Green screen bg's?

[wacovoice]

<p>Been seeing allot of green screen background software ads and from the pictures they show you cant tell they are fake (digital) bg's.<br>

Has anybody here had experiance with them and if so was you pleased with the results or did they look fake or cheesy?<br>

With studio backgrounds being so exp Is this a viable alternative to real (studio) backgrounds?</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Greenscreen is much more complicated than shooting against a standard backdrop. To start with, you need to light the green backdrop very evenly and carefully in addition to your standard lighting on the subject. If the backdrop is anything scenic -- a scene outdoors for example, rather than just a color or pattern -- you have to adjust your subject lighting to match. Then for every shot, you have to do the post-processing work of adding the background rather than it already being done. Even if it's automated, it's an additional step. Watch the weatherman carefully on TV and you'll occasionally see color fringing around their hair, or even the weather map popping up through their clothing. That's greenscreen done professionally in a permanent, controlled environment, and there can still be problems. Standard backdrops start around $50, and if you're looking for simple black, white or solid colors, $10 worth of fabric from the local fabric store will do the trick.</p>

[kris-bochenek]

<p>You can find used muslin backdrops for 50 bucks in sizes as large as 10x20. I much rather have the real backdrop that I can change then fiddle with green screens. I think big problem starts when you shoot full lenght pose and the person casts shadow on the floor, then the whole idea of evenly lit greenscreen is gone.</p>

[mike_godwin1]

<p>Pictures from software ads are always going to look good. If they looked bad they wouldn't sell much. I tried chroma key for a while and it was a pain in the butt. If the lighting wasn't just right it was a lot of work to correct things. Some people are good at it but I just picked up a few backdrops from eBay. They work fine for me.</p>

[wacovoice]

<p>Thanks guys.<br>

I kinda figured that's what you was going to say, but was really hoping I was wrong lol, having 50-100 different backgrounds instead of say just 5 sounded pretty good.<br>

Just means I will have to go flea market/yard selling and buy some props for the ones I have, it will be better putting my own look together instead of having someone elses photo behind mine, so glad i asked and if I try to opt out for the easy fix again someone smack me please.</p>

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