# chroma-key green backdrop any comments?



## Foxtrot_01 (Jul 29, 2010)

I've seen a couple of those green backdrops, the ones they use on movies, anyone has any experience with them? I guess this might be a good way to add different colors and different settings after the photo has been taken. Any thoughts or experiences?
I am not sure if the background will look fake.


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## Robin Usagani (Jul 29, 2010)

i dont have experience but I do know the model shouldnt be wearing anything green LOL.


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## MohaimenK (Jul 29, 2010)

if you know what you're doing it wont' look fake. as with everything, experiment and look at all the videos available


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## natural.disaster (Jul 29, 2010)

I have a chroma key green backdrop....
Mine is fabric....and i really think a more solid material would work much better....less chance of wrinkles and such. 
As long as you have a editing program that allows you to remove or replace the background..you can have a lot of fun with it! There are tons of digital backgrounds you can purchase online and some for free! 
I havent taken the time to play around much with mine...but i read a few places that you need to have really really good lighting to take away any shadows and have an even color in your shot...or else it will be more difficult to cut out your subject.


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## arios23 (Jul 29, 2010)

You will spend hours in your computer editing and trying to get good light.


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## Alpha (Jul 29, 2010)

For still photography I don't see the advantage of chroma-key over white. You're effectively using the same masking process, no?


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## shmne (Jul 30, 2010)

Go with white, it is much easier in photography to blast a background to a pure white than it is to light green evenly. 

That stuff is meant for video, and even then fabric is not really the way to go since it will have wrinkles and such which makes the process more difficult than it is worth  green screens are best painted on walls or an infinity wall since when they get dirty you just put fresh down


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## natural.disaster (Jul 30, 2010)

Only thing with white is that your subject can not have any white...at least no where near the edges...And sometimes light glare can cause enough highlights in hair (etc) that its hard to crop around it and not mess up. Depending on what editing style your using of course. 
So i would say green or blue is easier..but still a lot of work. And unless your going to spend a bunch of money on digital backgrounds or make your own...its really a waste. Ive been searching for some and for a program with 4 or 5 backgrounds its like $40+. And usually only one out of the bunch is what you want..the others are cheesey. And of course you have to buy a different set for each type (babies, kids, city, floral, graduation, wedding, etc.)


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## DavidCarthage (Dec 2, 2010)

If you take a little time to learn about it, using a green screen is fairly straightforward.  There's some great info about here if you want to learn more about it:  Chromakey Green   I do technical work on films using green screens, so I do have a fair bit of experience with it.


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## flyingember (Dec 2, 2010)

to make it look real you need to have lighting perfectly matched down to angle, power, color, etc


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## NikonNewbie (Dec 2, 2010)

Schwettylens said:


> i dont have experience but I do know the model shouldnt be wearing anything green LOL.








sorry schwettylens...couldn't resist...lol


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## Bagpiper (Dec 11, 2010)

Foxtrot_01 said:


> I've seen a couple of those green backdrops, the ones they use on movies, anyone has any experience with them? I guess this might be a good way to add different colors and different settings after the photo has been taken. Any thoughts or experiences?
> I am not sure if the background will look fake.



Hi foxtrot.
It really depends on what you plan to do to be honest. Green or Blue is the standard backdrop if you plan to chroma key it out. But you really need to make sure you get the lighting right. No need to spend huge amounts on it but it has to be even. The subject needs to be far enough away to not cast shadows on the green/blue screen and again has to be lit correctly.

It is not hard to remove the background but now your moving into photoshop or other application to remove the background assuming your chroma keying it out. As stated you can use any colour and the reason I mention green or blue is that you can buy these for this purpose.

If you are not chroma keying it out and just using photoshop for example to remove your subject from the background then you don't need to worry about it too much as long as there is enough light around the subject for photoshop to find the edges when you use the enhance edge tool once you've made your selection.

I hope I understood your question properly but let me know if you need me to clarify my answer and I will be glad to help. Getting late. ;-)

Cheers
Jim


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## Bagpiper (Dec 11, 2010)

shmne said:


> ...That stuff is meant for video, and even then fabric is not really the way to go since it will have wrinkles and such which makes the process more difficult than it is worth  green screens are best painted on walls or an infinity wall since when they get dirty you just put fresh down



lol. Well said. Green screen or any other fabric screen can be a real pain in the butt.

Cheers
Jim


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