Inspiring

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Any Tips Or Advice For Filming With Green Screen?

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
January 4, 2017
4 replies
3695 views

I'm about to start my very first project "filming" with a green screen!

Being that I've never done this myself from start to finish before, I'd appreciate any advice the seasoned pros here may have to offer.

I have the CS6 Master Suite and, if the moderators see fit, this can be moved to either the Premiere Pro or After Effects forum once it is decided which software does better with this type of project (I really don't know and would have chosen one or the other, but since this is a question about setting things up for filming more than the techniques of editing - it goes here in The Lounge for now!).

I know that the screen should be "drawn tight" with no wrinkles, and that it should be as evenly lit as possible with no shadows falling on it. And I know that, ideally, there should be nothing else green in the scene. But something told me to ask here for advice since I have a week or 2 before actual recording takes place.

What else should I take into consideration while setting up the recording area?

If it matters, we'll be using a camcorder which is relatively high end, but not "Pro" quality. It's just for a website video, so probably no more than 1080 pixels wide for final version, with lower resolution versions for phones and tablets (natively records at 1440 pixels).

Thanks for any input anyone may have! Having never done this before, anything beyond what I stated for preparing will be greatly appreciated.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Nancy OShea

Good lighting, good lighting, good lighting. Super important.

http://tubularinsights.com/7-tips-set-up-professional-green-screen/

https://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2013/11/5-green-screen-tips-to-make-your-project-stand-out

Green Screen Tips — PinnacleStudioPro

Nancy

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excited_Genie16B8

Legend

I didn't read the responses from others, so this may have already been covered. But the most important tip you will receive is:

1. Test it first. Set it up, shoot something, key it out. Observe the results. Repeat with corrections if necessary. Do not move forward on the paid project until you're confident you can do it.

SockrateaseAuthor

Inspiring

Jim_Simon wrote:
I didn't read the responses from others, so this may have already been covered. But the most important tip you will receive is:
1. Test it first. Set it up, shoot something, key it out. Observe the results. Repeat with corrections if necessary. Do not move forward on the paid project until you're confident you can do it.

I appreciate the advice, and have had a foolproof back up plan in place from Day 1!

He knows this may be problematic, but wants to try. It's a lecture with animated graphs and charts (plus some infographics and a bit of my own animation) explaining his points. My back up plan is to simply sidestep the entire thing by shooting things set up such that a blank green "board" is on one side very near the edge, and have the speaker on the other edge, or near it. Then a simple mask will work and the entire effort can still be done, just not as fancy as originally desired. He wants to point at things on his graphs and such, but we already agreed that if this becomes a huge problem we can use animated pointers.

My philosophy on this is simply to do my best trying for something possibly beyond my abilities, but still be able to produce a polished product regardless of the success or failure of the "best case" scenario.

If you never reach beyond your current skill set, you'll never grow!

I am lucky to have a client who understands this and is willing to work with me, knowing all possible outcomes before we start.

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excited_Genie16B8

Legend

If you never reach beyond your current skill set, you'll never grow!

Oh, definitely. You just don't want to reach with a paying client (at least, not without that foolproof backup plan ).

Another way to put it might be, never promise what you have never done.

SockrateaseAuthor

Inspiring

My thanks to R Neil Haugen, chrisw44157881, and shooternz for all the great advice!

Being my first effort, and being "work for hire" (not a personal project, but trying to help another and get paid for it) the budget is not under my control

I'll see what I can get my client to invest in, but doubt it will go as far as a light meter - however some large white panels should be manageable!

I obviously have a lot to learn since I never used a vectorscope or waveform monitor and a few other "professional terms" from the replies sent me scrambling to look them up! Being self taught means I have more than a few gaping holes in my knowledge. But I do know how to research stuff, and it seems there is much for me to absorb before I can get really good at this.

It's a skill set well worth developing though, so I'll run some more tests (first run was OK, but not quite good enough).

Thanks again to all for their input.

I'll post back later with some results and quite possibly some more questions!

shooternz

Legend

You appear to know some of the basics of green screen shooting

Flat even lighting of the screen

As much distance from the screen for the subject as possible - eg your person / subject at 8 to 10 feet

Too which I will add...

Correct color balance of the camera and light. ie dont used mixed light sources and color temp settings on the camera.

Exposure - the green screen should not be over lit. Two stops under the subject is kind of optimal. Too bright creates bounce of the green and therefore fringing on the subject.

Backlight - place soft or bounce lights behind the subject to create soft rim lighting. This creates a nice contour and kls the bounce of the green screen. 2 large sheets of polystyrene placed at 3/4 each side... set in close works well.

Best thing you said...you are testing. Good on you.

Ussnorway7605025

Legend

is a person going to be in the film or just models like star trek | cars etc?

SockrateaseAuthor

Inspiring

It will have one person giving a lecture. We planned on having him about 1/3 of the way from the edge of the screen, with about 2/3 available for supporting visuals, charts, and that sort of thing. He won't be moving around a lot in front of it, but very likely some of that will take place (with an effort to keep it minimized for the first effort).

I was planning some experiments this weekend with varying the distance between the subject and the screen to see if it works better near or far.

I've not yet found any beginner tips for this, only more advanced stuff like special gels you can buy to smear on your green screen to make it "cleaner" {I'm not even sure what that would mean, but I'll catch on with experience}.

Oh yeah - the screen is a light weight material which I've had stored for years. It came with Pinnacle Studio video editor software in a box which also had a converter to allow you to plug your VCR into your computer. And the CD with what was my very first Video Editor (unless you want to count VirtualDub) (But I digress...)

I planned on wrapping the cloth around a big piece of plywood or cardboard or something to help keep it flat.

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't considered that there may be different techniques for things like people vs props/models. My own passion is Stop Motion Animation and was planning on trying it with that after this project by making an excuse to borrow the camera, so I appreciate you pointing that out to me.