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$300 cam for green screen?!
Umm, okay. I worked with the HVX for a few years and the GH2 last year and loved them both. I started a freelance gig today and I’ll start with some green screen interview footage that they’re shooting. Their last video guy had brought in a DSLR, but I don’t have a camera body right now since I sold my Canon to switch over to m43rds soon. Their pay is low for even just my time, certainly too low for me to invest in new equipment for this job. So, they are purchasing a consumer camera today that will be used for both green screen and web cam recordings. Can anyone suggest a model that would be best for trying to pull green screen keys with, with a budget of $300?
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7 Replies
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I pray for the poor soul who has to try to key something shot with a $300 camera…
RENT a good camera for $300. You can get an HPX-170 or HVX-200 for that.
RENT RENT RENT!
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Why not hire a decent camera that shoots a codec designed for green screen use? This could create a huge mess for a poor editor trying to work with consumer cameras trying to get files converted to edit.
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Yeah, I love the 422 of HVX/HPX, but they intend to regularly produce short interview clips w/ green screen and also weekly longer video webcasts, so they’re likely not going to want to budget a $300 per day rental. I’m just trying to find what is an acceptable camera for being able to purchase cheap which will be able to produce an easy key (they generally like to have a one or two day turnaround).
Someone in another forum had suggested a Panny TM900K since it’s a 3 CCD, those run around $700. Anyone have any experience with trying to key from one of those?
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[Brad Bussé] “a Panny TM900K since it’s a 3 CCD”
No…not 3CCD. 3MOS. Different sensors entirely. Instead of one large MOS sensor like the HDV cameras have, it has 3 smaller MOS sensors, one for each color. But it isn’t the same as 3CCD.
https://www.dvxuser.com/V6/archive/index.php/t-167961.html
NO experience with them for Green Screen. 4:2:0 isn’t the best for that…and the cheaper the camera, the worse the image. Cheaper sensors, cheaper lenses, cheaper electronics. If they intend for more than one show…a series…they need to invest more than $700.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
I sure they are not doing to get proper lighting either. In the end they will have to settle for low quality composites or spend more money and time. Are you doing the keying/compositing? If so make sure you are getting a /hr rate. Let them know that they are compromising quality up front. If they cannot afford more then they have to live with the results.
BTW, DSLR are not the best for green screens either better to find a used HVX200 or something like that.
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Interesting. I really liked 3-CCD cams like the PD-150, XL1S, DVX100 and of course HVX200. I’m not sure what benefit a 3-MOS cam with 3 small sensors would provide for keying over a single large CMOS, if both are 4:2:0….
I don’t have access to a GH2 right now, but my last one I hacked to 172mbps Intra Quant. I wonder how well that performs for keying compared to an HVX.
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[Brad Bussé] “I’m not sure what benefit a 3-MOS cam with 3 small sensors would provide for keying over a single large CMOS”
The fact that it has 1 or 3 sensors is going to have little impact on you getting a good key if the camera you choose is 4.2.0 based on either DV or HDV format.
There is not enough colour information to provide good enough seperation for keying and you will be in for a weekly world of pain trying.
It is such a false economy as you will either have to spend ages in your edits battling to get it right or just have to give up and accept very poor results.
best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv
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