I usually start my evaluation from the following grounds. Which to use for initial background White or Black? As stated previously, this really depends on your key. After we have this successful key, we can go about futzing with the way the subject looks. We only want to get the tightest key possible, eliminating ALL green from the screen. Remember that we aren't looking for any sort of lighting effects here yet. I find that either black or white is usually most suitable. You could choose Black, White, Checkerboard patterns or any primary color. I find that it hinges on the quality and nature of your key footage. What is appropriate? That depends on your footage. We won't need to do this till the very last few steps, after we're totally satisfied with our key.įinally, choose the appropriate temporary background from the View>Background>List of choices. Those of you who normally use a lower res (50% or 25%) for fear of dropped frames may rest assured that we won't be playing back full frame full motion on the desktop (which would require rendering). Stick with 100% for this work, switching back to your normally scheduled resolution when all is through. Since you need to see the edge exactly as it is, any interpolation on-screen by FCP will contain artifacts that may not accurately describe your matte. ![]() Obviously, reducing the window size will not aid you, but going over 100% won't either. ![]() For this sort of precision work, it's imperative that you see the exact edge you are creating. Switch the window size from whatever you have it set to 100%, no more, no less. Pick up the Filters Tab from the Viewer window and drag it alongside the Video tab of the Viewer window so that you can monitor your changes to the clip as you make them. Now, double click your video 2 clip and bring it up in the Viewer. After keying out the green, whatever is on Video 1 will shine through where the green screen was. Why Video 2? Because this layer will need to be on top of your background footage. First, drag your chroma key footage into the sequence (and create) a Video 2 layer. So, how to get things clean before stacking the layers? Easy. Shaggy edges that are not apparent in the still jump out and shimmy in the motion footage. Often, it's difficult to see how tight a key you've achieved this way because the busy-ness of the background distracts your attention. Now, most would assume that you'd immediately start layering your sequence in the stacking order of your key. First, let's lay out the groundwork for your key. You should have captured some of your chroma footage onto your system. Remember the old line GIGO: Garbage In = Garbage Out! The tools are more flexible than they ever have been, but they can't fix completely unworkable footage. Keying isn't any easier if you don't have good footage to work with, so make sure that your footage is the best it can be before you start. If you don't have any footage to work with, or you aren't sure how to light for green screen, try the Chroma Key Basics for DV Guerillas I article. ![]() You'll find that now its actually easier to pull a respectable key without leaving FCP than it used to be, and that you don't have to mess around with as many filter combinations. But with FCP 3, the new Chroma Keyer filter is much more robust and precise. In my previous article, Chroma Key Basics for DV Guerrillas II, I showed how to use the old FCP Color Key toolset to do it. If you've tried to do chroma keying with Final Cut Pro before FCP3, you may have found it a little difficult to work with.
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