Brightness/Contrast

Figure 10.27: How it works Brightness and Contrast

To brighten a dark shot, or add light, use this plugin. Do not overuse the effect or you risk degrading your video quality. The Brightness slider moves up or down the values of the entire channel and corresponds to the Master Offset of the various grading programs. The Contrast slider expands or narrows the brightness values of the entire channel; corresponds to the use of the cursors (small triangles) in the Histogram plugin. For maximum precision you can use the input box. Clear icons are present to reset its slider to default without affecting others. Use the effect along with keyframing to brighten a long shot that is dark at the beginning but bright at the end. Generally you will want to change the brightness and contrast about the same amount (for example – brightness 28, contrast 26) so that your original colors are kept intact. This effect is also keyframable (figure 10.27).