No filter - How much can video editing software do?

[spoolin01]

That's not true. Real color correction involves a lot more than just adding an overall tint. You can control the color balance, black level, white level, setup, gain, gamma, overall saturation, hues, and the saturation of literally millions of individual colors for every tonal range of the image. There's a lot more to it than just tinting.

The rebalancing that a filter provides is distance-dependent, as is the rebalancing produced by a video light, right? So the effect falls off with distance, and subject matter at greater distance from the lens is less corrected. I don't have enough experience with color-correction by software to know the answer, but can either video or still editing software reproduce this distance gradient?

 

[ronscuba]

And that's the best solution. There is really no substitute for a well-lit shot. But even then, skillfully applied color correction will achieve the color "pop" talked about earlier. Color correction tools can indeed be baffling. They are complicated and require a good skill set and the proper equipment. Most film and video post-production houses employ "colorists" who do nothing but color correction. It's an art.

I agree 100%.

And as a hobbyist, I use a cheap easy to use filter with minor color correction in editing. Filter for wide angle, lights for macro. Quick, cheap, easy. Good enough for my hobbyist eyes and I think if you are reading scubaboard for UW video advice, it's probably good enough for you too.

 

[GW06]

The rebalancing that a filter provides is distance-dependent, as is the rebalancing produced by a video light, right? So the effect falls off with distance, and subject matter at greater distance from the lens is less corrected. I don't have enough experience with color-correction by software to know the answer, but can either video or still editing software reproduce this distance gradient?

Sure, but that involves creating multiple correction layers of the image and blending them using a series of masks. It can be done, but it's a fairly involved process for video. A still photo is easier because you can correct any area of the image at a time - literally working down to a single pixel at a time if you wish.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I don't know much about that mask mounted camera. It may not have manual WB but only auto WB. A red filter would make much easier work of color correcting. In the case of UW footage from a red filter, I've found that using something as easy as an auto-WB tool in editing software can usually do a pretty good job of color correcting. Video that was not WB UW or without filter, not so much.

If no red filter is used, the predominantly green tinted UW footage could probably still be corrected but would require some pretty good skills and/or effort. This is a video I found a while back when I was learning color correcting. The guy takes a crummy colored video (appears to be shot with no filter) and does a pretty good job if correcting it. Though this is not the way I correct my video (I use Sony Vegas), he uses various tools within Adobe After Effects to get a nice result.

GoPro HD Hero 2 Underwater Color Correction Using Adobe Aftereffects - YouTube

 

[GW06]

Adobe AfterEffects is a terrific tool. It would do a fine job with your unfiltered footage. There's a learning curve to it, but once you get the hang, AfterEffects is powerful stuff.