Green/Blue Screen

[curt_kalkstein1]

<p>I own a couple of Muslin green backdrops, but I'm tired of having to iron them to make sure the extraction process at my lab goes smoothly.<br>

1. I want to buy the software to do batch processing. I've gotten e-mails from a company in the U.K., but knowing me, I'll have many questions and I don't want to call overseas to get them answered, or be stuck because of the five hour time difference. Do you know where in the U.S. I can get that software and be welcome to tap into the knowledge of the sales people when I have questions?<br>

2. I'd like to ditch the Muslins in favour of flexible and reversible so I don't have to worry about wrinkles. Does Wescott's (or whatever other company makes it) software allow for extractions on blue just as easily on green?</p>

[henry_s3]

<p>Curt, I used to have the same worries about wrinkles and creases with my blue and green screen backdrops - until I found a very simple solution. I use a background support system (like Westcott's) and pull the sides of the backdrops tight and fix them to the vertical poles using strong vice clamps obtainable in any DIY store (they are the same as photographic clamps but a fraction of the price). The creases disappear! Now I just worry about the wrinkles in my face .....<br />Out of interest which UK software are you talking about? FX Home Photokey? If so, it's very easy to use and gives fairly good results quite quickly. I find the main problem is with hair - it seems to go greyish where it meets the background. If you're willing to invest a little more time, you can reduce this dramatically. The other point to watch is that you don't have your model standing too near to the backdrop - especially if they're light-skinned or wearing light coloured clothing. The blue or green screen can reflect back onto the model and cause problems when placing the extracted picture onto your replacement background photo.<br />I'm enclosing an example I did last week for a belly dancer's visiting card and flier before the text was inserted. You'll notice that the background shows through - even through the thin silk veil.</p><div></div>

[curt_kalkstein1]

<p>Since the composition takes in quite a bit of environment, it's hard to see the original background, but I'll take your word for that and about the grayishness of the hair.<br>

In many cases I'll have control over how close the people are to the backdrop, but in some cases not.<br>

Yes, FX is the software I was talking about, Henry. Every time I do a search, FX is the one that comes up, although I hear Westcott has its own version. Do you know anything about that?<br />Does the FX program extract just as well for the blue as for the green? My hope is that during a school session, for example, a second photographer and I can essentially face each other with the backdrop between us and shoot simultaneously, or pretty close to it. That'll allow me to have to buy only one backdrop instead of two. Do you think that will work?<br>

I actually tried using clamps for a recent small session from which I did the extractions manually, but I must not have used enough of them or I didn't have the backdrop taut enough because when I sent one sample to my labora-tree, the extraction showed the wrinkles.</p>

 

[henry_s3]

<p>No, Curt, I know nothing about the Westcott version. I believe - but am not certain - that you can still download a trial version of FX. It works just as well for green as for blue; however, I didn't buy the backcloths from FX as a packet with the software as purchasing individually from different sources was cheaper. Consequently, my backdrops may not be 100% the same colour as theirs. I find the green reflects light more readily than the blue. I can see no reason why one backdrop for a double shoot shouldn't work - I would think shooting at exactly the same time (for which the chances are pretty minimal) might cause exposure problems. The cloths that I have are exactly the same on the front and the reverse side. I pull my cloths really taunt so there are as good as no wrinkles and have no problems in that area. Sometimes I illuminate the backcloth as well (depending on the amount of space available) and should there be any creases I have overlooked, the extra lighting disguises them. This can, however, cause a hot-spot. My strobes are from Multiblitz and if possible I use their 'COMVER' attachment for backlighting and this seems to work well enough for me. Should you wish to see other examples, send me an email: henry.fotoman[at]gmail.com</p>