Chroma Keying - FCE good enough ?

Hey Guys
Because I will be producing video interviews that will be based on chroma keys, I'd like to receive your thoughts on whether the chroma key functionality on FCE is comparable to the one in FCP.
I will be using the Canon Vixia HF S10 (AVCHD camera).
Thanks!
-Max

I think I'll be using AVCHD.
My usage will mainly be informal. However, it is my intention to create simple but professional video interviews, such as the one below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTbY4VOlTI0
It will also be helpful to know whether FCE will be capable of producing that "video splash screen" or intro clip.
Thanks!
-Max

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Chroma Key--iMovie w/3rd party vs. FCP vs. FCE

Apple's pro audio and video tech support department can't seem to answer this question and they thought someone here in the FCP forum might be able to give me some guidance.
I'm an independent trainer and I've been trying to put a "simple" head and shoulders shot of me in a nice backdrop using iMovie HD and various 3rd party green screen / Chroma Key plug ins. The results have been disappointing. I evenly lit a green background (a piece of green fabric), shot the video, and adjusted the tolerances. The background dropped out ok, but so did tiny bits of me, and the green was still visible along the edges of me. Any further adjustments would make me transparent. I know it may be a lighting issue (or the fact that I'm using a generic green cloth background), but I'm a fine art photographer as well and I'm being pretty careful about the lights.
Are there any pros who do Chroma Keying who can tell me if buying FCE or FCP will solve this problem? Does FCE have a dramatically improved way to accomplish this green screen thing or is it likely using the same math as the iMovie 3rd party plug-ins?
Really, I'm hoping that FCE will have the same features in this area, since FCP is out of my range right now and hard to justify since I only want to do this one thing.
If I buy FCE, will I be missing some project-critical Chroma Key features only found in FCP that will force me to upgrade or are the features in this category identical?
For example, a tutorial on Chroma Keys for the Pro version says that it has a Chroma Smoothing 4:1:1 filter that might help when using mini-dv cameras.
Any thoughts on this from people who understand both versions of Final Cut and get good Chroma Keys would be greatly appreciated. Any other approches or software to get this done would also be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Bob - this is a copy of the answer I sent you in the FCE Forum.
I have never used iMovie for Chromakey as I believe that once you start buying third party filters etc. you can soon end up paying as much as if you had bought FCE outright!
FCE has numerous additional features (besides the Smoothing Filter) for fine-tuning the picture to get rid of colour fringing and other extraneous nasties. I would imagine that iMovie plugins would not have as many - though I do not know that for a fact.
As Tom says FCE and FCP are virtually identical in most respects. FCP's main differences are connected with the way professionals work - like feeding video from several cameras simultaneously etc. Most of us can manage without that!
Ian.

Unable to Chroma Key in FCE

I am having a devil of a time trying to get FCE chroma key to work. I have followed every tutorial I can find on Youtube, all with the same result, nothing.
It doesn't matter whether I use a still picture or a video clip nothing happens. I can use the eyedropper to select the colour. I can manipulate the bars but all to no effect onscreen. This is obviously very frustrating for me.
Would anyone be able to help?
Thanks,
Brad

Well, I guess you have already the “background-clip” on V1...?
Drag the “green-screen- (or blue) clip” on V2 above the background-clip...
Select the clip on V2 / go to Effects / Video Filters / Key / Chroma Keyer...
Double-click the green-screen-clip on V2 / the clip should open in the Viewer...
Select the Chroma Keyer Tab / Select the Eyedropper and click the green colour
in the Canvas / hold down the shift-key and use the Eyedropper again,
until all green colour has disappeared (or nearly)...
Fine-tune with Saturation and Luma if necessary...
Switch to the Filters Tab / Chroma Keyer / and try further adjustments...
Regards
Nolan

Good chroma keying app for ipod 4g?

Does anyone know of a good app for chroma keying (or green screening) on the ipod touch 4g? I have seen like ten or so, but was wondering if anyone here has used one that they really like?
Also if anyone knows of a good video editing app for ios? I was really dissappointed in imovie, i knew it wouldn't be like the mac version, but no editing of backround music, no choseing your own transition just using them transition for the whole video, and same w/ text!

Any ideas?

