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 All Forums >> [Tips, Tricks, & Tutorials] >> General Tips, Tricks, and Techniques >> Another Green Screen Idea | Page: [1] |
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cosmo777 Posts: 49 Joined: 5/5/2007 Status: offline
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Hiya all, My green screen idea may not be for everyone-but it works for me. After having endured a myriad of problems and expense with lighting, lack of space inside the house, for a green screen, and then, even further keying problems, I embarked on this . . . Natural light outside !! Made a board 8 ft high and 8 ft wide. Saturated it with 5 coats of green paint. The board stands against the garage wall, and is covered ( when not in use ) with a plastic painter's sheet. I shoot early in the morning ( before the sun becomes too bright ) and also on OVERCAST days. There are absolutely no shadows to contend with, and the talent can be almost as close as touching the screen. I key out in Ultra 2. The results are as perfect as I have ever seen !! Praise be natural light !! Ha. And of course, the board doesn't have any wrinkles, as it's a flat MDE type of board. ( I live in Australia ). Total cost was $ 65 Australian !! Not bad, for a permanent giant-size screen. As I said, it's not for everyone, but it has saved me space, lighting costs and hassles,, it's wrinkle-free and oh sooo keyable !! Ha. Best regards from Cosmo P.S. I am going to add another 8 ft board as a " floor " so that I can walk around, and key myself into some Virtual Sets backgrounds. |
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Another Green Screen Idea - 
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wizard Posts: 6029 Joined: 2/15/2006 From: New Hampshire, USA Status: offline
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Great tip Cosmo. Last night in the chat, everyone laughed at me when I suggested to shoot outside, when the question came up about cheap lighting for a green screen. Glad to see someone did it so now I can say "he who laughs last, laughs best" - LOL LOL LOL LOL.   Pops
_____________________________ Pops (in reply to cosmo777) |
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cosmo777 Posts: 49 Joined: 5/5/2007 Status: offline
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Hiya Bill, Nice to touch base with you. And yes, the results are razor-sharp. I tried Keylight in Adobe After Effects, with bad results. Since I began using Ultra 2, you would swear that the final effects are as razor-sharp as watching your newsreader or weather-man. Good on ya, Bill. I am now, one of your Disciples !! Ha. God bless from Cosmo (in reply to wizard) |
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media_explosion Posts: 1357 Joined: 3/9/2007 From: Southwest Ohio Status: offline
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I've had to key outside footagr before. The one thing to watch on full body stuff is shadows they can be very strong. This can cause issues keying. _____________________________ Wow I get a signature to! **Witty comment to be inserted here later*** (in reply to cosmo777) |
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wizard Posts: 6029 Joined: 2/15/2006 From: New Hampshire, USA Status: offline
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I bow to you Cosmo - I just thought of it - You actually did it! (but, welcome to the growing clan anyway - LOL)
_____________________________ Pops (in reply to cosmo777) |
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cosmo777 Posts: 49 Joined: 5/5/2007 Status: offline
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Yes Bill, What I like about my screen is, that there are no " set-up " routines !! Just uncover the board, turn on the camera, shoot, finish, cover up the board, and go back inside !! Done. I have never had ANY shadows on full-body shots !! Ever. In fact the keying is so good, that once I cut-out the green, I composite myself over a pure-black background, and save the footage with an alpha channel. Why do I do this ? Because then I have heaps n heaps of 10-second clips of myself, wife, or friends, already saved as a " moving brush " if you want to think of it that way. I can then immediately place these alpha clips of myself over any background footage-no more keying involved !! I probably have hundreds of 10-second clips ready to go, anywhere !! Have a good one, Bill. (in reply to wizard) |
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MSmart Posts: 94 Joined: 5/2/2007 From: Arizona Status: offline
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Yes, another vote for filming outside here. I just assisted my daughter with a class project and since the background was video we shot of a mountain, I didn't think it made sense to film her inside. My only video editing tools are Vegas Movie Studio and Pinnacle Studio (I'm a small time hobbyist). VMS had a problem but that could be because I hadn't done chroma keying with it before. Using Studio 9.4.3 worked great. Maybe to good as she had to pour a small bottle of green diswashing liquid and about all you saw was the relections of the clear plastic bottle, no liquid. Since it was her project I didn't take the time to tweak the levels, but it still turned out good. The only downside was that she squinted too much. _____________________________ Ken Sorry about that, Chief... Visit Video Friends Forum (in reply to wizard) |
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cosmo777 Posts: 49 Joined: 5/5/2007 Status: offline
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Hiya MSmart, Yep, greenscreening is an art you develop in your own ways !! Hope you have many great shoots !! ( whether outdoors or not ). with best regards from Cosmo (in reply to MSmart) |
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Jean Robinson Posts: 23 Joined: 8/13/2007 Status: offline
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We have a green screen problem I hope someone here can help us with. We have a long green screen with three panels that fit together. Unfortunately, by fitting the panels together we have two little gaps where the panels meet and no matter how close we try to push the panels together, when we light it shadows fall in those "gap lines" like creases. What can we do about that? (in reply to cosmo777) |
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flascrnwrtr Posts: 2128 Joined: 10/25/2006 From: Humidland, USA (FL) Status: offline
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Jean, welcome to the forums! Are these panels solid or are they cloth? I thought they were solid by your comment about "push" the panels together, but then wasn't sure when you mentioned gaps "like creases".
