There are all sorts of software plugins designed to get different and better “looks” or “film looks” out of DV footage. Here is a quick tip that you can utilize on your timeline to get some interesting effects with your footage.

Start with a clip on your timeline. Hold down Shift & Option to make a copy and constrain your motion and drag 2 copies to the 2nd and 3rd video tracks. Place a Gamma Correction filter on the top clip. Crank the Gamma in the plugin. Now go to the timeline and set the composite mode to Screen. Place a Gaussian blur on the middle clip. Crank it high. Set the Composite mode on this clip to Soft Light. Adjust the opacities on each clip to the desired look.

More on composite modes in a future tutorial .. but what is going on here is that we’re making the colors a bit richer and we’re softening the edges a bit, which might help DV footage look a little more high end. Don’t go overboard with this! You can make your footage too dark or too rich. A little goes a long way.

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