Chroma key, dv

I want to make a video with 1-4 musicians. I´d like to have no background (=color white), "chroma key" seems to be the word. I´m using a dv camera. Would this work with the chroma key effect in FCE?

Ok, so here's a voice from the other side.
I do chroma keying all the time. It's nowhere near as fussy as people make it out to be. I've even used wrinkled green fabric with less than stellar lighting and still got acceptable results. OK, it's not videophile hi def on a big screen, but it's quite acceptable for most viewers on a 'regular' TV.
You would shoot your musicians against a green screen background (make sure they don't wear any green or blue). Put a white slug on your base video track. Then put your actual video on the track above it, apply the Color Smoothing 4:1:1 filter, then the chroma key or green screen filter, and you've got your musicians on a white background - kinda like the Morpheus & Neo 'loading program' scene in The Matrix. Depending on how it looks you might also need to apply the Spill Suppressor and Matte Choker to clean up the edges.
Will you like the results? You'll have to try it and see for yourself.
While it's true that the DV codec isn't nearly as good at chroma keying than other (higher end) codecs, it's not terrible, either.

Chroma key effect in Premiere Elements

If I buy Adobe Premiere Elements, am I able to use chroma key effect and receive a clean video free from green colour from the background, even around the hair? My experience is that it is not possible with cheaper programs.

peterwallgren
What computer operating system would you be running Premiere Elements on? If Mac, be advised that Mac does not have Chroma Key, Green Screen Key, or Blue Screen Key.
A lot of variables in the green screen videography and photography. Best download and install Premiere Elements 13 and determine if it works for you in green screen workflow.
Generalizing, I think it does a good job. But a generalization is not good enough when you get down to a specific setup with specific details.
We will be watching for your follow up if you decide to look at the Premiere Elements 13 Chroma Key effect (Expert workspace, fx Effects/Keying/Chroma Key).
ATR

Alternative to Chroma Key?

I'm trying to find the simplest way to remove the background from video footage. I have a green screen but the models outfit is mainly green and blue. I haven't shot the video yet so I'm looking for either a better way to film this or to edit it.

The only alternative to a chroma key is rotoscoping. The new Roto Brush does a good job of removing the pain of roto on some shots, but on others you have to do the tried and true method.
More tips on rotoscoping here: Managing and animating shape paths and masks
Resources on the Roto Brush here: Roto Brush in After Effects
That being said, there are things you can do to make chroma keying a shot like this easier. Lighting is one thing that will make a world of difference.
Keying tips here: >Greenscreen and Bluescreen Checklist
One specific thing that might help is a really tight junk matte: Creating Super Tight Junk Mattes
Is there any way to change the wardrobe of the model?
What kind of green and blue are we talking? And what sort of fabric?
What does the rest of the model look like? I've known folks to use a red screen (or some other color) when shooting green or blue objects. I mean, if your model isn't human or is wearing a lot of makeup, you could push it to make it far enough from red.
Anyway, like any composite, you're likely to need to use a number of techniques to get it right.

Chroma keying, iPod commercial-style

Hi all,
I'm working on a video to project in the background of a play. I've shot some footage of unlit subjects dancing to a white background, creating an effect similar to the iPod commercials. Now I'm preparing these images for another guy to add animations to.
I've used the Color Correction 3-Way filter to turn the white into bright green, and to make the subjects as dark as possible. I've gotten rid of any unwanted objects or shadows in the frame using negative Contrast (we had very limited resources to shoot this, so the background is not evenly lit). This has worked very well. I've also used the Blue and Green Screen filter to put the footage over a green matte. The resulting black figures dancing to a bright green background, at first, look better than I could have hoped.
Except for one thing. When I export, or even render these images they end up looking terribly jaggy. I know this is a common thing with FCP chroma keying. The problem is, whatever I try (Matte Choker) it never really seems to improve. I was reading up on Nattress's filters and how Chroma Sharpen might help fix this - since the footage is PAL, there's not much else I can do in FCP in terms of color smoothing or anything. I tried the demo and it looks slightly better, but still not good enough to put it up on a beamer.
Am I overlooking something, or should I not have shot this against a white (to be color-corrected to green) background in the first place?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
-ruben
PowerBook G4 1.33 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8) FCP HD 4.5

Presume it's dv you're working with - you might want to have a look at dv matte pro plug in - it really can do an excellent job.
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/review_dv_matte_prodouglas.html
Another way to go would be AE and Keylight - might not be an option if you're strapped for cash.
Yet another option is Shake - but you may not have that.
Shake an AE both would involve an ugly learning curve.

