Compositing, green screen, cameras, codecs, tigers, bears, oh my...

I currently have a Canon HV30. From what I understand it records onto tape with 4:2:0 compression. I like to (try) to do keying work with it, but in all honesty the keys never come out all that great.... OK, but not great. I understand the reasons why (compression onto tape, 4:2:0 loses a lot of chroma data in compression, imprefect lighting conditions, etc.) but am wondering if the newer camcorders are any better.
I know that camcorders such as mine can record 4:2:2 if using an HDMI cable to record to an Intensity card, but I wonder if any current solid-state memory camcorders with large storage (and comsumer-level price tags) can record internally with 4:2:2 compression?
For the moment I capture to tape on my camera, transfer it to FCP my computer, then use Compressor to get it to the Prorez 422 codec. Is this the best method currently available to me for green screen and keying work (in fact, is changing it to Prorez 422 helping me at all), or am I going about this all wrong?

The only solid state cameras that record 4:2:2 compression are P2 cameras. And they start at about $5200. No consumer level camera records 4:2:2. HDV, AVCHD...those are 4:2:0. DVCPRO HD, AVCIntra...those are 4:2:2.
You can also look at getting external recording devices like the AJA Ki Pro, that records directly to ProRes via SDI, HDMI, component. No lugging the computer to the set. And you can use what you already have. No, there is no consumer level price tag on this.
If you insist on consumer level pricing, you'll get consumer level results.
Shane

Similar Messages

Green Screen Camera Settings and other questions...

Hoping you guys can help me out :-)
I have a Sony AX2000 HD camera and am a wanna-be pro. I've been trying to perfect my green screen operation. I think I have the lighting down and can play around with PE8 green screen or chroma key effect to my satisfaction. My problem is that I am very dissatisfied with the video quality. I'm shooting at full HD 1920x1080 resolution, and although the AVCHD video that my camera creates is awesome, when I create my final product, the video is awful.
This project is for online viewing mostly, although I need to provide DVD's too. I do not need HD, but assumed shooting in HD and reducing it down MUST be better than shooting in standard DV mode. I guess I assumed wrong? (Just been reading this - http://forums.adobe.com/thread/593946?tstart=0)
I'm also wondering about my camera settings. I had everything on auto, but I read somewhere using the manual focus, and turning down the gain helps - especially with the first problem I had which was noise. Actually, I improved this some with lighting, but blacks in particular seemed "noiser" than I found acceptable...
The other problem I have is fast movement. If my subject is throwing their arms around at any decent pace, even creating a high definition MPEG give me some terrible motion blur... then I realized even just creating a HD MPEG of the original video without the chromakey effect gives me sub standard quality, compared to the original AVCHD file. After searching this forum, I think I might have found the problem. I need to check my project settings to make sure they match the source files... I'll post again once I've tried this and let you guys know if it works...
Any other tips/thoughts out there?

OK - I discovered today that I was in fact using the wrong presets in Premier Elements. Rectifying that little detail gave me MUCH improved ouput - both for the MPEGS and even the standard DVD (although it still has the "home made" look to it rather than the TV clarity I would expect, it's a million times better than what I had).
Now I understand the basics of presets, I also discovered I wasn't using the best my camera had to offer either. I had it set to HD 1080 60i HQ – I found out the HQ translates to approx 9mbps (when this can be increased to 24mbps by using the FX option) - also the HQ was also giving me 1440x1080 resolution (when the FX could take me up to 1920x1080). So, I'm hoping for even better results tomorrow.
So, here are todays questions:
1.) The 60i part of the preset. Presumably the higher the frame rate the better, but how about the progressive v. interlacing - ie. is one better than the other for chroma key? Or does the fact that I'm going to be using this for web viewing (F4V format) and DVD's affect this decision?
2.) I took Steve's advice and downloaded Premier Pro. Immediately I came up against a problem. It seems like I don't have a suitable preset to choose. Further, when I tried to import my files directly from the camera's memory stick, it said they weren't supported. Adobe say the trial version is without limits, so any idea what the problem is here?

