Digital Effects and Filters on Video Editing Programs

All digital video editing programs offer a collection of effects and filters that can be used either to improve the appearance or sound of a clip or to spice up your moving images and sounds. Although the actual offering will vary from package to package, you'll usually find it possible to modify basic picture elements, such as brightness, contrast, and color balance in addition to changing the quality of recorded sound, adding echo, and so on.

In almost all cases, a video effect or filter is applied simply by selecting the effect in the menu and, after previewing if desired, dragging it to the timeline and dropping it on top of the clip or clips to which it is to be applied. If, for instance, your source footage is a bit dark, it's a simple job to apply a Brightness & Contrast adjustment filter to the clip, making the adjustments manually. Some applications will provide you with a real time indication of the changes as you make them, while others will require a quick temporary render (this entails the program making a temporary reference file that is stored alongside your project files on the hard disk). Not only is it possible to combine one effect with another brightness adjustments combined with color changes in addition to slow motion effects, for instance, but it's also possible to undo applied effects and filters in almost all cases. So, if you decide that you don't like the effect, or effects that have been applied, you can simply revert to a clip's previous state.

Video effects and filters can also have a positive role to play in the restoration of old cine film and video footage. For example, take a piece of 8mm cine film that was shot and projected at either 16fps or 18fps (frames per second) that flickers heavily when being scanned by a video camera running at either 25fps (PAL) or 30fps (NTSC). You'll find that although the flicker will be barely noticeable to the human eye when playing the film on the projector, it will be considerably more evident when viewed on video. That's the result of an incompatibility between scanning rates; in short, they're not synchronous. While you can't eradicate this effect entirely, you can alleviate it either by using an electronic shutter built in to the camcorder (in the event that it has such a utility) or by using strobe filters in a video editing program. This filter isn't available in all entrylevel applications, but where it is, simply drag it to the timeline and make the appropriate adjustments for your clip.

Speeding up or slowing down a clip is usually achieved by applying the appropriate filter from the menu. Many programs give you variable control over the speed adjustment, making it possible to see the results almost immediately. Apart from the positive impact of a slow motion effect in sports sequences, for example, it can also make everyday shots look good especially when assembled as part of a montage.