What is the least expensive quality chroma key software...?

What is the least expensive chroma key software for the mac...
Also, I'm correct that using chroma key does not require that you go frame by frame, right?

You shouldn't really need 3rd party software, as FCP and FCE both come with decent keying filters, but I have heard good things of the FxFactory. I believe that software does keying (among other things).
And yes, as long as your green/blue/whatever background doesn't change in hue/saturation/luma inside the clip, you should not have to keyframe.

I am trying to download lion with the thumb drive how do i back up my files is time machine good enough or must i transfer everything to my hard drive

I am trying to download lion with the thumb drive how do i back up my files is time machine good enough or must i transfer everything to my hard drive

A erase of the drive or boot partition is not always necessary.
Flashing question mark at boot could be a easy fix, sometimes it's the firmware that simply forgot what bootable volume to boot from.
Try holding the Option key down while booting the machine, a choice of bootable options appears, select your OS X and boot up.
When you get in, head to System Preferences > Startup disk and set it again new. This will tell the firmware what to boot from. Test it to see.
Now if you don't have a selection of bootable options, it could be that the drive is dead, or OS X is erased or corrupted so it can't boot.
You'll have to run through this list of fixes to see what's going on, if you need a hardware fix or what, I've also included links if you can't fix it and need to recover your data etc.
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Color correction and "sudo-chroma keying"-can they be done?

So I just wrapped my cousin's wedding, but the ceremony and reception were both held in a bar, which made for less than optimal conditions. Besides the prolific dim lighting, there were neon signs, specifically Miller and Bud Light. Those signs were both blue, so if I put on my outdoor color corrector, the video looked nice, but then if I panned, the regular ambient lighting looked off. If I applied my indoor color corrector for the ambient lighting, it looked good, but as I got close to the neons, it again looked bad. My question is, can I keyframe the 3-Way Color Corrector so that when I'm by the neons, it's as good or the same coloring as when I'm looking everywhere else?
My second issue came during the vows. Being a bar, there was a Budweiser sign on the wall, and it was paper and had just gone up, so it couldn't come down. I knew I was gonna be framing that perfectly, and unfortunately I was. However, the sign has a nice white boarder to it, so my initial and current thought is to chroma key it out and replace it with something like "Congratulations." I wasn't using a tripod, so the image moves slightly and there's 2 people in front of it, the bride and the groom respectively. Would it be easy to chroma out the white boarder which then would give me some space to matte the rest out. But what about around the people? How good of a matte could I do there? I'm thinking of something like the Magic Wand tool from Photoshop, but FCP doesn't have that. The sequence is only ~5 minutes, so not that long, but what would make it easier on me?
I don't have FCS2 yet, but if all goes according to plan, I'll be wiping my system on monday, installing Leopard, and going to FCS2 which means I could smoothecam that clip, so then my matting would be easier. In theory, I also will have Color at my disposal, but from the time I played with it at an Apple Store, it's too much for me, at least at this stage of the game. This wedding was done on the cheap, hence why I'm doing the video for them, so if I need to leave the color as-is, and the Budweiser sign in, so be it, but I'd really like to make this the best that I can, and neither of these experiments have I had much of any really experience with, so the more the merrier.
As always, any thoughts or help is much appreciated,
-Brian

+>can I keyframe the 3-Way Color Corrector so that when I'm by the neons, it's as good or the same coloring as when I'm looking everywhere else?+
good news, yes you can keyframe all the color corrector filters and it should work handily for your situation
+>I'm thinking of something like the Magic Wand tool from Photoshop, but FCP doesn't have that.+
try these, might be just what you need: http://www.lyric.com/fcp-plugins/lyric-effects/index.html
+>The sequence is only ~5 minutes, so not that long, but what would make it easier on me?+
your Brother got married in a bar under a Budweiser sign Brian, I'm guessing he won't mind having his wedding video reflect the reality of the surroundings, so why fake it? ... easiest on you would be to leave it as it is 'cos theres nothing worse than a dodgy effect.
hope that helps
Andy

Can you do Green Screen/Blue Screen/Chroma Key on Adobe Premiere Elements 12 for mac?

