<p>The flickering you are talking about comes because you have chosen a too narrow aperture. Normally you can completely eliminate the flickering by choosing a wider aperture than f/8.</p>

<p>The reason is simple: The lenses are no longer controlled by a physical aperture ring. Today it's the camera's job to set the aperture, and if you choose a f-number higher than 8, the aperture has to move a lot in a short amount of time. This leads to an accuracy of maximum 96 %, thus resulting in 100-96=4, 4 in each direction: 4*2=8 %. This means that each picture can be up to 8 % different in exposure. (This percentage is of course dependent upon how good your camera and lenses are.)</p>

<p>But as you already have your footage shot you need to fix it on your computer. There aren't many programs to do this, in fact I couldn't find any, but a good one is Photoshop CSX <strong>Extended</strong>. The Extended version can work with video, thus making you able to correct each frame individually. But this leads to a lot of job!</p>

<p>Luckily for you there has been made an action for Photoshop CSX Extended to automate this process. (Think of it like a plugin for After Effects.) Just load your video and apply the action, and it will fix your footage completely!</p>

<p>The action is a part of a big action bundle called iNovaFX which only comes with this eBook: <a href="http://www.gmbooks.com/product/CS5.html">http://www.gmbooks.com/product/CS5.html</a>. On <a href="http://www.digitalsecrets.net/secrets/TimeLapseFlicker.html">this</a> page you can see it in action!</p>

<p>I hope this will solve your flickering video! Have a good day!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-03-06T10:11:22.810Z
Excellent answer, thanks! I didn't know that PS extended existed, let alone could work with video. Cheers! You will likely receive this bounty.
aaaidan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-03-06T14:54:35.403Z
Thanks! The difference between the standard Photoshop and Photoshop **Extended** is that the Extended version can work with both video and **3D models** in addition to what the Standard version can do. So if you are into 3D modeling you could actually texture them in PS as well as other dedicated programs.
Friend of Kim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-07T13:47:42.860Z
`This leads to an accuracy of maximum 96 %` I don't understand where you got the numbers. Do you have a source for that?
Saaru Lindestøkke
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-07T17:02:03.583Z
@BartArondson Unfortunately I don't have the source anymore. The source stated that most cameras have an accuracy of up to 96%. The more you pay for the camera, the more accurate it will (likely) be. The point of my answer being that all cameras have some deviation, and that deviation is causing flickering on higher f-numbers.
Friend of Kim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-07T23:36:56.607Z
@FriendofKim Ok, I see. I understand you point that cameras are not accurate, but a big part of your answer bases itself on this "fact" so it's a pity that you don't have the source anymore.
Saaru Lindestøkke
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-03-05T16:41:03.067Z
2012-03-05T16:41:03.067Z
Friend of Kim
<p>You should try VirtualDUB with the MSU deflicker plug-in. It's totally free and work better than other software I've tried.
You don't have to tweak any settings, it's working directly.
It's available for Windows.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-31T03:18:55.823Z
Thanks, I'd love to check this out, but yeah, Windows. :(
aaaidan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-30T12:59:46.910Z
2014-04-07T13:45:39.357Z
2014-04-07T13:45:39.357Z
fabien
<p>The constant lighting you are referring to is not enough. Did you lock down the camera exposure? white balance? Focus? If any of these items are left in auto mode on your camera, your going to get some kind of uneven variance in light.</p>

<p>What kind of light are you using?
Since you are want a shallow depth of field and are achieving this with a short exposure the light source may be of interest as well.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-03-05T06:20:14.690Z
Nope, I had set the camera to manual mode, manual focus, incandescent white balance. I welcome this input, but my question was more about how to correct this issue "in post", as re-shooting is undesirable.
aaaidan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-03-05T06:22:28.277Z
Ah! You may very well be right! I was using a halogen _and_ a fluorescent, the latter of which would explain the flickering at that exposure I guess. In any case, my original question still stands: "how can exposure flicker be corrected after shooting?"
aaaidan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-03-02T20:58:18.627Z
2012-03-02T20:58:18.627Z
filzilla
<p><a href="http://www.granitebaysoftware.com/products/productgbd.aspx" rel="nofollow">GBDeflicker</a> plugin for after effects does the trick</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-29T05:11:13.613Z
Sadly this product no longer exists: https://www.granitebaysoftware.com/Default.aspx
Chris Rae
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-06T02:59:16.703Z
Awesome. Only $99 standalone. A free solution is ideal, but this is a pretty good answer.
aaaidan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-05T04:17:48.627Z
2015-02-05T20:39:43.453Z
2015-02-05T20:39:43.453Z
willard
<p>I have made some time-lapse footage of a flower blooming. It was taken inside, at night, with constant lighting. The pictures are great, but as footage, the exposure between frames is slightly inconsistent (probably beacuse one of the lights was fluorescent), resulting in a "filmic" flickering effect. The effect is actually quite cool (in an early 20th century kind of way), but I want to see what it would look like corrected.</p>

