How do I remove a color?

[Allen Birnbach]

I have a short timelapse video of a storyboard being drawn out.  The artist used a green marker first to lay things out and then drew over those lines in other colors to create the finished piece.  I've tried using color key and ultra key, which resulted in a black line instead of green, and ultra key and resulted in a red line.  I'm guessing that this is pilot error, but I can't figure out where I am going wrong.  I've attached screen shots to help.

[Warren Heaton]

You have your key (the green being knocked out), but it sounds like you do not have your fill (the picture that replaces the green).

Did you stoot a "clean" shot of the paper?  That is, with nothing drawn?

Assuming you have that, layer it in the track under the footage being keyed and you should get the results you're looking for.

[Allen Birnbach]

Hi Warren,

Thanks for the reply.  So just selecting a color in the "Fill" box, which I changed to white, won't do it?  I could take a screen shot of just the white paper in the few seconds it is on screen and put that under the footage for the whole length of the video.  What that do it?

[Allen Birnbach]

I've attached a few screenshots of what happens.  I identify the color (magenta) in Ultra-Key, but there is still grey whereever the color was, even though there is a pure white layer below.  I solved it by adding a curves adjustment layer in Lumetri, but it hurt the pastels in and around the clouds and mountains.

Is there something I am missing here?

[Sami Succar]

Expand the Matte Generation under the Ultra Key, and adjust its parameters to get a better result. Also play around with the Matte Cleanup parameters, you'll understand how they work when you start adjusting them.

[Allen Birnbach]

Hi Sami,

I tried all the sliders in both Matte Generation and Matte Cleanup, and the only one that made a change (beyond what I already did with Matte Cleanup (Contrast at 100%, Mid Point 100%), was Transparency in Matte Generation.  However, that seemed to work like opacity for the whole layer so the colors got lighter along with the grey lines.

[Sami Succar]

Can you export a frame without any effect and post it? I'll try to see what key works best for you.

[Allen Birnbach]

Thanks so much!

[Sami Succar]