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urgent help needed!

We've filmed an interview with a diffusion filter that the client requested and now they say that its too diffused is there any way do undo the filter in post? Any software available out there?

Here's a picture of the interview. I need to get the female image to look as sharp as the male image

thanks!

anne.jpg

dale.jpg
 
You can do a couple things to make it appear less diffused. First thing is crank the contrast. Deeper shadows and brighter whites help make an image look sharper. De-saturating it a bit may help distinguish the tones between their skin and that yellow wall. Anything contrasting itself will help give the appearance of a sharper look, even though you're not actually sharpening it.

Try calling your local transfer house and speak to one of their techs. I'm sure they can help you out.
 
Hello,
I don't do videography so I'm not informed on different filming techniques, I'm more into post production, ,so I have a question and it's a legitimate question, not being facetious so please don't be offended, but why would you film with a filter and not add the diffusion affect later in Post? Is this a normal filming technique? Again, I'm not trying to crtitique you or anything, I simply don't know and am curious. I am a Special Effects guy, a novice at best, but I use After Effects a lot and you might be able to restore some of the image or make it sharper, but i'm not sure, I've never tried to undo an effect on film. Indietalk (Founder) is much more experienced than I, so, he's says no, which unfortunately might be the case since it's already on film. Hopefully, some other experienced VFX artists and editors on this forum can give you more assistance, but, in my opinion AE might be your solution. If not, it might be a hard lesson learned- When filming, cheat- use VFX artists after filming to add effects. Besides, small time guys like me need the jobs :)
 
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Ah. This is frustrating because you probably couldn't notice the problem on your small LCD screen on your camera. I was working on a production about two months ago with a similar problem, luckily it was just B-roll footage (but very good footage that we otherwise would have used).

if your camera has "expanded" focus options you should be sure to always use those in the future because as one person stated above, the problem with this image is also a focus problem.

I also can't figure out why someone would want to use a diffusion filter for an interview.

The only thing I can recommend is using a "sharpening" tool in your NLE or try slightly enhancing the contrast.

All the best
 
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