My iPod touch went into a green screen when I was upgrade the software it's in iPod 4th generation I tried restoring it did not work

My iPod touch 4th generation went to a green screen when I was upgrading the software I tried to reset the Green screen came back I tried to restore nothing

This has workd for others:
Try:
- iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
- Also try DFU mode after try recovery mode
How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
- If not successful and you can't fully turn the iPod fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
- If still not successful that indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.
Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

Green screen compositing, why does red specs appear on my finish composition

Hi, I am compositing some green screen scenes. When fininshed, I render them into Quicktime .mov's (using Avid DNXHD codec). When I play them back on my computer, they look fine. But I tested them on a fairly new 52" LCD television, and saw little red spots appear in certain places. Why would these red spots appear on certain televisions, and not on others, likewise, why would I not see them on my monitor?
Some info about the shots,
It is a green screen background shot, which had blue trackers, shot in 1280x720p. The backgrounds are 8 bit compositions created in a program called blender. The editing and compositing was done within After Effects CS6
Any help about the mystery of the red specks, maybe hotspots, would be appreciated.
Thanks

A picture's worth a thousand words.... Could be anything, but most likely you're using bad encoding settings and make a mess of the color ranges....
Mylenium

Best codec for green screen in FCP or Motion

First--I tried to search for posts on this topic, but I swear I cannot figure out how to search -the discussion forums- on this site. Anyone want to tell me what I'm missing?
My main question is about codecs for keying green screen in FCP. I have always just worked with DV but it does not key very well. I am about to go into a project that involves editing 25-30 hours of studio footage down into about 5 hours of finished product, all of which is going to be shot against a green screen. We're using high-quality non-digital NTSC cameras for the shoot and encoding to hard drive, which gives us the option of using a different codec. Since we need to capture so much footage (various takes, camera angles, etc), I don't have the budget for the hard drive space required to capture it all uncompressed, but I'm looking for something better than DV.
I've seen some people are using DVCPRO 50 for green screen work, and I think I could get all the footage onto a single 1TB hard drive in that format.
Is DVCPRO 50 significantly better than DV for green screen? Is there another codec which would be better to use with FCP/Motion, but still keep my data under 10MB/sec?

Is the difference between 4:1:1 and 4:2:2 some part of what causes the blockiness in DV?
No...the DV compression is what causes the blockiness of DV. It is compressed 5:1, and how it is compressed is the cause of the compression. Mind you, if you shoot to DV tape, then capturing that as DVCPRO 50 will not get rid of the blockiness. that is there when you record to tape. It will convert the footage from 4:1:1 to a 4:2:2 color space for better color control when keying and color correcting. But much of the color information is already lost when you shoot to DV tape. Capturing as DV50 will certainly help, however...and be TONS better than keying as straight DV.
Shane

