-
Chromakey question: convert source video first?
I haven’t done much chromakey work in Vegas. In fact hardly any as I’ve only keyed stuff on location with a switcher. But here’s my question:
Should I convert HDV files to .avi or some other format first?
I’ve captured 1440X1080i and I can’t seem to get a clean mask.
Playing around with a test, I converted a short clip to .avi and
it works beautifully. Just wondering if this is the normal method
or am I missing something here?Thanks in advance,
Chaz
-
3 Replies
-
HDV is 4:2:0 colorspace. Probaly the worst for chromakey. Re-encoding to a format that uses different colorspace won’t add any color information that isn’t in the original.
There are third-party plug-ins that do a better job, such as Boris Continuum (BCC8).
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
It’s interesting that converting to AVI worked better because, as Steve said, converting it will not add any color information. I usually convert my chroma key footage to CineForm because it’s easier to work with. I too recommend you invest in a decent keyer like the one in Boris Continuum Complete (BCC8), Boris RED. Both of them are plug-ins for Vegas Pro and can pull a pretty good key from substandard footage.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Tried to post a framegrab and upload. Everything seemed to indicate my reply worked but doesn’t seem to be the case.
Oh well… long-story short: to anyone trying to pull a good key from an HDV source vid; the lesson I learned is you can do it if you first load up COLOR CURVES, SECONDARY COLOR CORRECTION, CHROMAKEY. Saturate the GREEN in Secondary Color Correction, BOOST GREEN in COLOR CURVES. This will give you as green a screen as you can pull in your footage. Convert to Windows .avi HD 1080-60i YUV GOOD and RENDER. Import your converted files to project and you should get a clean key. I did… while technically it shouldn’t work… it did for me and not a bad key image either.
e-mail if you want more info.
Chaz
agendavideo@msn.com
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up