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Best Chroma Key solution for FCP
I’m going to be setting up a studio for green-screen chroma key editing. I was wondering what hardware/software would be best for this.
Would it be better to get a PC for the Chroma-key and use something like Serious, Ultra Magic or some hardware for realtime chroma key? I know After Effects has good software to do this (Footlight), but I don’t think AE useful for editing a 30 minute show and turning it around in a day because I assume it would be too slow.
And, if that wasn’t easy enough, what would be the best camera under $8,000 for this type of work and is it best to shoot progressive.
I would appreciate your great advice, thanks.
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5 Replies
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I use FCP or plug-ins for FCP.
Please read my article:
https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/chroma_key_fcp_hd_monahan.htmlKevin Monahan
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro
fcpworld.com -
This article by Kevin is probably the best, most detailed and honest description of chroma keying on FCP that I’ve ever read!!!
We create tons of chroma keys for interviews ( 15% of a 30 minute show). After trying many of the techniques described in the article, we came to the conclusion that we needed something with more horsepower than the built in FCP solution. We now use the “ulitmatte” plug ins. They’re expensive, but very, very good. They also take a lot of rendering time. But, for us, everything described in the article now takes place with just one click! I’m not kidding. One eyedropper on the green and that key is very, very clean. Perhaps a bit of touch up, but it’s practically a one click solution. In HD, little frizzy hairs are easily visible. Never could get that with FCP.
Mark
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One tip I’ve found very helpful when lighting a subject being keyed on green is to have back or rim light with an amber gel. This helps separate the subject from the background and suppress green spill.
Dual 2.5 G5 4 gigs RAM OS 10.3.8 QT6.5.2
Cinema 23 Radeon 9800
FCP4.5 DVDSP 3.0.2
Huge U-320R 1TB Raid 3 firmware ENG12.BIN
ATTO UL4D driver 3.20
AJA IO driver 1.3.1 firmware v21-26 -
If you want the best, get Ultimatte. Pricey and slow rendering, but ohhhh so powerful. I’ve tried many and I still prefer it after all these years. I’ve literally gotten better keys with Ultimatte using crappy footage versus something like DV Matte Pro with better source footage. And don’t get me wrong, less expensive tools like DV Matte Pro are still very good (*much* better than FCP’s keying tools), but Ultimatte is supreme.
As Napoleon wisely said, “It’s…. INCREDIBLE!”
Marco Solorio | OneRiver Media
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Another one that blew me away was Primatte. Again, once click and I got a near perfect key. No weird edge problems like with the built in keyer. It was AMAZING. Much like Ultimatte, the rendering was slooooooow. So slow that I decided to go back to the built-in to save time.
If you have time though, it is INCREDIBLE!
Ray Lane
Visual Dreams
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