Camera video preview - Random crashes and green screens

Hello everyone,
I am currently working on a Windows Phone 8.1 app and I need to preview video from the phone's back camera. For quite some time I've been struggling with random crashes and green screens. When these green screens appear, all camera apps become affected and
the device needs to be restarted. Occasionally the phone freezes and only recovers after battery removal. I test the app on my Lumia 620.
After some web search, I found references to the same problem by many users/developers of different apps. I'm really frustrated as I've tried many possible solutions with no avail.
Here is part of my code:
//in App.xaml.cs:
MediaCaptureInitializationSettings settings;
public static MediaCapture captureMgr;
public static bool UnableToInitializeCamera = false;
public async Task InitializeVideoCapture()
DeviceInformation backWebcam = await GetCameraDeviceInfoAsync(Windows.Devices.Enumeration.Panel.Back);
if(captureMgr!=null) captureMgr.Dispose();
captureMgr = new MediaCapture();
settings = new MediaCaptureInitializationSettings();
settings.StreamingCaptureMode = StreamingCaptureMode.Video;
settings.PhotoCaptureSource = PhotoCaptureSource.VideoPreview;
settings.AudioDeviceId = "";
if (backWebcam != null)
settings.VideoDeviceId = backWebcam.Id;
else
var _messageDialog = new MessageDialog("Back panel camera not found");
_messageDialog.Commands.Add(new UICommand("OK"));
_messageDialog.ShowAsync();
try
await captureMgr.InitializeAsync(settings);
captureMgr.SetPreviewRotation(VideoRotation.Clockwise90Degrees);
UnableToInitializeCamera = false;
catch
UnableToInitializeCamera = true;
Debug.WriteLine("HANDLED EXCEPTION: camera could not be initialized");
var _messageDialog = new MessageDialog("Unable to initialize camera");
_messageDialog.Commands.Add(new UICommand("OK"));
_messageDialog.ShowAsync();
protected override async void OnLaunched(LaunchActivatedEventArgs e)
//.... other app initialization code
await InitializeVideoCapture();
Window.Current.Activate();
private async void OnResuming(object sender, object e)
AppIsResuming = true;
FinishedCameraInitialize = false;
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0.5));//this makes crashes less frequent
await InitializeVideoCapture();
FinishedCameraInitialize = true;
if(WasPreviewingCamera)
WasPreviewingCamera = false; //the following line allows time for SetupPage._captureElement to be assigned before video preview starts while (!SetupPage.CaptureElementSourceAssigned) await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(1));
SetupPage.CaptureElementSourceAssigned = false;
try
Debug.WriteLine("trying to restart video preview");
await captureMgr.StartPreviewAsync();
SetupPage.PreviewingCamera = true;
catch
Debug.WriteLine("HANDLED EXCEPTION: unable to start previewing");
SetupPage.PreviewingCamera = false;
GC.Collect();
AppIsResuming = false;
private async void OnSuspending(object sender, SuspendingEventArgs e)
var deferral = e.SuspendingOperation.GetDeferral();
while (AppIsResuming) await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(1));//prevents crash when app is suspended right after it is resumed
await CleanupCaptureResources();
TimeOfLastSuspend = DateTime.Now;
FinishedCameraInitialize = false;
GC.Collect();
deferral.Complete();
public async Task CleanupCaptureResources()
if (SetupPage.PreviewingCamera)
await captureMgr.StopPreviewAsync();
WasPreviewingCamera = true;
SetupPage.PreviewingCamera = false;
else WasPreviewingCamera = false;
if (captureMgr != null) captureMgr.Dispose();
//in SetupPage.xaml.cs
void OnSuspending(object sender, Windows.ApplicationModel.SuspendingEventArgs e)
var deferral = e.SuspendingOperation.GetDeferral();
_captureElement.Source = null;
CaptureElementSourceAssigned = false;
GC.Collect();
deferral.Complete();
private async void OnResuming(object sender, object e)
ProgressRing2.Visibility = Visibility.Visible;
ProgressRing2.IsActive = true;
while (!App.FinishedCameraInitialize) await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(1));
App.FinishedCameraInitialize = false;
captureElement.Source = App.captureMgr;
CaptureElementSourceAssigned = true;
GC.Collect();
ProgressRing2.Visibility = Visibility.Collapsed;
ProgressRing2.IsActive = false;
Any help towards a solution will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

I will also advice that you start by following the
Windows Store app sample.
Is this a Windows Phone app?
The crash/green screen only manifests itself when I suspend my app and switch to the default camera app (could be any other camera app perhaps). It happens roughly 1 out of 8 times. That's why I posted the suspension and resuming handlers, which I wrote
according to the msdn instructions.
I found
this page with a sample that demonstrates the MediaCapture API for Windows Phone. Some developers have reported problems similar as mine. Has Microsoft dealt with this issue?
I've spent quite a few weeks trying to investigate this problem, without actually knowing if it is my code that needs to be debugged. That's why I'm asking if other developers are facing similar problems.
Thank you
Edit: It seems that the crash/green screen can appear when suspending/switching to any app (regardless if it uses the camera or not). Also, all works fine when the app is running on the debugger.

Trying to composite from Lightwave 3D using Green Screen

Regards,
I am trying to do a simple picture crawl across the bottom of my video. First I tried using a transparent.png file that was 2240x540 and using the ken burns effect cropped it to move across the screen. This worked to an extent. The only problem is that imovie scaled the resolution to match the horizontal measurement of 960 pixels. leaving the image in a very low resolution. On that looked horrible.
Second try: I own a copy of Lightwave 3D 9.6. I love this program! I figured I could output video that had the crawling photos across the bottom, with green screen as the background. I output it in Apple Intermediate Format for ease of import. and when I place my crawl as a b-role/green-screen the entire image disappears.
Does anyone know what I am doing wrong. I would love to figure this out so that I can composite my 3D animations on top of my imovies. I love the simplicity yet accuracy of the new iMovie 09. I just want to figure this out.
Any help would be appreciated.

