First post-processing tutorial, on how to fix a slightly misaligned shot that you definitely need to include in the edit. Corner pin is a very simple and easy trick to do either in After Effects or Premiere (or Nuke!). Every anamorphic user should be familiar with it.
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Hey there guys and girls, Tito Ferradans here for the first “post-processing” chop shop! Corner pinning is a very simple and useful trick for that slightly misaligned shot that you’d like to keep. The Corner Pin effect was added to Adobe Premiere in version CS6, just go into the Effects tab and find it under “Distort”. Now drag it over the shot you want to fix and go into the Effects tab for that shot. You have two different options now, one is playing with the numbers here, the other is using the mouse to drag the corners manually. For the numbers, the way ones to adjust are based on the direction the image is skewed. If the image is skewed to the left, use the Upper Left and Bottom Right; if the image is skewed to the right, use the Upper Right and Bottom Left. They need to go in opposite directions and always outwards (otherwise you’ll have black edges in the frame).
The way I check if it’s right is by looking at perpendicular lines in the frame, like buildings and the horizon. If the lens is misaligned, they won’t be perpendicular, and that’s what you’re aiming for. I strongly think this isn’t good for fixing flares, since that’s likely to mess with every real horizontal line you have in the frame.
The other option, besides playing with the numbers on the tab is pressing this little square with dots on its corners. This will show the corner pin targets on the footage window and you can drag them at your will until it looks right. Be careful not to change it VERTICALLY, since that will make your footage look weird and even more misaligned. Double check the numbers to make sure the second row hasn’t changed values.
If you prefer working in After Effects, it’s almost the same thing. Import your footage, drop it in a composition and drag the Corner Pin effect over it. Here I prefer to just drag the control points instead of playing with the numbers, but that’s because I’m super comfortable working in After Effects. I also keep Shift pressed while I drag, to make sure it only moves in one axis, not messing up the footage vertically. If you’re not so at home with AE, I strongly recommend keeping an eye on the values to be sure you’re not making any mistakes.
I’m gonna reinforce that this cheat just works for footage that is slightly off. If your shot is all messed up, fixing it will either wreck resolution or not look right at all, no matter how much you distort it, so always DOUBLE CHECK ALIGNMENT!
I don’t think I need to mention you can do this in Nuke as well since, if you know how to handle Nuke, you don’t need a tutorial on Corner Pin!
That’s it for this week. Let me know how interesting you find these post-processing tricks and I’ll keep working on them! Subscribe now – you really should! – and check my blog for additional articles and videos. Ferradans out.
