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Editing a movie frame-by-frame for skin smoothing: which software, and how?

Davmeister

Davmeister

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 7, 2009
334
87
London
I'm creating a music video for a friend.

Shot with a Canon 550d at 60fps, a shot is going to be slowed down, and is very zoomed in on someones face. I'd like to make that face smooth, just like the celebrities :p

How do I do this and with which software?

Im using Final Cut Pro atm just for the basic editing.

I'd rather not have to export each frame and photoshop, but if that is the case then so be it. What is the easiest way to do all this?

I've used Mroogle etc., can't find quite what I'm looking for.

Thanks

Tom
 
Just like in the movies...reality always trumps CGI.

You should have done the celebrity makeup during the shoot, then theyd look that way to begin with.

You want to rotoscope a zillion frames by hand just to get some airbrushed look? if there is a software package (that isnt proprietary or $$$$$$$$$$) I dont know of it.

Export every frame, photoshop, and hope that frame to frame, pixel to pixel animation is smooth. Highly doubftul...good luck!
 
It has a free demo so I've only toyed around with it. Other editors I know who have more use for that kind of plug-in love it though from what I hear.


Lethal
 
^

I had a scene where the base color of the F/X makeup on a character didn't match his real skin tone. In the shot you can see the discrepancy. I wonder if this program would work for that. Thanks for posting that link, I'll check out the demo version.
 
how long is the shot?

so... how long is the shot?
do you have to do it for minutes or seconds here?

I just finished taking a spot out of a wedding shoot that was on my lense.
9000 frames later, I'll never make that mistake again.
I did it with PS CS4.
 
matteusclement said:
so... how long is the shot?
do you have to do it for minutes or seconds here?

I just finished taking a spot out of a wedding shoot that was on my lense.
9000 frames later, I'll never make that mistake again.
I did it with PS CS4.
Click to expand...

I second using Photoshop. Simply export the sequence you want to work as a normal video. Then import that video into Photoshop - it will bring up the Animation Timeline so you can edit frame by frame.

Photoshop can import video and edit it frame by frame.
 
to make it fast though

I found that the key to making that process fast was two things:
1. making short cut keys for stuff like next frame
2. use a tablet if you can. the keys make the shortcuts fast as well as the brush makes it easier to edit 1000's of frames.

you have to adjust your canvas to be the size and pixel shape of your editing video. google it.
 
DrRock said:
I had a scene where the base color of the F/X makeup on a character didn't match his real skin tone. In the shot you can see the discrepancy. I wonder if this program would work for that. Thanks for posting that link, I'll check out the demo version.
Click to expand...
I don't think so. This plugin is more for getting rid of wrinkles and things like that. But the demo is free so you can always give it a try.


Lethal
 
Beauty Box. I haven't used it but there's a demo available.

Seems like it's more for the "we forgot to put makeup on the actor" times than a "make me gorgeous" plugin. It smooths over, just like makeup.
 
FSMBP said:
I second using Photoshop. Simply export the sequence you want to work as a normal video. Then import that video into Photoshop - it will bring up the Animation Timeline so you can edit frame by frame.
Click to expand...

Don't do this. It's going to be next to impossible to get a smooth look from frame to frame. If you blur part of one frame but not the exact same part in the next, you'll get jittery animation, and the blur effect will look like it's "floating" around.

What you really want to use for this is a compositing package like Shake, or even something like Motion or After Effects. You need to rotoscope the area of interest by drawing a shape then keyframing it to match the position of the face. Then take that shape, soften the edges a bit, and use it as a mask to apply enough of a blur effect to smooth out the wrinkles.
 
SmoothKit by RE:Vision Effects

Next to impossible... yeah right. Haven't you guys worked with smoothing out chroma key backgrounds? Its the same principle, just wack a plugin in there, adjust some settings and pronto... skin smooth as a baby's bottom. Really not that complicated these days.

Btw the plugin works in most apps apart from AVID
 
DON'T use photoshop. The clone and healing brush tools are wonderful, but the inconsistencies they create, which are invisible in stills, show up really easily in motion. You get little "buzzing" effects around imperfect skin. Plus it's slow.

I use neat video (the best plug in ever) in after effects, sample the pores on the skin, then mask/chroma key out the skin so the noise reduction only works there. Works awesome. If you only have a few seconds you need to do this to and don't mind waiting a while I could do this for you in like half an hour. If you don't have neat video, blur and do noise reduction on the red channel.

The correct answer, of course, is you should have hired a better make up artist and more knowledgeable cinematographer (use a soft filter in close ups!) if this is even an issue!
 
Last edited:
matteusclement said:
so... how long is the shot?
do you have to do it for minutes or seconds here?

I just finished taking a spot out of a wedding shoot that was on my lense.
9000 frames later, I'll never make that mistake again.
I did it with PS CS4.
Click to expand...

Damn, how big was the spot? Usually the small ones are easy to remove with some masking/cloning.
 
Big and ugly

it was huge.
and the entire scene was white so it was SUPER obvious.

Like i said... I'll never make that mistake again.
 
Erendiox said:
I'm seconding the idea of a compositing program like After Effects. Photoshop is not the ideal tool for what you're trying to accomplish. There are techniques you can use in AE to smooth skin and remove blemishes. Check this out:

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/blemish_removal/
Click to expand...

Agreed. Especially some of the new feature in CS5 will make things a whole lot easier. You can cut a mask on the face, track it and render....
 
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