What’s the best way to key??

[Jeff Dobrow]

Using many different techniques.

Keying off a ‘perfectly shot’ bluescreen should give very good results,….but most keying, especially VFX work of pulling mattes from moving plates with Bg’s,..etc..etc. Involve roto’ing out the piece to get a clean key.
Using splines, garbage mattes..etc..etc….every few keyframes throughout the clip to cut out the object perfectly and then allow for a ‘clean’ key………

There is a whole field devoted to just this type of work………..

[Mstleger]

Jeff’s right- most keying involves rotoscoping with loose masks- a “procedural” key, if you will. I usually make a garbage matte to isolate my subject, and make one really general key, which acts as a “fill.” Then, make a key that works on the edges. Multiple instances of this last key will be needed, because the hair will surely need a different key than the leg or the hand. Approach a greenscreen shot as a lot of work (because it is!). There is usually no perfect “one-button” approach, unless the person was filmed 50 feet away from the screen, on film, and the lighting is perfect. This never happens. To supplement the key and start the composite, I will sometimes soften parts of the matte with a choker (preferably not an AE choker, but 3rd party) and create light wraps from the background after color correcting my foreground. Hope this helps. Oh yeah, you can always shoot a clean plate of the green screen to try to pull a difference matte, if all else fails. Good luck.

[Isaac]

hey guys love what you are talking about… can you go in more detail on how to make garbage mattes and the rest of the stuff you do. i hear this all the time… so many steps to the process. but how? i will research through the cow and see as well.

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.