Thanks so much to a forum member who recommended the relatively inexpensive ($40 CAD) Video Enhancement Software named vReveal to me. While it can be useful for stabilizing video footage, my purpose for purchasing it was to correct for UnderExposure. Last week, I shot some video clips for one of my Love Story Sessions. The concluding intimate clip was taken in a vineyard after the sun had set - with light too low for the capabilities of the Olympus E-PL1 with slower kit lens and its maximum 1600 ISO in movie mode. I decided to shoot the piece anyway, in hopes of cleaning it up in my video editing app. Here is the original clip: YouTube - UnderExposed Video from E-PL1 Although I have been reasonably successful in improving the results of underexposure using my Sony Vegas Video Editing application, I am quite pleased with the results and the speed at which I was able to accomplish it using vReveal: YouTube - UnderExposed Video from E-PL1 fixed with vReveal I was able to maintain the 720P format and save using the popular .wmv format. --------
I found it to be fairly fast on my machine (quad core/lots of ram/Vista 64 bit) - - - although they state the greatest speed is using a specific Nvidia graphics card specification.
Download VReveal Trial and had problem It really sounded exciting but I was disappointed that even though I unchecked my option to "Clean", the program decided I really wanted to use it and insisted I upgrade to the premium edition in order to save my test file. I rebooted my machine to see if the program would return to its defaults, but it retained the "Clean" choice, even though I had removed the option from both the Fine Tune and Options area. Clearly, something is not working properly. Back to Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 which I've been using for a couple of years. It's not as simple as VReveal but it does work and hasn't locked up on me yet, as other video programs are known to do. I had a lot of help from this tutorial from VAAST
There is no way to determine the true value of the software for high definition video without purchasing it. You cannot test the "Clean" option (which is essential when boosting underexposed footage) without purchasing the product, and you cannot save in a high definition format without purchasing the product. So if you are using vReveal for cleaning up video shot with the E-PL1 as an example, you will need to fork out the modest cost for the Premium Edition (I probably should have made thatclear, earlier - sorry). The video that I produced above was accomplished with the purchased full version. The ease, speed and quality of results - work well for me and made the purchase justifiable to me. Thank you for your feedback. ---
Decided to go back and give it another try... I changed the size to 480 (won't save to 720) and it do a reasonable job of lightening the video. The editing offered by this application is really quite limited. I couldn't find any fades, titling, trimming - all simple things that can be done with free Windows Live Movie Maker Beta. Isabel
That is true - it is not a video editor that will take the place of a full featured app like Sony Vegas. Something that it does a pretty decent good job of, is stabilizing video. The application was really designed for cleaning up the video produced by all of the portable devices like cell phones etc - that are now allowing the production of video. They have recently expanded it to provide that same basic functionality to hi def video. Like you, I do my normal video editing in Sony Vegas, but then can effortlessly clean up things like underexposure and excessive movement and maybe even color control and saturation, in VReveal. From my perspective, VReveal it did a superior job at cleaning up underexposed video in a few presses of a button, than I was able to produce with a lot of time and effort in Vegas - which required adding several Video FX filters to get something usable. For the sake of everyone, I will look up some handheld jiggly video and see how thw stabilization in VReveal handles it - and post a comparison. :smile:
Stabilization with vReveal. I found this kind of shakey piece of 720P HD Video Shot with my $100 Insignia camera. It is handheld footage showing our jungle hut in Costa Rica, shot while I was walking backwards and sideways around the perimeter of the property. Original footage on left side and vReveal Stabilized and contrast corrected version on right side. YouTube - vReveal comparison video -------
