Fixing Incorrect White Balance using Sony Vegas

Tutorial: Page (1) of 1 - 07/29/07

Fixing Incorrect White Balance using Sony Vegas Forgetting to white balance correctly is a common culprit By Jeffrey P. Fisher

Sometimes it seems there are no limits to what you can do in post-production. The tools in your typical NLE are amazing. Add in the bevy of third-party plug-ins and, well, let's just say it's a terrific time to be producing video content destined for DVDs, TV, the Web, and more.

Unfortunately, talking about all these post fixes has an adverse effect on those who work hard during production. It's as if a tutorial such as this one takes a cheap shot at their mistakes. Let me go on record as saying nothing could be further from the truth. Taking time in production to get things right means these fixes are not necessary. I respect the production pros -- I'm one of them -- but that doesn't mean a fix isn't needed now and again. For example, I work with students a lot and as part of their learning curve, they make a few boo-boos. To that, I often receive footage from clients and amateurs who also overlook key production elements. It is for these projects that these fixes can help.

Forgetting to white balance correctly is a common culprit. Telling your video camera what white is ensures that it reproduces colors accurately. When you don?t, the colors come out all wrong. This tutorial shows Sony Vegas users how to quickly fix such an error using the built-in three-wheel color corrector. Other NLE users may have similar tools and find helpful hints here, too.

For this tutorial, I?m using the Five Bikers.avi file that is on the media DVD disc included with the Sony Creative Software training book, Digital Video and Audio Production (www.sonycreativesoftware.com). For the newbie Vegas user, this resource is invaluable. You can also follow along with the Blue hills.jpg included in the My Pictures folder of nearly every Windows XP installation.

With the offending video clip on the Timeline, drag and drop the Color Corrector Video FX plug-in to the Event. The Reset to None preset is best to use as a starting point. Alternately, right-click the video event and choose Video Event FX from the pop-up. This opens a dialog box where you can select and chain up to 32 plug-ins for rather sophisticated processing. For this, add just the Sony Color Corrector.

The ubiquitous three-wheel Color Corrector dialog box pops up ready for you to work your magic. Essentially, you get control over Low, Mid, and High colors ? blacks/shadows, mid/flesh tones, and white/highlights. I find it easier to arrange my workspace with the tool and the Preview window side-by-side.

While you could easily tweak the settings until you get acceptable results, there is a faster and easier way to correct white balance. Each wheel has two eyedropper icons at its base. The right eyedropper has a plus (+) sign while the left has a minus (-) sign. The plus eyedropper lets you choose an adjustment color letting you essentially select a color on the screen and then change it. The minus eyedropper, however, enables choosing a complementary color and then applies that to a selected color in the Preview.

It is the minus eyedropper that is most useful here. Click the High color wheel one to select it and then move your mouse cursor over to the Video Preview window with your offending clip visible. Look for something in the video that should be white. Click the eyedropper there. You can click a single pixel or draw out a box to select a range of colors.

Once you select the color, the Sony Vegas Color Corrector adds the complementary color needed to the white to make it right. Repeat the process with the Low Color Corrector wheel?s minus eyedropper. Select an area that should be a deep, rich black.

Typically, that is all that is needed to fix most white balance errors ? just tell Vegas what should be black and what should be white and it will add the complementary colors needed to do that and correct the white balance.

If the High/Low fix isn?t enough, repeat the process with the Mid minus eyedropper being careful to select a middle tone, such as flesh. This may make the fix look better. Or not.

Also, be careful not to create an extra keyframe in the Color Corrector Time Ruler as happened here. The Video FX Sync to Cursor button was active and placed a keyframe where the cursor was parked instead of at the start. Since Vegas requires at least one keyframe in an effect, simply right-click and delete the unneeded one.

You can preview the before and after results by toggling the checkbox next to the Color Corrector in the plug-in chain. Alternately, click the Split Screen View button in the Video Preview to show FX Bypassed in the left (before) and with effects on the right (after).

When you need to fix a production mistake, or simply achieve some special color effects, I hope this tutorial showed you some possibilities.

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Jeffrey P. Fisher is a Sony Vegas Certified Trainer and he co-hosts the Sony Acid, Sony Sound Forge, and Sony Vegas forums on Digital Media Net (www.dmnforums.com). For more information visit his Web site at www.jeffreypfisher.com or contact him at jpf@jeffreypfisher.com.

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