive) and I'm happy they're affordable.

- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Paste Overwrite- Command-V.
Paste INSERT- Shift- V!

The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

"..."too cool a tool" Loren - you should be in marketing!"

He is...just look at the bottom of all his posts (j/k)

I, too, would suggest a Clone Tool. I can easily fix this problem in After Effects Pro 6.5 with the built-in Clone Tool. It samples the ftg & clones the selected area so the cloned areas move along with the rest. It saved my a$$ many times (actually, it saved my Producer / DP's a$$...I just fix everything in post). They just hand it off to me and say, "...make your magic. It's due tomorrow"

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I guess I have decided I do need a Clone tool after all these posts Joey - must be the power of all that subliminal marketing I hadn't noticed before

I'm looking for a fully featured stand-alone tool rather than a complete set of plug-ins I'll never use tho - I notice After Effects is another full suite (and is is only compatible with Adobe?) Do you know of any FCP stand alone clones tools? The CHV tool is looking increasingly attractive.....

[He is...just look at the bottom of all his posts (j/k)]

Haw haw. You never had such useful infomarketing!!

Hm. Tme to change it...

- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Apply default Video Transition: Command-T.
Apply Default AUDIO Transition: Command-Option-T !

The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

"Paint-on" tools are difficult (but not impossible) to do in FCP. This is because of the structure of FCP and the way how plugins are handled. I have already done some tests to figure out how to implement a paint-tool... Result: Possible, but still difficult to handle.

Gotta do more tests.

Just remember: After Effects plugins render in FCP only in RGB space... not YUV possible...