-
HVX and Chromakey Questions
Hi list,
I am shooting a chromakey production using the HVX for the first time and have a few questions if anyone has been down this path before.
1. I am assuming 30p would be optimal frame rate would be 60-100. ( I am shooting rap dancers so I’m guessing no movement should be so abrupt as to cause any blurring.
2. Has anyone captured directly to a Intel tower? Is it fast enough or would I need a Kona I/O. Would I be better off recording to P2.
3. Are there any specific concerns about the P2 format, HD in general for chromakey shoots I should pay particular attention to?
Many thanks in advanc to anyone who can share their experiences.
Wwarmest,
Kevin
-
13 Replies
-
Most keying rules apply to the HVX. Flat lighting on the screen, minimize spill with a minus green gel in the backlight. Keep your background at around 50 IREs.
Intel tower? No much for scpecs here… I’d say stick with a minimum of a Core 2 Duo for HD capture through Firewire; Sata drive at 7200 RPM should be plenty. I would also highly recommend Adobe OnLocation for PC capture. And yes, it works just fine for both 720 and 1080.
Vince
-
I was just reading an Eventdv article on Mac field/location monitoring and it pointed me to the website Veescope.com.. Check out their VeescopeLive software for chroma keying on location.
Very interesting.
-
Thank you Vincent for this great feedback.
Wondering if there is a mac equivalent of On Location. It’s looks perfect for what I want to do.
Many thanks again,
Kevin
-
Headed over to Event DV to check out the article. Many thanks for the pointer Nate.
Best
Kevin
-
Kevin,
I downloaded their demo and just fired it up in our “insert stage” (translate garage). We have a green screen/drape hanging and a home made lite grid with 300 watt halogen yard lamps.
I put our new HVX200 on a Bogen tripod (for still photos), plugged the HVX into our MacBook Pro 15″ via firewire, turned on 4 of the 300 watt yard lamps (they do have gels attached) and fired up the Veescope demo. In less than 20 minutes I had a great key, perfect edges and using the “dutch tilt” of the tripod head, I had Heads to toe talent chroma keyed over pictures.
The demo does not allow for saved video files but it looks great for 100 bucks. And the key was easier than setting the key using my Broadcast camera plugged into our Videotech Prodigy switcher.. All this running ON Batteries for less than 10k. At HD 720.
It might not be “Hollywood” enough for some people. But to my 25 years of mid market chroma keying eyes. It is the best location key for the money. And the client can have a finished video before I go home.. Just edit on the Mac Book Pro with FCP and hand them their final video.. I will have to remember to take a printer so I can print the invoice and hand that to them too… :-0
-
There, another push for me to get a Mac… nahhh 🙂
-
Please don’t buy a Mac, don’t ever buy a Mac…. I like my advantage… You like the pain
So please enjoy another year of your clumsey Pc….
-
eh eh, but mine has a cool red fan on the side…
Happy new year.
Vince
-
Hi Kevin,
If you have the budget you should also consider using kinoflo green bulbs. I have a kit and cant imagine doing green screen without them now. As stated above either a light meter or a waveform monitor is very usefull in lighting a green screen. 1080i is reccomended for maximum resolution and a tool like mochaAE from imagineer systems is a good back up incase you have problems and do not want to roto everything by hand(just incase something does not turn out as you wanted).
Hope this helps,
Emre
http://www.productionpit.com
Boxx Tech PC, dual-dual AMD 2.0,4BG ram,Avidexpress HD w/Mojo,UVW-1800,DSR-25, Adobe Premium CS3.Steadicam OP/Owner.“Creative cow is udder madness.”
-
Thank you Emre for posting back. I looked into mochaAE. Hopefully I won’t need it but it good to know that there are fallback plugs that can help.
I’ll actually be shooting bluescreen. Would blue kinoflos be beneficial there?
Again many thanks,
Kevin
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up