user2904: The title says it all. My video is too dark. I Learned how to avoid it next time (after the horse had bolted).
Is there anything I can do to lighten it up? Preferably freeware and not to complex. THe video is .AVI format
[update] Windows 7 pro (and I am wondering whether brightness or contrast is the way to go (ans if some magic s/w has an "auto" feature))
Thanks a 1,000,000 in advance

user2869: Windows:
If you are on windows 7/Vista, you should have Windows Live Movie Maker. You can open your video in that, go to the Visual Effects tab, and select the brightness button. Then you have to re-encode your video. This will decrease the quality.
Free Windows Live Movie Maker
The problem with Windows Live Movie Maker is that there are limited effects and no way to create custom effects. However, Windows Movie Maker from Vista (i.e. WMM 6.0) does support custom effects, etc.
You can download WMM 6.0 for Windows 7 here.
Blaine also provides an extensive list of add on effects here. Which includes contrast effects to increase the contrast.

Mac:
If you have a MAC and iMovie, I found this link. You hover over the thumbnail and a "sun" symbol should show up, clicking that should bring up color controls.

Hopefully one of those will work. If not, you'll have to dive into the world of opensource video editing tools, which is a nightmare.

user2887: I've used VirtualDub (one of the open source tools) with some success for just this.
It's not trivial to use, and I'm afraid I don't remember the exact settings, etc., but there are plenty of tutorials/explanations around the web.

2904: <p>The title says it all. My video is too dark. I Learned how to avoid it next time (after the horse had bolted).</p>

<p>Is there anything I can do to lighten it up? Preferably freeware and not to complex. THe video is .AVI format</p>

<p>[update] Windows 7 pro (and I am wondering whether brightness or contrast is the way to go (ans if some magic s/w has an "auto" feature))</p>

<p>Thanks a 1,000,000 in advance</p>
 2869: <p><strong>Windows:</strong>
If you are on windows 7/Vista, you should have Windows Live Movie Maker. You can open your video in that, go to the Visual Effects tab, and select the brightness button. Then you have to re-encode your video. This will decrease the quality.</p>

<p><a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-started" rel="nofollow">Free Windows Live Movie Maker</a></p>

<p>The problem with Windows Live Movie Maker is that there are limited effects and no way to create custom effects. However, Windows Movie Maker from Vista (i.e. WMM 6.0) does support custom effects, etc.</p>

<p><a href="http://movies.blainesville.com/p/wmm-60-on-windows-7.html" rel="nofollow">You can download WMM 6.0 for Windows 7 here.</a></p>

<p><a href="http://movies.blainesville.com/p/movie-maker-add-ons.html" rel="nofollow">Blaine also provides an extensive list of add on effects here.</a> Which includes contrast effects to increase the contrast.</p>

<hr>

<p><strong>Mac:</strong>
If you have a MAC and iMovie, I found this <a href="http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=468159" rel="nofollow">link</a>. You hover over the thumbnail and a "sun" symbol should show up, clicking that should bring up color controls.</p>

<hr>

<p>Hopefully one of those will work. If not, you'll have to dive into the world of opensource video editing tools, which is a nightmare.</p>
 2887: <p>I've used <a href="http://www.virtualdub.org/" rel="nofollow">VirtualDub</a> (one of the open source tools) with some success for just this.</p>

<p>It's not trivial to use, and I'm afraid I don't remember the exact settings, etc., but there are plenty of tutorials/explanations around the web.</p>
