How to Use a Green Screen
Set up your filming area with adequate lighting for your camcorder., Arrange lighting with three lights., Make sure that your subject or talent, as the individual is called, is a minimum of three feet from the screen., Position your camcorder far...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Set up your filming area with adequate lighting for your camcorder.
If you don't have a large room, your garage will do nicely. -
Step 2: Arrange lighting with three lights.
You want to light the blue or green background evenly with your lights set at a 45° angle from the screen.
The lights should be far enough back so they don't cause hot spots. , Your talent should be lit by the third light in such a manner so there is no shadow cast upon the background. ,, This will be used to get a "clean" key with the software later. , If you are going to use live audio, have a good lavaliere microphone attached to the talent's clothing, far enough away from the talent so that breathing is not captured on mic. ,, Note:
A DVD camcorder must have the video transferred to the hard drive in another manner. ,,, Ultra allows you to auto key or manually key.
Generally, with adequate lighting, auto key works fine. , On TV, they are using the weather maps as the background coming from the PC. , This is done because video coming from a camcorder will create a large file.
A rough rule of thumb is that ten minutes of video equates to 2gb of hard drive space.
The Codec (compress-decompress) used will reduce the size of the file depending on the Codec used.
Be aware, there is no free lunch.
When you compress, you are leaving something out so your quality is being reduced, though there are loss-less codecs available. ,, This could take some time depending on the length of the video and the speed of your computer and the resolution you have selected. ,, You could also use Microsoft Movie-maker that is a part of Windows but it is fairly basic in its capabilities.
In the editor, you can delete or rearrange the scenes as you see fit.
You can also add background audio as well as titles and credits.
Special effects software is also available that will let you create such things as lightning, explosions, and other special effects. , In one afternoon, you can tape yourself in front of the Sphinx. the Taj Mahal and a beach in the south of France, all without leaving your 10' x 12' computer room. -
Step 3: Make sure that your subject or talent
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Step 4: as the individual is called
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Step 5: is a minimum of three feet from the screen.
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Step 6: Position your camcorder far enough from the talent to attain the desired view: a full-body shot
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Step 7: a half-body shot or a seated shot
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Step 8: of the talent.
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Step 9: Film ten seconds or more of your blue/green background without the talent in the frame.
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Step 10: Move your talent into the desired position and start shooting.
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Step 11: Begin shooting your video
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Step 12: making sure to shoot a few seconds past where you will end in editing.
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Step 13: After you have captured the video onto your camcorder
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Step 14: connect your camcorder to your PC via a fire-wire connection.
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Step 15: Switch your camcorder to VTR or VCR mode.
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Step 16: Launch your software.
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Step 17: Advance your film clip into the area where you have the blue/green screen without the talent.
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Step 18: Select the static background scene or virtual set you would like to have your talent viewed in.
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Step 19: Select the compression or Codec you will be using.
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Step 20: Select the output format you would like to use
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Step 21: like the .avi format as it is acceptable to most replay software.
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Step 22: Allow the software to render the video.
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Step 23: Save the output and you are finished.
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Step 24: You can then take the finished video to an editor such as Pinnacle Studio
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Step 25: Adobe Premiere
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Step 26: or Premiere Elements.
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Step 27: Know that Chroma key allows your imagination to run rampant.
Detailed Guide
If you don't have a large room, your garage will do nicely.
You want to light the blue or green background evenly with your lights set at a 45° angle from the screen.
The lights should be far enough back so they don't cause hot spots. , Your talent should be lit by the third light in such a manner so there is no shadow cast upon the background. ,, This will be used to get a "clean" key with the software later. , If you are going to use live audio, have a good lavaliere microphone attached to the talent's clothing, far enough away from the talent so that breathing is not captured on mic. ,, Note:
A DVD camcorder must have the video transferred to the hard drive in another manner. ,,, Ultra allows you to auto key or manually key.
Generally, with adequate lighting, auto key works fine. , On TV, they are using the weather maps as the background coming from the PC. , This is done because video coming from a camcorder will create a large file.
A rough rule of thumb is that ten minutes of video equates to 2gb of hard drive space.
The Codec (compress-decompress) used will reduce the size of the file depending on the Codec used.
Be aware, there is no free lunch.
When you compress, you are leaving something out so your quality is being reduced, though there are loss-less codecs available. ,, This could take some time depending on the length of the video and the speed of your computer and the resolution you have selected. ,, You could also use Microsoft Movie-maker that is a part of Windows but it is fairly basic in its capabilities.
In the editor, you can delete or rearrange the scenes as you see fit.
You can also add background audio as well as titles and credits.
Special effects software is also available that will let you create such things as lightning, explosions, and other special effects. , In one afternoon, you can tape yourself in front of the Sphinx. the Taj Mahal and a beach in the south of France, all without leaving your 10' x 12' computer room.
About the Author
Mary Armstrong
A passionate writer with expertise in organization topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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