-
HD in SD FCP project
I am about to shoot a PSA that will include green screened presenters.
The final film will be in SD. I have shot similar productions before and had problems digitally zooming in (in Motion) to the face of a full body shot as it gets pixilated.
Can I film the green screen presenters in HD and import that into an SD motion project? Will the keying works better that way? Will I be able to digitally zoom further in with less pixilation? Or do I have to be working in an HD project for that to be the case?
Has anyone tried to film just the green screen element in HD to be used in an SD project?
Thanks,
Mike
-
4 Replies
-
[Mike Kraus] “Can I film the green screen presenters in HD and import that into an SD motion project?”
Yes.
[Mike Kraus] “Will the keying works better that way (in Motion)?”
That’s subjective. Motion gives you more tools for this, but if it’s a simple key, FCP is probably more user friendly for the job.
[Mike Kraus] “Will I be able to digitally zoom further in with less pixilation? Or do I have to be working in an HD project for that to be the case?”
Although you’re reducing your final image quality working in SD, you do have a lot of pixel real estate to work scaling in on HD footage. You can zoom in a good bit, but any digital zoom will certainly pixelate the more you scale in… especially if you’re going from “full body to face”. That won’t look so hot.
How are you delivering this?
Is this the case of an editor manufacturing close-ups the director never got coverage for? I suggest you storyboard your vision, so those compositions are created in camera, properly framed, so you’re not forced to digitally zoom. This will result in a better key too, because when you’re forced to scale, any flaws are blown up along with it.
“The deepest blues are black” – Foo Fighters
(this doesn’t help me when I’m chroma keying!) -
Thanks Jason,
The film will be delivered as a quicktime export from FCP.
I am zooming in to create a studio effect using virtual cameras in motion – creeping in from wide to medium closeup.
It just occurred to me that I might have more pixels to work with if I shoot the full body shots with the camera tilted 90degrees. Maybe this will allow me to zoom in more. Have you seen this done?
-
Yes, I’ve seen that done. It will give you more pixels. But why not achieve your ws-ms-cu in studio, with a nice camera truck move or slow zoom? Maybe try it both ways, but it’s always better to zoom optically with your camera rather than digitally in post. As long as you remain on a solid z-axis, it should preserve the look you’re going for.
“The deepest blues are black” – Foo Fighters
(this doesn’t help me when I’m chroma keying!) -
Leaving the moves to the virtual cameras leaves me more options, and with my cheap camera, the zooms look a little cheap too 🙂
But yes, I will try both.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up