- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:08 am
- Real Name: Kirke Giedzinski
TerrenceQ135 wrote:Any advice on how to apply averages to the whole timeline to get close to the same exposure and then fine adjusting maybe a few spots afterwards would be most appreciated.\
You can't use "averages" per se. You have to keyframe the whole scene.
Basically, you do a series of exposure dissolves, starting at the darkest exposure and ending at the brightest exposure. If the change in brightness is irregular, you have to improvise and figure out a way to compensate for it. Sometimes I'll actually do a dynamic keyframe followed by another dynamic keyframe followed by yet another, depending on how the scene goes. Sometimes I can actually end the dynamic, but then start another one a few seconds (or more) after that. Long shots are tough.
Keyframing is so important in color that it gets its own chapter in the 16.2 manual: Chapter 128
"Keyframing in the Color Page," starting on p. 2893. In the old days, we called these "color dissolves," since it literally dissolves from one color correction to a different one, but a dynamic keyframe is a more accurate term. The trick is doing the keyframe in such a way that the viewer can't see it happen. I've had cinematographers come in the room to approve a project (or a scene), and I'll tell them, "this was a rough scene," and they watch it and say, "gee, it looked fine to me." Then I show them what it looked like with the exposure corrections turned off and they fall out of their chairs. Keyframe exposure adjustments can literally save a shot depending on the circumstances.