<p>I had assumed that it would be pretty quick and easy to correct this sort of thing in After Effects. I've tried using Auto Contrast, Auto Levels, and Auto Color (with and without temporal smoothing enabled), but they don't seem to correct the flicker at all.</p>

<p>What I want is to equalize the total amount of "light energy" (sum of pixels values) per frame, using an exposure adjustment. Anyone know how I would go about doing this (in After Effects or other software)?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-25T21:31:44.380Z
Sorry, I don't know the answer, but how many days did you spend on this? And how often did you take a picture? :)
Friend of Kim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-25T21:33:10.477Z
If I were you I'd do it again. This time you'd set the camera to Manual and be sure that the lightning in the room is the same on all the pictures. This is because equal lightning and equal settings equals to equal exposure. Sorry. :(
Friend of Kim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-26T21:57:30.283Z
I actually told a white lie to simplify the question. It's actually several hundred pictures of a flower, taken a few seconds apart. I used a controlled stepper motor to rotate it a fraction of a degree between exposures. The exposure is only _very_ slightly inconsistent, but because it gets played quickly it's quite obvious. I think it's inconsistent because the exposure time was so short (as short as we could get), but we needed a very tight depth of field. So I think we'd have the same problem if we re-shot (with the same camera at least).
aaaidan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-26T21:59:42.557Z
(that's why I mentioned "stop motion", cos it wasn't _really_ a time lapse, as such)
aaaidan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-26T22:25:41.843Z
Well, wouldn't it work if you set your camera to f/2 and 1/250, ISO 100 and don't change the lightning?
Friend of Kim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-27T20:46:27.710Z
It is not clear to me that the exposure controls (Iris and Shutter) were locked down for the entire recording. What about white balance was this locked down and to the appropriate light source? ...and what is the lighting, tungsten? fluorescent? If you were shooting with a fast enough shutter and using fluorescent the camera might pick up the slight flicker of the fluorescent lamps.
filzilla
<post-production><stop-motion>
Correcting exposure flickering in time-lapse footage "in post"
aaaidan
# Correcting exposure flickering in time-lapse footage "in post"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-02-25)

I have made some time-lapse footage of a flower blooming. It was taken inside, at night, with constant lighting. The pictures are great, but as footage, the exposure between frames is slightly inconsistent (probably beacuse one of the lights was fluorescent), resulting in a "filmic" flickering effect. The effect is actually quite cool (in an early 20th century kind of way), but I want to see what it would look like corrected.

I had assumed that it would be pretty quick and easy to correct this sort of thing in After Effects. I've tried using Auto Contrast, Auto Levels, and Auto Color (with and without temporal smoothing enabled), but they don't seem to correct the flicker at all.

What I want is to equalize the total amount of "light energy" (sum of pixels values) per frame, using an exposure adjustment. Anyone know how I would go about doing this (in After Effects or other software)?

