Learn How To Fix Out Of Focus Video With Ease

Whether you didn't shoot a well-focused video or someone else provided you with one, sharpening it professionally is crucial. You must not be worried because an efficient software like Premiere Pro can help you fix an out of focus video. Though not utterly, it makes the video look crispier and more vibrant to your eyes.

To facilitate you, this guide defines what out of focus video is, its leading causes, and how to fix an out of focus video using Premiere Pro. So without further ado, let's dig into the details!

Part 1. What is Out-of-Focus Video And What Will Cause Out

Of Focus Video?

An out of focus video is one where you can't see the picture clearly. You won't see the targeted focus point, in fact, the background or another object. Sometimes, the video is distorted, or its edges aren't smooth. Though there are multiple factors, here are the top 6 that caused the video to be out of focus. Let's explore!

1. Wrong AF Mode

The most common issue behind not achieving a sharp video is the wrong AF mode of your camera. On capturing blurry photos or videos, consider the active AF mode. If it's other than "AF - C" or "Continuous Servo AF," get ready to fix the problem.

2. Dirty AF Sensors

Although people take care of the main sensor behind the mirror, AF sensors must not be neglected. These sensors are available at the base of the camera to focus properly. Dirty AF sensors lead to out of focus video and get even worse when shooting in low light or low contrast subjects. So put your camera in Sensor Cleaning Mode and clean these sensors with a blower.

3. Dirty Lens Contacts

If the contacts between your camera and lens are dirty, their ability to transfer information smoothly gets hindered, resulting in impaired camera focus.

4. Lens Needs To Be Calibrated

You must calibrate your lens if it continuously focuses on the back and front targeted focus. However, it isn't something to be worried about. Most of the cameras offer built-in AF Micro Adjust or AF fine-tune features to recalibrate quickly for a better lens-camera combination. Otherwise, you can use FoCal or LensAlign as off-camera options.

5. Tough Subject/Wrong Sensor

Incorrect sensor choice and tough subjects together make a blunder, leading to an impaired camera focus. Since the center AF point of the camera is sensitive and offers a better focus, going far from this point lowers the focus performance of your camera. Plus, it makes the problem bigger when you've chosen the wrong sensor.

6. Heat Refraction

Shooting on a sunny day means you've to fight heat refraction. A mix-up of the warm air with cool air on rising up creates a difference in air densities. Thus, the auto-focus capability gets slower, bringing blurry videos. The only solution is to shoot in cold areas or atleast ensure the cool ground between you and the subject.

Part 2. Easiest Way To Fix Out-of-Focus Video

Undoubtedly, it seems difficult to fix an out of focus video using Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and iMovie. In this scenario, if you are looking for the easiest solution, HitPaw Video Enhancer is the best that can fix an out of focus video using its mature AI algorithms. It analyzes the video and tries to restore the details that are lost due to the out-of-focus issue.

Not only can you upscale your videos up to 8K resolution, but also effortlessly maintain the video quality over processing. It lets you import your video into the software, select the enhancement options, and let it do its work. You can even choose the Fast or Quality Mode for processing in General Denoise Model.

• Offer an organized and intuitive interface
• Support drag & drop feature to import videos
• Provide you with two sample videos to practice
• Allow you to choose the desired Export Format
• Let you preview processed videos without a watermark

Let's comply with the given steps on how to fix out of focus video with Premiere Pro alternative:

• Step 1.The first step involves downloading and installing HitPaw Video Enhancer from the official website. Now, launch the software and tap the "Choose file" button to browse & upload the video.

  

• Step 2.After that, look at the right-hand side column to select your enhancement model. It can be "General Denoise," "Animation," "Face," or "Colorize." Opt for the first one in this case and choose "Quality" in the "Mode" menu.

  

• Step 3.Please look at "Export Setting" to pick the output "Resolution" and "Format" from the drop-down menu. Once done, click "Preview" to ensure the results.

  

• Step 4.Lastly, hit "Export" to save. You are all done!

  

Part 3. How To Fix Out Of Focus Video In Premiere Pro?

Unsharp Mask (USM) in Premiere Pro helps you fix out of focus video; however, it's not a one-click solution. It offers three sliders to adjust in an optimal setting, i.e., Amount, Radius, and Threshold.

1.Amount helps you control the amount of sharpening your video.
2.Radius is the distance from the edge to adjust pixels for contrast. Its high number is directly associated with the edges' growth in pixels.
3.Threshold controls the removal of high contrast and sharpening noise.

Here are the steps on how to fix out of focus videos using Premiere Pro:

1. Firstly, you have to create a project on Premiere Pro. Now, upload the out of focus video, and drag this clip to the timeline.

   

2. Next, press the "File" icon and choose "Adjustment Layer" from the list. So you can add effects to this layer instead of your video clip. Drag this new adjustment layer to the timeline over the video clip track.

   

3. You may want to sharpen the complete soft focus footage or some inconsecutive portions. For the latter choice, select the "Razor" tool or press "c" from the keyboard as a shortcut. Cut the adjustment layer using a razor and place them over different areas of blurry video that need to be sharpened.

   

4. It's time to tap the adjustment layer to make the "Effects" menu appear. However, you will see only primary effects in the "Effect Controls." Enter "UnSharp" in the search bar and drag the "Unsharp Mask" to the corresponding adjustment layer. The effect has been added. On expanding, it will offer three layers, i.e., Amount, Radius, and Threshold.

   

5. Later, you can adjust each layer until you achieve the desired results. The rectangle, oval, and pen icons are used for sharpening the specific video part. You can turn the effect off or on by pressing the "fx" button. And you don't have to set all the adjustment layers; adjust one and paste it over other video frames.

   

6. Lastly, render the entire clip that may take time, depending on the out of focus video size. You can export your fixed video either as a video or a project. That's all!

   

Part 4: 5 Other Simple Ways To Fix Out Of Focus Video

Besides fixing an out of focus video using Premiere Pro or HitPaw Video Enhancer, you should also consider various methods to shoot properly. Let's discover each method!

1. Sharpen Effect

The Sharpen Effect in Premiere Pro assists you in making the image clear and brighter. Though sharpening is not suggested to a point where the quality is degraded, you can push the effect to enhance the focus of your finished footage.

2. Try DaVinci Resolve

Try putting your video into DaVinci Resolve for complete control over your video. You won't only be able to correct colors but tweak all the focus-related elements as well. With a circular window, it lets you fix aspects like faces & eyes with other settings, like scaling, H/V ratio, and radius.

3. Set Back to Neutral

Setting out of focus video to neutral is always better. At first, you should remove contrast from the footage and push it to the neutral side. This step must be taken before working over your footage and adding contrast or bright lines.

4. Make Black and White

Usually, this black-and-white option is considered for two reasons. The first is when everything fails to enhance the video, and the second is to give your blurry video a stylish look. This will define the edges of your video and make it more focused.

5. Unsharp Mask Filter

The Unsharp Mask Filter helps you fix an out of focus video in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects software. It enables you to sharpen only the desired segments of the soft-focus footage. So you won't have to apply this effect over a complete video. It works best for sharpening the edges and making the video more vibrant.

Part 5. Conclusion

To conclude, you can effortlessly fix out of focus video in Premiere Pro with the given steps. Though it is always preferred to record well-focused footage by overcoming its main reasons, you may unblur the video later with a sharpening effect, mask filter, etc.

If you want the easiest solution than Premiere Pro, HitPaw Video Enhancer is the way to go. This AI-powered tool helps you upscale and enhance the video resolution by sharpening and removing noise effects. So let's give it a try once!