{"id":101316,"date":"2018-04-24T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=101316"},"modified":"2018-04-23T15:26:44","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T20:26:44","slug":"fix-out-of-focus-footage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/fix-out-of-focus-footage\/","title":{"rendered":"Production Tip: 5 Simple Ways to Fix Out-of-Focus Footage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow these simple post-production tips to help save those out-of-focus (and soft-focus) shots in your film and video projects.<\/h2>\n

Cover image by\u00a0View Apart<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether your focus slipped while shooting, or\u00a0another videographer\u00a0handed you some soft-focus footage to deal with, working with out-of-focus footage can be a post-production nightmare. However, if your footage isn\u2019t too far gone, you do have some tools at your disposal. Let\u2019s take a look at five tips for fixing out-of-focus or soft-focus footage.<\/p>\n

\n

Set\u00a0Back to Neutral<\/h3>\n

\"Production<\/a><\/p>\n

Out-of-focus with contrast and saturation.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Production<\/a><\/p>\n

Out-of-focus set back to neutral.<\/em><\/p>\n

The first step\u00a0in working with your out-of-focus footage is to get your palette ready for tinkering. As you\u2019ll see below, you\u2019re going to want to add sharper lines and contrasts, but to\u00a0clean your slate, removing contrast and pushing closer to neutral will help you better evaluate and work with your footage. If you have already overlaid any effects or corrections, take them off until after you’ve saved as much of your footage as possible.<\/p>\n

\n

Sharpen Effect<\/h3>\n

\"Production<\/a><\/p>\n

Example of footage at 50% “sharpen.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Production<\/a><\/p>\n

Example of footage at 100% “sharpen.”<\/em><\/p>\n

It may seem simple, but the greatest tool at your disposal in Premiere Pro is the \u201cSharpen\u201d effect. Similar to what you might have seen using\u00a0Instagram, sharpening your image will degrade your footage but make your lines tighter and help the image pop. Sometimes even a 10% increase can pull some soft-focus shots clearly into focus. For your more out-of-focus shots, see how far you can push the effect without deteriorating your footage too much. Depending on what you plan to do with your finished product, you can check some sample exports to see how the footage will look on YouTube or Vimeo.<\/p>\n

\n

Unsharp Mask Filter<\/h3>\n