_____________________________ ********** Juice-2-date: 354 "My worst day on set is still better than my best day doing anything else." ADOBE CS3 MASTER COLLECTION FINAL CUT STUDIO 2 (in reply to Jean Robinson) |
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Jean Robinson Posts: 23 Joined: 8/13/2007 Status: offline
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Our green screen was built by a theatrical set designer. Its a wooden frame with green fabric stretched on it on one side. The other side has a neutral color fabric stretched on it so we can use different color lights and gobos on it. (in reply to flascrnwrtr) |
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Matt Posts: 5743 Joined: 5/15/2003 From: Oak Ridge, NC Status: offline
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We used Dry Wall Mud on the gaps in our walls, then sanded and painted them, it worked great. Only works if you have solid walls, wouldn't try it on fabric
_____________________________ mattjanowsky.com (in reply to Jean Robinson) |
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MESMI Posts: 410 Joined: 3/15/2007 From: Westland, MI Status: offline
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Here's another idea similar to Matt's, but it should work on your fabric covered frames. Use a "Dutchman." (Learned this in college and community theater.) Cut some cloth (Muslin) into strips long enough to cover the gap in your "flats." Make them wide enough to overlap 3-4 inches on either side of the gap. Make a very thin paste of water, white glue and a small amount of flour. (A sort of paper mache - but very thin.) Soak one end of each strips of cloth in the paste and lay it down at one end of your flat. Dip a wide paint brush in the paste and use it to work out any folds or creases in the fabric. Continue using the paint brush to soak the muslin attaching it to the flats until your gap is covered. Make sure there are no folds or creases. Let dry and paint to match the color of your flats. (The flour in the mixture helps the paint to cling to the surface.) If you can't match the color of your flats, treat the entire surface with your paste mixture. Then paint the whole thing. (Be careful, the fabric may shrink and split if your flats are already stretched tight.) When done with your set, a wet sponge can take the Dutchman back off for storage of the flats. -Mike _____________________________ Proudly producing training videos, voice overs and audio programs for the Ford Motor Company. (in reply to Matt) |
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flascrnwrtr Posts: 2128 Joined: 10/25/2006 From: Humidland, USA (FL) Status: offline
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Definitely an A+ answer, Mike. Great job!!
_____________________________ ********** Juice-2-date: 354 "My worst day on set is still better than my best day doing anything else." ADOBE CS3 MASTER COLLECTION FINAL CUT STUDIO 2 (in reply to MESMI) |
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Jean Robinson Posts: 23 Joined: 8/13/2007 Status: offline
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Mike, So the "Dutchman technique" is temporary? We can take the strips off when we are ready to move the panels to another configuration or to flip it around to the non-green side? Thanks for the tip! I'll pass it on to my camera man. The two of us have tried everthing else and needed some fresh ideas to solve this problem. Jean
(in reply to MESMI) |
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MESMI Posts: 410 Joined: 3/15/2007 From: Westland, MI Status: offline
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Hi Jean, Yes, it is temporary. The technique was created to make the setup and removal of flats relatively fast and easy. If you use too much glue in the mix you may have to dampen the Dutchman before it'll come off. If you use too little the dutchman may peel up on its own while you're in production. It's been roughly 100 million years since I was in college (all right, maybe a bit less) so I haven't done this recently enough to give you a formula. You could try the Web by searching for the terms Dutchman and Theatrical in Google and see if anyone who's done this recently has pointers. Let me know how this turns out, I'm curious now. -Mike _____________________________ Proudly producing training videos, voice overs and audio programs for the Ford Motor Company. (in reply to MESMI) |
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MESMI Posts: 410 Joined: 3/15/2007 From: Westland, MI Status: offline
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So Jean! It's been a week (or so) have you tried this, did it work for you? -Mike _____________________________ Proudly producing training videos, voice overs and audio programs for the Ford Motor Company. (in reply to Jean Robinson) |
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rickblackmon Posts: 1 Joined: 8/18/2007 Status: offline
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Nice to see something about Ultra 2. I have had Ultra since Beta. I think it is very forgiving and keys well even with wrinkles in the screen. Too bad Adobe bought Ultra and there won't be any more Ultra updates. (Ultra CS3) is integrated and not stand alone and the only difference between it and 2 is the Vista support. _____________________________ I am a 73 year old hobbyist, still trying to learn something. (in reply to cosmo777) |
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jday Posts: 86 Joined: 2/2/2007 Status: offline
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cosmo, you mentioned that you had no problem with full length shots. Full-length shots would indicate that you also had to key out the ground. Did you use a second green board for the ground and, if so, what about shadows on it and the "seam" where the background board meets the ground board?
_____________________________ Jim DJ Addict (in reply to rickblackmon) |
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