Which material is better for Green Screen?

Report · Sep 08, 2012

Which material is better for Green Screen? Polyester or Muslin??

Report · Sep 08, 2012

Maybe the link in this article will be helpful: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/568419?tstart=90

Good luck,

Hunt

Report · Sep 09, 2012

most green and blue screens are stretched on frames ( called "butterfly" frames )

Typical sizes are 6' x 6', 8x8, 12x12 and 20x20. Custom sizes can be ordered, up to hundreds of feet.

This is a pretty popular 'brand' ( matthews )

http://www.amazon.com/Matthews-Reversable-Green-Matte-Screen/dp/B0041C9UOA

The material is slightly spongy and stretchy...so that when you stretch on frames there are no wrinkles.

To make coves ( cyc ) you can gently create curve and use green tape to floor

...and if you also paint floor green you'll have a complete green field...

have fun

Report · Sep 09, 2012

I did a pretty good bit of greenscreen when I did corporate video. I was once Mr. Fix-it. I often had to salvage some of the worst shots. From audio to video. The worst greenscreen shot I had to fix was the result of a hired shooter that just wrecked her truck. She was shaken and forgot to turn on one of the lights and she left some serious wrinkles in the greenscreen. The DV Cam tape went from Detroit to Georgia, so it was impractical to re-shoot. It would not key because her shoes and the green floor were too similar of a brown color, so I had to create an animated mask in After Effects.
I always liked Ultra while some like Keylight.

Light the greenscreen as evenly as possible and it really helps to plug a monitor into the camera for a larger view of what's being captured. Some of the old pros say "I don't need to do that, I've done some much of this, I'm an expert. Well, I've had to deal with some of those "expert" shots, so I can tell you, it's a lot easier to get things right while you're shooting. The people I used to work with were so impatient on a shoot and just wanted to get it over with. A little extra time can save you hours in post. I have had best results with a greenscreen lit like the color of the bottom left corner of the photo you posted. Kind of a "hot" green.

Report · Sep 10, 2012

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I have had best results with a greenscreen lit like the color of the bottom left corner of the photo you posted. Kind of a "hot" green.

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geez.. Chuck, this is a shot of the screen hanging on a stage, not a lit scene with any "lights" etc to shoot an actual shot... its some dodo shooting what he/she just hung on a stage for the shoot...

sheesh

Report · Sep 10, 2012

I said:

"I have had best results with a greenscreen lit like the color of the bottom left corner of the photo you posted. Kind of a "hot" green."

You said:

"geez.. Chuck, this is a shot of the screen hanging on a stage, not a lit scene with any "lights" etc to shoot an actual shot... its some dodo shooting what he/she just hung on a stage for the shoot...

sheesh"

The following Image should clarify what I said:

Report · Sep 11, 2012

ohhhhhhh... .now I got you...hehe...i thought you meant it was unevenly lit but that to light it like that brighter area is best..

duh...sorry... yes, I agree... evenly lit with a fairly groovy green color (luminance ? ) is best IMO too.

thanks for pointing that out..

looking at that cool graphic you did to change the green ( right side graphic ).. I wonder if you can sorta do that to screens that WEREN'T properly lit evenly etc ?? in the editor I mean. Seems to me there used to be in photoshop a color replacement option somewhere..

But anyway, I guess in long run, just lighting it right and doing less in post is probably the way to go.

edit:

I used to walk onto green screen stages ( everything green...cyc, floor etc ).. and say, " Boy, if I was a BUG I'd LOVE this place ! "

guess you had to be there.

Report · Sep 11, 2012

"I wonder if you can sorta do that to screens that WEREN'T properly lit evenly etc ?? in the editor I mean."

I have done that in After Effects. When I used the stand-alone Serious Magic version of Ultra, they had a built-in eraser where you could eliminate areas in the green gackground that don't key well. Premiere may have that feature as well in the newer versions, I just haven't needed an eraser recently, so I haven't looked. The downside of course is, you need to make sure that the talent doesn't move over the erased area. The eraser tool couldn't be animated to move out of the way and your talent could end up with a missing hand or head in the final video output.

I really do enjoy working with green screen. Hi-def results are amazing. I once did a TV commercial in a cramped little room. In the finished product the talent really looked like he was in a European town square.

Report · Sep 11, 2012

You know what I hate about greenscreen though... when someone forgets to tell the talent not to show up wearing anything green!!! Some of the portable fold-up screens have an alternate blue side.

Report · Sep 11, 2012

I know..its really cool what you can get with keying stuff out...and some people are now using "black" for that in some cases ( like lets say you have a doorframe of a building on "fire"...)

The fire (flames ) looks good against the black background, the shot is aligned with the real shot on location ( so doorframe 'fits' the original live footage ) and you sandwich this ( black becomes transparent alpha channel ) and looks REAL... hehe..is amazing.

Report · Sep 09, 2012

Whichever is less wrinkled.

My guess is that would be polyester, but given the choice, I would have to assume that most muslin fabrics are less shiny than Polyester. You don't want shiny.

Edit: The absolute best fabric is described here - but it is pricey and you need special lights. However, it provides the best possible key. So if you are going to do a lot of keying and you don't want to have to worry about spill, or lighting the screen, this is the way to go. I want this so bad, but as a hobbyist, I just can't justify it.

artofzootography.com

Report · Sep 10, 2012

woof

check this out...is same as my link above type material.. is not shiny..is matte...spongy...stretchy...nice. If you have worked an 18 hour day on job and don't wanna do the 10 hour turnaround for next call time...you can even "sleep on it ".

http://www.fxguide.com/featured/pan-am-retro-green-screen-world/

go grips ! ( or was that go vikings ? ! )

ps.. the 'comments' on that web site for pan am are from non pro's... silly ...

they are not comments that have a clue whats up in pro work...sorry..but is fact.

the DIT station ( live during shots ) could mix the background and live shots live...so you 'see' on monitor what you get at end of edit and keying.

trust me, this is very advanced.

dont worry about the small stuff.. just test and shoot and test and shoot and get what you need.. live ..no post work is good work.

dont know how else to say this.. guess you had to be there.

try to imagine live and keyed at same time...melt the pictures in link you see in your head...original with screen, end result with key...is fun

Report · Sep 17, 2012

http://www.eefx.com/eefx2/store/cat_blue_green_screen_backdrop.html

I have an EEFX 10x20 backdrop with a rod pocket and the thing just works. Good dispersion of light, wrinkles are never going to happen (if you really beat it up, a light mist of water and a blow dryer will knock it out...or just stretch it like you normally would most backdrops and the wrinkle disappears).

It's an excellent material and very durable, resists fading and dirt.

Shot this video with it: