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Shooting a touchscreen for compositing
Hi:
A client’s going to be shooting video of a hand interacting with a touchscreen PC, and I’m going to have to composite in the screen interactivity. Any thoughts on the best way to isolate the hand from the screen for the shoot? My first thought was to create a frame of bright green and display that fullscreen on the PC, but I’m concerned that the green spill from such an illuminated screen might make it tough to pull a clean key on the hand.
The other alternative would be to cover the screen in green paper or tape. That would require me to fake in reflections, and there still might be spill from green light reflecting off of the tape or paper.
Any suggestions on the best approach? I’m going to post this in the Cinematography forum, too.
Thanks.
Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics -
2 Replies
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Thanks for the reply. I’ll have to confirm with the client whether they want to use something that exists or whether they plan to mock up something. It would be ideal to shoot everything practically.
Shawn
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I’ve had to do this quite a bit.
I’ve used taped on green paper. That usually works quite well. The spill has always been minimal.
Depending on the angle, I’ve shot the hand separately in front of a green screen and at a distance where I can be sure there’s no spill.
I’ve also shot against a black (turned off) monitor. I prefer this method.
I just duplicate the layer, tint it B&W and then really pump up the contrast. I then use this layer as a luma matte. You also benefit from the natural reflections that occur and can composite these over the top via blending modes.
If the shot isn’t locked down or it’s a handheld device, things get a little more complicated with motion tracking, but the principals are the same.
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