How to Enhance Night Footage in Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2018)

The night creates a really unique opportunity for shooting. The blend of lights, the high contrast, and the mystery of it all makes night shots compelling. But night footage often comes out looking flat or noisy right out of the camera. With some color correction and a few creative effects, you can bring out the best in your night shots.

In this tutorial, we will be going through how to enhance night footage in Adobe Premiere Pro CC using adjustment layers and built-in effects.

How to Enhance Night Footage in Premiere Pro

Setting Up the Adjustment Layer

1. Import your night footage and drop it into a sequence. If you need footage to practice with, check out videos.pexels.com for royalty free clips.
2. Create a new adjustment layer by going to File > New > Adjustment Layer. Drag it onto the timeline above your footage.

Adding the Edge Glow Effect

3. Go to the Effects panel and search for Find Edges (located under Video Effects > Stylize).
4. Drag and drop it onto the adjustment layer.
5. Click on the adjustment layer and go to Effect Controls. Under Find Edges, check the box next to Invert. This reverses the effect so it enhances edges instead of just showing them.
6. Under Opacity for the adjustment layer, switch the blend mode from Normal to Screen. This blends the edge detail back into your footage naturally.

Adding Color With Tint

7. In the Effects panel, search for Tint and drag it onto the same adjustment layer.
8. In Effect Controls, find the Tint effect. Click on Map White To and use the color picker to choose a color for your night look. Blues and teals work great for a cold nighttime feel.
9. Go back to the Find Edges effect and set Blend with Original to about 15%. This preserves the original detail while keeping the effect subtle.

Adding Depth With a Second Layer

10. In the Effects panel, search for Camera Blur and drag it onto the adjustment layer. This softens the edges slightly and adds atmosphere.
11. Lower the adjustment layer’s Opacity to around 83% so it blends nicely with the original footage.
12. Hold Alt and drag the adjustment layer up to create a duplicate.
13. On the new copy, delete the Camera Blur effect.
14. Change the Tint color to something warm like orange. This creates a subtle secondary tone.
15. Lower this layer’s opacity to around 19%. You want it as a very subtle accent to add a second dimension of color.

Fine Tuning

From here, play around with the settings. Try adjusting the opacity levels, the blend with original values, and the tint colors. Every piece of night footage is different, so there is no one size fits all setting. The goal is to bring out color and contrast without making it look over-processed.

That’s how you enhance night footage in Adobe Premiere Pro. With some adjustment layers and a few effects, you can bring out the mood and atmosphere that makes night shots look their best.