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Green Screen/Project Help
Hello,
I have been working on this huge project and I need to replace some green screen. I used FCP, Adobe After Effects, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro to create the project. If I put the raw footage that was filmed in front of a green screen directly onto a DVD it looks great (even on a big screen tv), but after I go though the different programs and replace the green screen the man sitting in front of the green screens face looks a little blurry or distorted, mainly around his eyes. If I watch the DVD on a computer in a small window it looks fine, but if I enlarge the window or watch it on a Big Screen TV it looks distorted again. I don’t understand why it looks fine before I replace the green screen, but not after. Do you have any idea how I can fix this problem? Could it be because of a setting that I have wrong? Is there a filter that could fix it?
Below are all the details of the project.
It was filmed in DV NTSC format and I assembled the entire project in FCP. Then I exported some of the green screen footage by going File, Export, Quicktime Movie. I set the settings to DV NTSC 48kHz, Video Only, No Markers. Then I put it in Adobe After Effects and applied some Keying and Color Correcting Filters which replaced the green screen. From there I exported it as a Quicktime Movie with the compression type set at DV/DVCPRO – NTSC, I have the frame rate at 29.97fps, quality set to high and the size set to NTSC 720 X 480 4:3.
Then I put it back into FCP to add some other video and audio to it and export the entire project as a Quicktime Movie with the same settings as before. Then I change it into a MPEG-2 file in Compressor, put it in DVD Studio Pro and Burn it onto a DVD.Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sloane -
2 Replies
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Sloane,
The advice I would give is to avoid re-compressing your footage 3 or 4 times. You should be able to import your captured DV clip into AE rather than exporting (re-compressing) the footage with lossy DV compression. Obviously, you’d want to replace the clip and tweak vs. redoing the project. I would also export from AE as something other than DV, as this adds another round of compression. Even if you can’t play back uncompressed, you can still stick it in your timeline and export to MPEG2. You don’t need real-time playback unless you’re going to tape. Just make sure you change your sequence to uncompressed (or Pro Res, etc.) or you’ll just end up compressing to DV again.
There’s a lot of fine detail around the eyes and that information would be easily lost after 3-4 rounds of DV compression. Which could account for what you’re seeing.
I’d also play around with your MPEG2 settings as these can also destroy any quality gains you make by using uncompressed footage.
Hope that helps,
Zak“You can’t fix coverage in post.”
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Zak has pretty much summed up all of my suggestions. Make sure you are Rendering out of After Effects, not Exporting. You want to choose an uncompressed or lossless setting and render fields the same way they came in. In the Render Queue where it says “Best Settings”, go into that and set field rendering to lower first for DV footage (assuming it was not progressive to begin with).
The key is avoiding DV compression whether it happens as a result of exporting a movie or rendering in your timeline. If you don’t get the concept of changing your sequence setting or you’re unsure how or at what point in your edit to do that, ask again. You can also search posts. Our leader David has given advice on this technique many times. Cheers!
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