Ultimatte Vs. Final Cut Pro- Green Screen Keying

[Simon Carlson-thies]

Could you give more detail on what you are trying to do… ie what is it that you are trying to key, and how complex is this composite going to be?

Normally I would recommend that you get a compositing package unless it is really simple…

Simon Carlson-Thies

[Moody Glasgow]

We have a couple Meridien Avid Media Composers (circa 2000), and I can honestly say, that is not a mahine built for compositing. First off, Meridien’s 1:1 compression, is only 4:1:1. I’m not too familier with Ultimatte, but you working on a very old machine, and I would say almost anything new would do a better job. Especially now that you can pickup Shake for only $499, FCP would be a much better route. (Assuming you get something like a Kona3 card, and bringing footage in uncompressed and 4:4:4)

moody glasgow
smoke artist / editor

[Fargoross]

>We have a couple Meridien Avid Media Composers (circa 2000), and I can >honestly say, that is not a mahine built for compositing. First off, >Meridien’s 1:1 compression, is only 4:1:1. I’m not too familier with >Ultimatte, but you working on a very old machine, and I would say almost >anything new would do a better job. Especially now that you can pickup >Shake for only $499, FCP would be a much better route. (Assuming you get >something like a Kona3 card, and bringing footage in uncompressed and >4:4:4)
>moody glasgow
>smoke artist / editor

This Meridien system is only capable of 2:1 as its best capture compression. Is it possible that this system is also only capturing at 4:1:1?
That is to say, if I had a FCP system, and I captured everything through a DV-Firewire Deck (Also using the deck to downconvert other formats), that it would come in at the same compression/quality (4:1:1) as footage via 2:1 Composite into the Meridien system?
Where might I find more information on the (in)abilities of this Xpress Meridien setup?

Also, this composite is very simple, and in no way are people expecting it to be believable and real (thankfully). The major problem of the composite is blocky hard edges that outline most of the subject. They almost look like interlacing lines, but they are 2-3 pixels high, and the options within Ultimatte are hard for me to understand.

-Ross A. Hendrickson

[Todd Beabout]

You should mess around a bit more with the Ultimatte plug-in. It is actually a better keyer than the FCP Chroma Key filter, IMO. Look at some of the matte controls under the Ultimatte and just mess with the sliders to see what each one does. I used Ultimatte for years on an Avid Symphony, and I actually miss it from time to time.

[FargoRoss] “if I had a FCP system, and I captured everything through a DV-Firewire Deck (Also using the deck to downconvert other formats), that it would come in at the same compression/quality (4:1:1) as footage via 2:1 Composite into the Meridien system?”

It would have the same color space, but it would be DV compression, rather than Meridian 2:1. The cost of capture cards has come down significantly recently. Working on FCP at DV resolution would not necessarily be better at all compared to the 2:1 Meridian. Go all the way with it if you are going to do it, and get a card that supports Uncompressed.

I would also second what others have said about looking into a compositing app. My personal favorite for pulling a key (on a desktop computer) is Combustion. AE and Shake come with “Keylight” which a lot of people like. I can get a decent key with it, but for me personally it is hard to beat the Discreet keyer.

-Todd Beabout
Vazda Studios

[Dean Sensui]

Todd…

I just started experimenting with keying and this is a test I did the other weekend in my garage.

Shot with a Panasonic HVX-200 in 1080p, and composited using After Effects and Keylight.

https://hawaiigoesfishing.com/videos/comp_test_720_24h.mov

Simple lighting. One undiffused key light to simulate hard sunlight. And two lights to illuminate the green screen. Due to clutter in the garage there wasn’t much room to get much distance between the subject and the green screen.

Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com