Brightness adjustment in Final Cut Express HD.

Dear members;
I have a clip that is a little dark and I would like to make it brighter. I've tried the levels adjustments for the black and white points. While it has improved a bit I still feel that I need to improve it more.
After trying the brightness adjustment in Final Cut Express I found that the clip looked too washed out and the colors became somewhat lifeless. The contrast and brightness adjustments combined didn't produced very good results either. This is the route I would have taken with a digital still photo but it doesn't seem to be working with my clip.
What am I doing wrong ? Is there a way to improve the brightness so that the clip doesn't look washed out and the colors still look good ? How can I make this adjustment ?
Thank you in advance,
Joseph Chamberlain

Hi Ian:
I haven't tried the gamma filters yet. I will give it a try.
This may be the case you describe (a shot that can't be saved or improved) but I would like to think that it can. The footage is from a movie and I extracted a 20 sec clip to include in a presentation.
Since you mention both, what are the differences between the Gamma and Gamma correction filters ?
Also, how can I post a screenshot to this list as you suggested ? Is there a page on this web site where photos can be posted for members of this discussion groups ?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Joseph Chamberlain

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Brightness adjustment in Final Cut Express HD.

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