**Tags:** post-production, stop-motion

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Sorry, I don't know the answer, but how many days did you spend on this? And how often did you take a picture? :)  
> **username_1**: If I were you I'd do it again. This time you'd set the camera to Manual and be sure that the lightning in the room is the same on all the pictures. This is because equal lightning and equal settings equals to equal exposure. Sorry. :(  
> **username_0**: I actually told a white lie to simplify the question. It's actually several hundred pictures of a flower, taken a few seconds apart. I used a controlled stepper motor to rotate it a fraction of a degree between exposures. The exposure is only _very_ slightly inconsistent, but because it gets played quickly it's quite obvious. I think it's inconsistent because the exposure time was so short (as short as we could get), but we needed a very tight depth of field. So I think we'd have the same problem if we re-shot (with the same camera at least).  
> **username_0**: (that's why I mentioned "stop motion", cos it wasn't _really_ a time lapse, as such)  
> **username_1**: Well, wouldn't it work if you set your camera to f/2 and 1/250, ISO 100 and don't change the lightning?  
> **username_2**: It is not clear to me that the exposure controls (Iris and Shutter) were locked down for the entire recording. What about white balance was this locked down and to the appropriate light source? ...and what is the lighting, tungsten? fluorescent? If you were shooting with a fast enough shutter and using fluorescent the camera might pick up the slight flicker of the fluorescent lamps.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2012-07-05. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

[GBDeflicker](http://www.granitebaysoftware.com/products/productgbd.aspx) plugin for after effects does the trick

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Awesome. Only $99 standalone. A free solution is ideal, but this is a pretty good answer.  
> **username_6**: Sadly this product no longer exists: https://www.granitebaysoftware.com/Default.aspx  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-03-05. Score: 6

The flickering you are talking about comes because you have chosen a too narrow aperture. Normally you can completely eliminate the flickering by choosing a wider aperture than f/8.

The reason is simple: The lenses are no longer controlled by a physical aperture ring. Today it's the camera's job to set the aperture, and if you choose a f-number higher than 8, the aperture has to move a lot in a short amount of time. This leads to an accuracy of maximum 96 %, thus resulting in 100-96=4, 4 in each direction: 4\*2=8 %. This means that each picture can be up to 8 % different in exposure. (This percentage is of course dependent upon how good your camera and lenses are.)

But as you already have your footage shot you need to fix it on your computer. There aren't many programs to do this, in fact I couldn't find any, but a good one is Photoshop CSX **Extended**. The Extended version can work with video, thus making you able to correct each frame individually. But this leads to a lot of job!

Luckily for you there has been made an action for Photoshop CSX Extended to automate this process. (Think of it like a plugin for After Effects.) Just load your video and apply the action, and it will fix your footage completely!

The action is a part of a big action bundle called iNovaFX which only comes with this eBook: <http://www.gmbooks.com/product/CS5.html>. On [this](http://www.digitalsecrets.net/secrets/TimeLapseFlicker.html) page you can see it in action!

I hope this will solve your flickering video! Have a good day!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Excellent answer, thanks! I didn't know that PS extended existed, let alone could work with video. Cheers! You will likely receive this bounty.  
> **username_1**: Thanks! The difference between the standard Photoshop and Photoshop **Extended** is that the Extended version can work with both video and **3D models** in addition to what the Standard version can do. So if you are into 3D modeling you could actually texture them in PS as well as other dedicated programs.  
> **username_3**: `This leads to an accuracy of maximum 96 %` I don't understand where you got the numbers. Do you have a source for that?  
> **username_1**: @BartArondson Unfortunately I don't have the source anymore. The source stated that most cameras have an accuracy of up to 96%. The more you pay for the camera, the more accurate it will (likely) be. The point of my answer being that all cameras have some deviation, and that deviation is causing flickering on higher f-numbers.  
> **username_3**: @FriendofKim Ok, I see. I understand you point that cameras are not accurate, but a big part of your answer bases itself on this "fact" so it's a pity that you don't have the source anymore.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-08-30. Score: 3

You should try VirtualDUB with the MSU deflicker plug-in. It's totally free and work better than other software I've tried.
You don't have to tweak any settings, it's working directly.
It's available for Windows.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, I'd love to check this out, but yeah, Windows. :(  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-03-02. Score: 1

The constant lighting you are referring to is not enough. Did you lock down the camera exposure? white balance? Focus? If any of these items are left in auto mode on your camera, your going to get some kind of uneven variance in light.

What kind of light are you using?
Since you are want a shallow depth of field and are achieving this with a short exposure the light source may be of interest as well.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Nope, I had set the camera to manual mode, manual focus, incandescent white balance. I welcome this input, but my question was more about how to correct this issue "in post", as re-shooting is undesirable.  
> **username_0**: Ah! You may very well be right! I was using a halogen _and_ a fluorescent, the latter of which would explain the flickering at that exposure I guess. In any case, my original question still stands: "how can exposure flicker be corrected after shooting?"  

---

