How do I reduce HIGH-CONTAST AREAS in CS5.5 ??

[George D.]

Since I am still learning this program (APP CS5.5) I'm looking for some advise here.

I am currently working with a R3D shot of an outdoor scene where high contrast was unavoidable. Most of the scene is in shade, which is fine. But, there are some annoying areas that got hit by bright sunlight and therefore seriously overexposed.

In "Source Settings" is there a way to reduce the exposure on just "those areas" and not anywhere else, so it will not be so distracting to the whole look of it?

The slider Highlight y does not seem to work well enough.

Since digital is very similar to working with positive film, should I assume that there is nothing much that can be done about extreme contrasty areas, and just try and avoid shots like that in the future?

Any help or advise is appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

.

[Mark Pavy]

Try the Shadow/Highlight video effect. It's in Video Effects-Adjust-Shadow/Highlight.

[Marc Wielage]

I am currently working with a R3D shot of an outdoor scene where high contrast was unavoidable. Most of the scene is in shade, which is fine. But, there are some annoying areas that got hit by bright sunlight and therefore seriously overexposed.

That generally cannot be salvaged, in terms of making it look good.

I think it can be made to look acceptable in some ways, but there is no magic bullet (you should pardon the expression) to save it. What I've done in the past in DaVinci Resolve and Baselight is to pull a highlight key, drop the level slightly, and defocus the overexposed areas. Done well, this can at least take the curse off it.

But a lot depends on the nature of the material. This is why paying very close attention to the histograms while shooting is so critical. I learned a long time ago: treat digital as if it were reversal film. Expose for the highlights, fill for the shadows.