[Zvi Twersky]

6 – 8 is what I use for DV PAL (720×576) I’m talking here 1920×1080 Full HD.

[Zvi Twersky]

Thanks. Can you give me good values for minimum as well? I use VBR so target will be 20, max 22… what should the minimum be? Thanks.

[Zvi Twersky]

On the same issue, I was told that you can fit 2 hours of full HD (1920×1080) on a 25GB bluray disk at its full res of 35Mbps. When I try to input these settings into Adobe Encore with a video of 1 hour and 58 minutes, it says that it will need 33.9 GB for those settings and won’t burn it. When I tried (just out of curiosity) to set the transcode setting to automatic, it said there is now 10.5 GB of FREE SPACE. I’m afraid that the automatic setting is reducing the quality a lot so I didn’t burn yet.

What are the best settings to get the most out of the HD quality and use as much of the 25GB as possible?

[Zvi Twersky]

Thank you for all the advice. Very appreciated.

p.s. I’m a little silly for not thinking that since we will be shooting mostly brides with white wedding gowns, I don’t think a white BG would work 😉 Just out of curiosity, can you shoot brides on a black background as well or is it only the blown out luminosity in white that can do that trick?

[Zvi Twersky]

First, thanks for the replies. I will respond in order:

To Emre:

1. Our photos shoot 4288×2848. So are you saying that since that is plenty information to work with, keying it will be just fine in JPEG format? But still, if TIFF or RAW is higher quality yet, why not just shoot in those formats? Since to shoot it in TIFF or RAW is just the change of a setting. If there is any chance for a better key, why not?

2. I know that 35mm film shoots 4:4:4 and DV shoots 4:1:1. But that only means that on each frame, the color information updates itself on DV every 4 pixels. Pixels refer to a frame. A still image from a digital camera is a frame too. Doesn’t JPEG compress itself the same way by combining similar pixels (and loosing data)? I know that video has another codec\cpmression method to further reduce size (and reducing quality) called DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) where it shaves off higher frequencies in the data and then when converted back to a picture, we end up with a lower quality image. This I can understand does not apply to still images. (or maybe I’m wrong?)

3. Yes, I have studios shoot on white but our studio is a green screen cyc, set up for video and stills so I would need a good reason to convince my boss to buy a white backdrop instead of using the green. If it is just a of matter of it being easier to key off luminance then chroma… I don’t think I can convince him of that. If you are saying that keying off luminance will give better results (not faster) that could be something to work with. So what are you saying?

4: What format do YOU shoot in your studio?

To Mark:

I am not a digital photographer but I know we use Nikon D5. It seems from googling it, it CAN shoot RAW. I will ask the photographer about it. He shoots mostly weddings so I don’t think he ever shot RAW before. Would it be correct to say that you all agree that with still photography, RAW is the best way to go for keying? (or if RAW is not an option, TIFF rather then JPEG?)

Thanks again

[Zvi Twersky]

Thanks Ted.

I am not trying to get into any debates, but rather trying to get all my facts in order. This is why I asked this question in a few places and this is what one Walter Graff from https://bluesky-web.com answered me:

It really should not make a difference. The problems of green screen and video involve codec (ie formats) and that issue does not occur the same way in still photography. High resolution (quality SLR) cameras should have no issues with green screen. If you are shooting video on a still camera, then the issues may be present as again its about codec and video formats. Resolution alone does not make green screen better or worse.

Since it’s not like you said, I am respectfully asking if you can go a little more into specifics about this. The camera we are using is a Nikon d5.

Thank you

[Zvi Twersky]

Thanks for the tips.

Anyone else who wants to practice keying, compositing or tracking, can download tons of free keyed and tracked footage at https://www.hollywoodcamerawork.us/vfx_index.html

Thanks again to all

[Zvi Twersky]

Thanks again.

I’m sorry if I sounded frustrated. I’m not. I’m very great-full for your replies.

No, I didn’t want to record live but just thought the preview would be a quicker way to estimate the lighting quality. My plan was to do the keying later. So yes, I would have the ability to undo stuff if a client wanted.

When you mentioned On-Location, that was the kind of responses I was looking for – if a software like that can just give me a live preview. But I also wanted to hear things exactly like you said, like how you can also rely on the zebra and eyeball it – experienced feedback like that is very helpful to me.

I know that eventually, I will learn from trial and error but asking for help in forums like this one lets me educate myself a little more.

Here’s something 2 years old that someone pointed me to:
https://www.frischluft.com/lensfeed/index.php

Seems to be something that allows you to preview live video in AE. I need to get to sleep and will check it in the morning but I quickly glanced at the site at it looks like what I was referring too.

Good night and thanks again.

[Zvi Twersky]

Rob, I’m pretty sure they use switchers and other controllers and hardware for that. Yes, that would be going high end. Am I right?

[Zvi Twersky]

My knowledge is based on learning from people like yourself. Until now, all my knowledge on keying has been self taught by reading and watching. I guess somewhere along the way, I got the impression that the best workflow when on a greenscreen set is to be able to view your key as a preperation part of the production. Live\Real time preview was the way I read and learned.

Maybe you are right about this. Maybe this is only done on high end sets with high budgets. I guess I thought this was a standard workflow with all productions.

I guess I will have to shoot a few minutes, import it to the computer and check the key. If it’s not perfect, adjust the lighting and do the same thing again.

Maybe making a live key previewer program would be a good idea for a business 🙂