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Align two versions of the same frame without Photoshop?

hbenthow

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Is there an easy way (ideally through the use of automatic software) to align two versions of the same frame that have different framing and/or sizes? I don't have Photoshop, and I've never been able to figure out how to use Avisynth.

I've been trying to manually crop and resize some versions of such frames to match different versions, but I can never get them to quite line up. I need an automatic solution.

Here is an example of what I mean by two versions of the same frame (I'd like to be able to resize and crop the former one to perfectly match the latter.):

u6rvG6i6_o.jpg


THMFoysZ_o.jpg
 

addiesin

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I'm not sure about an automated process. However if you don't have Photoshop and end up needing something with the same capabilities, GIMP is open source/free and powerful enough to do the job (manually, I'm afraid), and popular enough to have a lot of tutorials available for its tools through a quick Google or YouTube search.
 

hbenthow

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addiesin said:
I'm not sure about an automated process. However if you don't have Photoshop and end up needing something with the same capabilities, GIMP is open source/free and powerful enough to do the job (manually, I'm afraid), and popular enough to have a lot of tutorials available for its tools through a quick Google or YouTube search.

I already have GIMP. As far as I know, it doesn't have the auto-align feature that Photoshop does. Also, all attempts on my part to manually align the images have been failures.
 

addiesin

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Sorry, I have been using Photoshop for years but I'm not sure what kind of auto alignment feature you mean. Have you seen it in a tutorial or somewhere that shows clearly how it works? I may be able to check out and help, if so.

I do own Cap 1 on Blu-ray.
 

hbenthow

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addiesin said:
Sorry, I have been using Photoshop for years but I'm not sure what kind of auto alignment feature you mean. Have you seen it in a tutorial or somewhere that shows clearly how it works? 

I don't know much about it. Here's a video that demonstrates some of its capabilities:

 

DigModiFicaTion

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What programs are you using? That will help in giving usable feedback.
 

hbenthow

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I tried using GIMP, but it didn't work well.

I want to be able to crop and align some frames from deleted scenes to perfectly match the same frames from the theatrical version, so that I can run them though Dr Dre's Color Matching Tool and create a LUT.
 

hbenthow

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DigModiFicaTion said:
What NLE are you using?

For the actual video editing, Vegas. But that's not what I've been using to try to align the images with.
 

addiesin

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hbenthow said:
addiesin said:
Sorry, I have been using Photoshop for years but I'm not sure what kind of auto alignment feature you mean. Have you seen it in a tutorial or somewhere that shows clearly how it works? 

I don't know much about it. Here's a video that demonstrates some of its capabilities:

[video]

Thanks, that was pretty clear.

How many scenes/alignments do you need?
 

DigModiFicaTion

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If it's Vegas Pro you can use the masking tool and color match and/or color corrector fx to match the scenes. If you have the newer Vegas you can even stabilize the shots and then create a layered mask with feathered edges to smooth out where the two shots overlap. That would be the easiest way to keep it all in your NLE.
 

hbenthow

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DigModiFicaTion said:
If it's Vegas Pro you can use the masking tool and color match and/or color corrector fx to match the scenes.

To use color match, wouldn't I need to have the two versions of the frame perfectly match up, just like with Dr Dre's Color matching Tool?

 
If you have the newer Vegas you can even stabilize the shots and then create a layered mask with feathered edges to smooth out where the two shots overlap.

I have Vegas 15 Pro.

I don't want to overlap the two versions of the shots. I want to crop the deleted scenes to perfectly line up with the theatrical version.
 
That would be the easiest way to keep it all in your NLE.

I like using Dr Dre's Color matching Tool and creating LUTs with it. That way, I can just drop the LUT into Vegas whenever I want it, instead of manually color matching the shot each time.

That said, I haven't used the Vegas color match tool yet, so I don't know what advantages it offers in comparison.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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I don't see a perfect replacement or drop in as a reality unless their shot was filmed without any human contact on the camera. The shots will probably have slightly different angles and or zooms. The color match is super straightforward. You apply the filter and then match the two frames and it creates a color palette to match. Because every movie is different, you'll probably not be able to apply a common LUT to every project with the same results, though I'd love to be wrong. I've never had luck with LUTs. They always create chaotic colors and levels that I end up color correcting and wasting tons of processing power when I could just create a specific color correction in the scene itself or for the movie I'm editing. But that's just been my experience. I'd love to see a video example of how you use LUTs as I'm probably going about it wrong. :)
 

hbenthow

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DigModiFicaTion said:
I don't see a perfect replacement or drop in as a reality unless their shot was filmed without any human contact on the camera. The shots will probably have slightly different angles and or zooms. 

In this particular case, the deleted scenes each have a few seconds of the exact footage that's in the theatrical cut, but uncropped and ungraded.
 
The color match is super straightforward. You apply the filter and then match the two frames and it creates a color palette to match.

I tried the Vegas color match plugin tonight, and it seems quite promising. It doesn't require the two shots being compared to have the exact same framing like Dr Dre's Color Matching Tool does, so in some ways it is easier to use. That said, it also doesn't seem quite as accurate, although it would probably be good enough to regrade the deleted scenes in such a manner that they would convincingly fit in with the theatrical footage.
 
Because every movie is different, you'll probably not be able to apply a common LUT to every project with the same results, though I'd love to be wrong.

I was talking about using LUTs specifically made by me for each project. I meant that if I create the LUTs for a project using my usual method, I can easily add them in where I need them in that project witohut having to stop and use the color matching plugin again each time.
 
I've never had luck with LUTs. They always create chaotic colors and levels that I end up color correcting and wasting tons of processing power when I could just create a specific color correction in the scene itself or for the movie I'm editing. But that's just been my experience. I'd love to see a video example of how you use LUTs as I'm probably going about it wrong.

You're probably doing it right, but using the wrong LUTs. LUTs tend to be optimized for footage that looks a certain way to begin with, so putting it on footage with a different beginning grade will often yield disappointing results. But a LUT that's made specifically for the footage that you're grading (or similar footage) can work wonders. Most of the LUTs that I use are ones that I created myself with Dr Dre's Color Matching Tool from the Original Trilogy forum, so they tend to work very well.
 
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