Puppeteering in Front of a Greenscreen?

[crazy chris]

hey guys! now that i have a puppet troop to work with i am really interested in doing skits and videos and would really like to utilize green screen technology...

does anyone have any experience with this...and what software and equipment i should pursue purchasing?

any enlightenment would be much appreciated!

cc

 

[Jinx]

There are many options available. I personally use Final Cut Pro & Motion. You also need a really good camera to get an image good enough to be able to pull a decent key.

Lighting is also very important. Ideally your subjects are far enough forward so as to not cast any shadows on the green screen, and the lighting on the screen itself needs to be VERY even.

There have been times where I have not had terribly good lighting, but good enough that I could pull a key and then apply a garbage matte to get a good composite.

Here is a link to a video that I threw together as a proof of concept for a client. I only had a day to do the whole thing. I used a green sheet as the screen and Halogen work lights... very low budget, but it worked to get the idea across.

It would be a good idea to visit some forums that are dedicated specifically to video production to get more thorough and accurate information. My personal favorite is DVInfo. Search for "green screen" or "chromakey" and you'll find a wealth of information.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I use Final Cut Pro and Adobe CS5 Production Premium (which includes After Effects, Photoshop, etc.), but you don't need expensive software like that, especially when you are starting out. If you have good lighting, almost any editing software can do a decent job of keying these days. Final Cut Express (Mac) or Adobe Premiere Elements (Windows) should be just fine. Sony Vegas is OK, but the few times I have used it I've found that it has issues with big files. Don't bother with Pinnacle Studio; it's buggy and a piece of junk.

I know someone that recently bought a green screen kit for about $250 that included a greenscreen and two lights with softboxes and it works great. You actually need 4 lights total to light properly (two soft lights for your green screen and two more for your subject).

The main thing to remember to is to stay at least six feet away from your green screen and to light it separately from the subject. There is a very good tutorial on blue/green screen here. There are a lot of good tutorials like that on YouTube.

 

[crazy chris]

thanks guys... I AM TAKING NOTES! hee hee

sadly i had an amazing set of softboxes last year...for some stop motion stuff i did...then got burned out and sold them...im kicking myself now...

thanks again!

cc