The green screen feature is designed to work with camcorders, so my advice would be to make sure you are using a frame rate like a camcorder (either 29.97fps or 25fps for Pal.
Also, a perfect green background doesn't seem to work very well. Try a gradient or shades of green like a real greenscreen would have (i.e. shadows, imperfections).

Nokia Lumia 928 camera & video has a green screen

I just recently got my new phone and the camera was working great as I have 5 kids and enjoy taking thier pictures and uploading them so family can see however this week when I attempted to take a photo the camera went to a green screen when I pressed the side camera button. I have not dropped or done anything to damage the phone so I am puzzled as to why it all of a sudden stopped working. I have only taken maybe 30 photos so far. I even went into the setting mode under applications to the photos + camera tab and reset the camera, uunfortunatly it did not help.
Does anyone know what can be done to fix this or what may help?

Power down the phone....press and hold the power button till you get the "Slide down to power off" screen, and power it off. Then restart it and you should be fine. It's happened to several (check other forums.... )
It happened to mine too, once since I've had it. A reboot fixes it and it hasn't happened since.

Built-in iSight cam randomly stopped working. All I get is a green screen!

I used it just yesterday with both Photobooth and iChat with no problems what so ever. Now all it shows is a green screen! Anybody know what the problem may be and how to fix it??? Thanks!
-Jonathon

Welcome to Discussions, -Jonathon
Here are the solutions that help most users who encounter green-screen problems. None are complicated, but the only way to find which one will work for you is to try them one-by-one until you find the one that fixes your Mac.
(1) Check your System Preferences as explained in this kbase article about Built-in iSight camera produces blue or green pictures.
(2) If your System Preferences are set correctly, try every suggestion re: Built-in iSight in the "How to Troubleshoot iSight" article.
Be sure to include the checks for whether the problem is "application-specific" and "user-specific".
If you need help creating a new user account to check whether your problem is "user-specific" during Troubleshooting, see this Help article.
(3) If resetting or the other suggestions do correct your problem, try the following:
• Backup your Home Folder, or at very least, your important files.
• Repair permissions. (Click here if you need help.)
• Then download and apply the Mac OS X 10.4.10 Combo Update v1.1 (iNtel).
• Finish with another Permissions Repair, and then check your iSight again.
Users have reported fixes to a variety of audio, video, connectivity, and software conflicts and unreliability issues after properly applying Combo Updates.
(4) A few iNtel Mac laptop users have also reported success after unplugging their Macs and leaving the battery out for half-an-hour to overnight.
(5) If none of these suggestions help, contact Apple or your Apple-Authorized Service Provider for a professional check.
EZ Jim
PowerBook 1.67 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.10) G5 DP 1.8 External iSight

I have footage that needs to be green screened. One of the cameras zoomed and panned, is there anyway to lock foreground and background so the motion is consistent

I shot two cameras for green screen editing but one of the operators zoomed and panned so the key is good but when the camera zooms it looks like the subjects are floating, any idea how to synchronize the foreground to background
Video Gal

I think you will need the camera tracker effect in AfterEffects, It would be best to ask in their forum.

Isight camer gives green screen in photo booth, black in ichat.

imac g5 insight Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I have an intel 20" imac and was going to install bootcamp. I have updated the firmware and now have the same issue with the photo booth green screen. I can see my camera in imovieHD and recorded videoitw hout any problem.
I have decided not to proceed with the actual bootcamp until I find the reason for this, and to check nothing else has happened.

Green screen when using camera

Twice now when attempting to use the camera all I get is a bright green screen instead of images. I've had to power cycle the phone and the camera starts operating OK. Has anyone had a similar issue? Thanks
Message was edited by: kvslab. I found the cause of the problem was the Amazon app. Whenever I was using their app, then went to camera I would get the green screen and have to reboot. I removed their app and problem is gone. The Amazon app does make use of the camera for scan purposes.

