Correcting video flicker problem caused by camera's auto white balance

Question

I have shot a video with a handheld camera that uses auto white balance. Unfortunately, the auto white balance seems to have done more harm than good. The camera was readjusting the white balance every time when it was moved. The video ends up having many transitions from dark to bright then back to dark every few seconds throughout it. The video looks as though it was flickering in slow motion.

I have tried adjusting the colour balance of the video in After Effects but because the white balance by the camera was on every frame, a linear colour balance correction doesn't seem to help.

Is there any way to correct this problem without having to retake all my shots?

Answer 1

Probably not easily. You might be able to try applying a better auto-white balance and hope for the best. You could also manually adjust it repeatedly and adjust the interpolation between values (on the animation curves) but this is highly time consuming and still won't get as good of a result as reshooting.

If reshooting is an option, it's going to probably be the quickest, easiest and best looking solution. If not, then your stuck trying some very painful and time consuming adjustments.