We have all experienced shooting a video where the lighting conditions were not steller which left us with a really dark video. Thankfully with digital video, it is now possible to lighten those dark videos. There are many different video editing software's available, some can be very expensive. Thankfully there are some less expensive and free options available lighten your dark videos.
WeVideo offers free accounts that come with limited optionsbut is perfect to try out to get the feel for video editing. You will want to sign up for a free account before you begin. WeVideo is an online video editing site that offers free accounts and low priced pay accounts. This tutorial will give you the simple steps to lighten a dark video.
Step 1: How to Fix Dark Videos
First I needed to upload a video to the WeVideo site - so I went to the Media Files tab & followed the prompts to upload a video. Video files are large, so it may take some time for your video to upload.
Once my video was uploaded, I was prompted to create a project. You need to create a project even if you only plan to edit 1 video file.
Step 2: How to Fix Dark Videos
If you look the far left, there is a tab that says "Private Files" which is where you will find your video files that you uploaded. Grab that video file & drag it down to the line that says "Video / Image".
Step 3: How to Fix Dark Videos
So the first thing I want to do is adjust the brightness, so the video is not so dark. To adjust color, brightness, contrast you will need to click on the "FX" button. A window will pop up; if you look at the bottom of the window it will say "Color Correction". Once you click on Color Correction your correction options will appear.
First I adjust brightness until I feel I have found a good point, and then I add a little contrast so the video doesn't look so washed out.
When I adjusted the contrast, it made the colors appear more reddish, so we need to adjust the hue. So I bring down the red just a bit. You will get a feel for what your video needs by playing with the different settings.
The thing to remember about editing video vs editing digital images is that videos are somewhat limited in their capabilities. If you have a poorly lit room when taking a photo you can usually fix it in PhotoShop or other photo editing software. Video is harder to correct & can become very time-consuming. Don't always expect magical results when color correcting poorly shot video footage. WeVideo offers all the basic editing tools and some pretty cool effects. If you have a really bad video that needs some serious correction you will want to look into more professional software, but those can come with a hefty price tag. This is why I like WeVideo so much, it can cover the majority of my needs.
Although as you can see my video is not magically bright & beautiful. There is only so much you can do with bad lighting conditions. However I can say that I am able to see my son's first moments of life much more clearly.
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