Eens wrote:...Any more advice?
• If none of Apple's http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090
   suggestions help you, continue with the following.
• Use your Mac's Disk Utility to repair permissions and then
   download and apply the latest Combo Update, for ML Mac OS,
   the current one is at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1581
• Repair permissions again immediately following the system restart
   that completes the Combo update.
Properly applying the Combo version of updates can sometimes correct software problems, but, if your trouble is caused by a hardware problem, there are no user serviceable parts of the camera. For hardware help, contact an Apple-Authorized Service Provider for service.
• If you still have trouble and want to try one more thing on your own before having your Mac serviced, uninstall all third-party apps that can use a camera. Then reinstall ML OS X and test your cam one more time BEFORE adding back any non-Apple apps. If the problem remains, see your AASP.
(Apple has changed the built-in camera's name on newer Macs from "iSight" to "FaceTime" and then to "FaceTime HD." Regardless of the name of your Mac's built-in camera, the same info and troubleshooting applies.)
Message was edited by: EZ Jim
Mac OSX 10.8.2

Green screen - dual stream composite

Hi,
Can someone please explain me how to key a green screen using the dual stream composite? I read that I should use one copy of my footage to key the screen, and a separate copy of the footage for the "beauty pass" that will be used with the alpha generated keyer. Could someone give me more details if you know this method.
Thanks

You don't really need a tutorial. Simply duplicate your footage. Get a reasonably clean key on the top layer and use it as an alpha matte for the layer below it. Information on using layers as track mattes (alpha mattes or luma mattes) is available here: Alpha channels, masks, and mattes
Now, the newest version of AE has some updated keying tools that might help you get a better key than what you're trying to do. The Key Cleaner and Advanced Spill Suppressor might be helpful. There's even an animation preset that loads that all up for you. Some details on those effects (and a link to a video tutorial) are on this page: what’s new and changed in After Effects CC 2014 (13.0) in the "Key Cleaner effect and Advanced Spill Suppressor effect" section

Blue/Green Screen And Multiple Cameras?

Next week a number of us are demonstrating Blue/Green Screen filming and editing to members of our video club who are not familiar with the technique.
Originally the person who thought up the idea intended to have 3 groups of people filming a 2 minute script on a "station platform" a la "Brief Encounter".
So far, so good, but then the creator of the idea suggested we should shoot each scene with 2 or 3 cameras to make it look more professional.
I don't like complications when the aim is to demonstrate a technique, but somebody has suggested there will be a further drawback.
When we cut from one camera to another during editing, the angle of the "actors" will alter but the background will not!
This will create the equivalent of a jump-cut.
Has anyone done such a shoot, experienced this problem or found a (reasonably simple) solution?
My idea of a solution is to have one camera in a fixed position! But, then, I am lazy.

Hi Ian
You know me and my speculations (what You got without enough Know-How)
But I would try to first apply Green-screen effect to one Camera angle
at a time. Then I can get another background for Camera two etc.
Then save these as QT full quality .mov (or rather back to Camera and new tape
feel much safer this way) and re-import then and now prepare
for multi angle cutting. (By putting one Camera on each track. Minimizing size
to 25% and locate each to one separate corner)
Now playback and I will in Canvas see all Cameras in each corner and can by using
transparicy adjuts which one to be seen.
Then as a last action - upscale all to 100%
Done
But as You see this is me just speculating. I fell for FC-Pro and the MultiCam
function here. It's fantastic.
Yours babblingt Bengt W

How to keep green screen effect in one place while moving camera?

Hello all. I have been trying to use a green screen while moving the camera in Final Cut Pro X however I am running into a problem. Basically when I move the Camera all of the effects on the green screen move with a camera. Is there a way to make them stay in one place as the camera moves from side to side? The following video shows what I am talking about more clearly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsER-fx5UgQ
Thanks!

Karsten Schlüter wrote:
sure ...
you track, e.g. the corner of your monitor; then apply the motion-path to the second source; apply keying (color, luma, whatever) - done.
in my 2nd example, I had to track the shaky hand-camera, the second track is no green-screen, but a manual masked freeze .. but basicly ...
Okay thank you! I think im just going to buy Motion 5 then

Compositing, green screen, cameras, codecs, tigers, bears, oh my...

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for