The Plugin Site

Any sugestions how to correct overexposure from mini-DV tape using Premiere would be appreciated. No combination of the <Levels> and <Brightness & Contrast> effects seems to satisfactorily do the job. I'm thinking of something on the overexposed areas with <Color Replace> but can't quite figure out how to proceed. Thanks

Overexposure is very difficult to correct even in photos. If the overexposure is too strong, there is nothing you can do. So it is always better to slightly underexpose your video, because that can be easily corrected.

There is a technique that I know from Photoshop that you may be able to use in Premiere, too. You have to do the following:

1. Create a dublicate track of your video file.
2. Apply the Soft Light blending mode to the dublicate track to blend both tracks.
3. Convert the dublicate track to grayscale.
4. Apply a negative effect to the dublicate track.
5. Blur the dublicate track with a radius of 20 pixel or more.
6. Apply Levels on the dublicate track to remove the dark areas as much as needed.

I know this is a complex technique and it needs a lot of render time, but if your material isn't too overexposed it may help.