Thoughts on 7D and Green Screen–deliverable is projected

[Christian Roth]

If you can manage the part of the red dot in post (which I suppose you can going green screen), you might consider recording the hdmi output of the 7D externally (KiPro f.i.) and thus avoiding the color space problem.

kind regards, Chris.

[T. Payton]

The 7D can’t do full rez 4:4:4 HDMI output.

Regarding green screen work, the 7D does a great job. Proper lighting of your key as always is the trick.

Also consider the end result and your audience. i.e. how good does the key have to look. Are you building a virtual set (CG elements) or are you trying to sell an actor in an environment. A virtual set can get away with a “rougher” key than trying to put an actor in a natural environment.

And I must boast about the FCP X keyer. I grabbed a job I did a couple of years ago that was shot on HDV 4:1:0 on blue screen (it was short notice and that is all we had) and matts were created in Keylight in AE. The renders from key light had taken about an hour for a 5 minute clip. So I opened this up in FCP X and it was pulling a key just as good as Keylight AND IN REAL TIME!

——
T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque

[Michael Hadley]

Thanks. I’m looking forward to using the keyer in X. That said, my concerns for the 7d is that the end result will be digitally projected on a 20′ screen for a corporate event, so the key will need to be pretty tight.

Best,

Mike

[T. Payton]

I’m sorry Michael I didn’t actually answer your question 😉 The 7D should work very well. There have been several tests done in Vimeo. For example

https://vimeo.com/7964527
https://vimeo.com/7954098

I failed to mention that my HDV keying project was projected on a 15 ft screen and looked very good. Therefore because of the inheritant quality advantages a 7D codec has over HDV, I would concluded that the 7D footage will pull a very good key, IF it is lit correctly.

However, of course nothing can replace your own testing with your lighting setup, lens, etc. and projected on the largest screen you can get a hold of.

——
T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque

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[Michael Hadley]

Yeah, those keys look good.

For this project, I’m looking at 2 7Ds, which on the plus side are 1080, but on the down side are only 4-2-0 color space for keying OR
2 Panasonic HDX 800 which on the plus side are 4-2-2 but on the down side 720P, which will need to be uprezzed to pro res and then projected on a 20 foot screen.

Neither is ideal. I’m tempted to go with the 7Ds, just a little leery of the keys, especially when blown up/projected.

No lorries on the lighting side. The DP is great.

Thanks again.

[Brian Mulligan]

All Chroma-keys look great when viewed in B&W. It hides a multitude of sins.

Brian Mulligan
Senior Editor – Autodesk Smoke
WTHR-TV Indianapolis,IN, USA
Twitter: @bkmeditor

[T. Payton]

Actually here is more with that 7D footage and in color:

https://vimeo.com/7972379

https://vimeo.com/15094759

——
T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque

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[Simon Ubsdell]

If you want to get serious about keying, I strongly recommend you have a look at the offerings from Conduit (from the makers of DV Garage), which now include a Beta version for FCPX:

https://www.dvgarage.com/conduit-64bit-beta

Conduit is a nodal compositor (a sort of mini-Shake) that is optimized for keying and the results are truly outstanding, once you have learned what you are doing. Their training materials are the best introduction to the real science of keying that you can find and well worth looking at even if you don’t end up buying the product (whcih is insanely good value!).

Particularly useful for cases like yours are their strategies for dealing with compressed source material of the 4:2:0 or 4:1:0 variety.

With Conduit you will be able to get results far superior to anything you could hope for with any one-stop keyer, even one as good as the one now in FCPX.

Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Conduit or the organization that makes it.

Simon Ubsdell
http://www.tokyo-uk.com