Brightening Video Clips?

[Jim Price]

Is there any way to increase the brightness of digital video clips? I shot a number of rough videos of area bands, but unless the lighting is really good, they usually come out on the dark side. (The audio is respectable, though.) Winamp is my default video player on my home computer; is there a way to increase the brightness of videos played on Winamp, or is there another video player I should use instead that will enable me to adjust the brightness?

Also, can brightness be increased on the video file itself, or is that something that strictly has to be done on the video player?

[HurricaneBob]

Yeah, Jim

I dont use winamp anymore but usually every vid player has a bright/contrast setting. Try Windows media player, i know that has it.

Also, if you want to edit your own before you share them with us.
XP comes with Windows movie maker and you can adjust all aspects of a vid in there. If your feeling saucy, i can give you Adobe premiere and you can go wild.

[lonewolf]

You may want to check if your cam has a night vision setting and try that.

On my miniDV cam, it brightens up the recording, but loses some of the color. It also minimizes the effects of the stage lights.

[Jim Price]

Thanks Hurricane and Lonewolf for the tips.

Windows Media Player did enable me to adjust the brightness setting when I went to view the videos. They look a little washed out when I do so, but at least I can see all of the band members and a more complete view of the action.


I'm using a Sony Cybershot still camera to shoot the videos at the moment. I'll check the owner's manual to see if a night setting can be used for shooting video (I know there's a night setting for still shots).