Try these 2 techniques for removing imperfections from your footage.
It’s the perfect shot … except for that one thing
We’ve all been there. Check out Content-Aware Fill for an easy way to remove unwanted elements from your footage.
The process — a look back
Before Content-Aware Fill, the only option for removing imperfections from footage was a technique called rotoscoping. This involves manually removing the element from each and every frame.
The approach with Content-Aware Fill
- Add a mask over the element to be removed
- Specify Fill Method and Range in the Content-Aware Fill panel
- Click Generate Fill Layer
Content-Aware Fill vs. rotoscoping
Content-Aware Fill works best in situations where the background and foreground are clearly delineated, or are relatively high-contrast. But even when things are challenging, there are ways to guide Content-Aware Fill to better results. If you don’t like the results from the initial fill, there is an advanced option to paint a reference frame in Photoshop. Once you have created that frame, Content-Aware Fill will use it for guidance when it generates the next fill.
Rotoscoping is a common method for removing sections of footage when Content-Aware Fill doesn’t fit the bill. This usually involves creating multiple masks over the sections of the image you’d like to remove, then animating those masks on a frame-by-frame basis.