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Chroma Key and Effects Questions
Ok… a few questions in this one so I don’t know who wants to tackle it.
First. I have a chroma key problem – my friend Jake has blond hair and its really hard to get a good key or even color correct it. I can key any image or person out perfectly but it seems that when it comes to blond hair it always ends up looking like crap. The YouTube Link provided below will show you what I mean (skip to 1:44). I also provided a picture of what my key settings look like… what else can I do to fix this problem? It is green around his head and his hair is always “blurry”.
Second. In the same YouTube link, if you skip to 3:30 you will see a smoke effect put in place… when the camcorder is moving the effect shakes around with the video. How do I stop this problem? A motion tracker? How do I track an effect like that?
Hope you guys can help. Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahf8gPoEOrE
https://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk366/mrgrey26/Screenshot2010-06-13at94713PM.png
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11 Replies
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Probably not the most helpful answer to you, but I never use FCP for keying. It just never seems to come out right. If you have access to After Effects, I suggest you play with keylight, which will have no problem with his hair, if used right.
Blonde hair is always facing spill problems, so try playing with FCP’s spill suppressor – green. That should help bring some detail back.
As for the smoke, motion tracking would be best, but also since its a very quick clip (and lets face it, not exactly photo realistic) you could frame by frame adjust the placement of the smoke (kind of a manual motion track).
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CPU: MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB 1067 DDR3
OS: Snow Leopard OSX 10.6.3
FC: Final Cut Pro 7
Footage: 60i MXP
Application: Chroma Keyer in FC
Lighting: 2 umbrella lamps -
is there a prores 422 converter you could recommend?
i have a canon hf s10 – would recording with different frame rate or mode help?
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it uses flash memory not tape
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I appreciate your advice. Thank you.
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actually… one more question just so I get this straight – I import my footage from camcorder to final cut (thats the only way I know how to import) then I find the folder that the clip is in and put it in compressor and use that to change it?
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I brought in some footage from my camcorder into finalcut then saved it on my desktop… when i click info it says CODEC: Apple ProRes 422, Linear PCM, Timecode. If its already in prores then why do I have to use compressor?
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I can’t figure out how to use the Motion Keyer properly (sorry I’m obviously new at this) so I’m looking up tutorials and installing Boris Continuum Effects in the meantime. I heard that has a great keyer.
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Hi Dave,
Your answers and knowledge is great, thanks.
I have just keyed out a blue screen in AE. I want to go back to final cut now and create the background in the transparent space i’ve created. I did my render export by using millions of colors+, RGB+ALHPA, animation, quicktime, prores high quality. In Final cut i tried a lot with the composite but i cant get a neat composition. Either the background is invisble or it becomes mixed up with the keyed image. You have any clue what i do wrong and how to solve it?
Grtz… Jochem Smit (Netherlands)
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There is a learning curve for any keyer. A lot of people think its just a matter of putting people in front of a some green paper or fabric and clicking a button. But the word of the day for keying is “finess”.
Brush up on several tutorials, and dont be afraid to start over with the key if its not going right. Sometimes a pixel sampled just wont yield good results, whereas the pixel group next to it will.
Forgive my assumption, but this seems like a personal project, and not really for a client. So take a chance to look at this as an enormous learning opportunity. Learn what worked and what didnt. And for god’s sake, DONT use FCP for your keyer anymore.
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