Can you do Green Screen/Blue Screen/Chroma Key on Adobe Premiere Elements 12 for mac? If not, what are the alternatives?

JimbobT
ChromaKey, GreenScreen Key, and BlueScreen Key are not included in Premiere Elements Mac.
Some suggest Videomerge as the alternative. I do not. But Videomerge is not THE alternative.
Instead, I prefer the Difference Matte as a substitute for the 3 absent keying effects. Please check out my blog post on that which includes
the how to.
http://atr935.blogspot.com/2013/05/pe11-difference-matte-as-substitute-for.html
The suggestion has met with good results according to the feedback that I have gotten to this.
I am strictly a Premiere Elements Windows user who does not prefer Videomerge even in Windows.
Please review, consider, and let us know the outcome.
Thanks.
ATR

Could I have changed a setting that is not allowing chroma key to work

Very frustrated....I know how to chroma key (the process) but the eye dropper color selector is not working at all Doing something wrong, or locked something but NO idea what would be stopping this...this is a tough one....
Thanks
Don

Try here:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=3627066
If you are still stuck _trash the FCE Preferences_.
Al

Intermittent problem with cross dissolve and chroma key

It seems that in 1 out of 10 videos I produce in Final Cut Pro there is a problem with the cross dissolve effect and chroma key. What happens is that during the cross dissolve, clip A fades out with a green tint and clip B fades in with a green tint.
Today I am working with two videos that I captured using the same work flow on the same day. One project exhibits the tint while the second project does not. If I import the problematic footage into the good project the tint problem follows the footage. In the good footage, the cross dissolve produces a result that does not have a green tint. If I re-capture the "bad" footage the results are the same.
Has anyone else experienced this and does anyone have an idea how to resolve this problem?
Thank you.
Dual G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

In my project, both clips are source clips with Chroma, Color Smoothing and Matte Choker applied. A dissolve from non-chroma clip to chroma clip works fine. Only problem is with two chroma clips. In my dissolve, the error appears as red fringing in the area between the two masks.< </div>
You're using creative shorthand that doesn't help. "Chroma clip" means the clip to which you have applied all of these effects? What masks? Where are you getting the masks?
To understand what's going on with all them itty bitty pixels in a stack of interactive effects, do me a favor: render out a short piece, say 10 seconds of each of your chromaclips as separate movies over transparency using the Animation codec. Reimport them and put them over a solid colored Dissolve between them using different types of dissolves. Post back and tell us (me) what's going on.
I still consider this to be a bug -- nesting adds more steps to the workflow than if this bug did not exist. < </div>
It's not a bug. Your pixels are running down a pathway. It's a question of building the correct pathway and having the correct pixel wranglers with the right kinds of cattle prods.
bogiesan

PP CS5/5.5 chroma key better than AE CS4?

Hi everyone.
I think I read somewhere a while back that the chroma key in PP CS5/5.5 is better than AE CS4's Keylight. In fact, the PP effect may be an improved Keylight , but I can't recall this for certain.
Can anyone verify this?
Thx.
Paul

I've keyed with the same camera for a couple of years now, and it's got a pretty narrow band in which greens are easily keyed. DVCPRO HD is not well-reputed for its handling of greens, or at least as a result of it's use with an older 1/3" sensor. I've gotten the best results with the exposure on the screen at about 50-60IRE, but that's just in my scenarios. Most of my material is recorded to P2 cards (though I did one long shoot with OnLo and a green screen), but the footage encoding is the same--it's all DVCPRO HD. I've got some stuff that I did recently that keyed like buttah with Ultra--I literally had a solid key in 20 seconds with just picking the background color and tweaking a couple parameters.
So, since "brightly lit" and "lower lit" are subjective terms, it's hard to give you any specific recommendations other than to try to stick in a particular exposure range. All I know is that when your green screen footage is evenly lit and at mid-range exposure, Ultra does a pretty good job with minimal effort.

Chroma Keying - FCE good enough ?

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