Complex Colors: Green Screen / Blue Screen Keying - After Effects CS4 & Keylight

[enzyme30]

Creepy.

[JOECAM2]

pedo

[pxlpainter]

Yes Keylight will leave the shadows in the second pass on the blue.

The first few seconds are just Santa begging to peek around the blue panel - YouTube compression failure, that's all! ;)

[Danayru]

@pxlpainter so does the keylight capture the shadows? I'm not exactly clear on that. Is that what was shown in the first 3-4 seconds?

[pxlpainter]

@Danayru - also you can read the step-by-step tutorial here: pixelpainter[dot]com/complex-g­reenblue-screen-keying-after-e­ffects-cs4-keylight/

[Tutorialeselsombrero]

tutorial!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! plaease

[devildude991]

SANTA

[KevalProduction]

creepy ass fucking santa

[Esnip3]

usually how much green walls do you need and how much does it cost and what program???

[pxlpainter]

@Esnip3 - that's a very vague set of questions and about a hundred different answers.

Background + proper lighting and scoping your camera properly are the first steps. Several software solutions for compositing out there - Keylight ships with Adobe After Effects. - If you're serious about learning the entire process, including how to build your own lights and shoot on the cheap, then check out my book "The Green Screen Handbook" on Amazon.

[Esnip3]

@pxlpainter well i got a HD camera ready to roll and is Vegas Pro 9 good enough?

[pxlpainter]

@Esnip3 - I've never used it but if it has a decent green/blue screen keyer then I'd say sure - why not? If it doesn't then look for a good third-part plug-in like Boris Continuum (I don't know if it's compatible or not). Your basic keyers that are built in are usually crap - even in Final Cut. The "key" here is to make two passes with it and adjust the second pass on the blue to retain the drop shadows.

Cheers, Jeff

[RaneXone]

Think I saw that Santa on How to Catch a Predator....

[MrPotatosmash]

hmmmmm, why do u need a green and blue screen for this? why cant u have both as green so u can save the trouble having to key 2ce? ^.o

[pxlpainter]

@MrPotatosmash - keying out the green background allows you get get a good clean extraction on the hair, fur, etc., while running a second pass on the blue foreground allows you to leave in the drop shadows where the character makes contact with the surface.

[Jurambi]

I love this can You do a tutorial ?

[pxlpainter]

@Jurambi - you can find more info from my website: pixelpainter [dot] com

I also have a training DVD available from my site - "Learning After Effects CS4" or you can also get it on Amazon.

Cheers, Jeff

[spikesofgrace]

creepy! haha

[tripleCcentaur]

Santa's real! :o

lol, very interesting use of keying, nice video :)

[TheHolyPiShop]

very cheeky ;-)

[Koenigzkind]

i think he means the wood area, because he set masks, its tricky but not complex^^

[pxlpainter]

@Koenigzkind - As I responded above - the term "complex" here means there's more than one color to mask out of the same scene. Two passes and still retaining flesh tone balance and shadows on the second pass (blue). Most mattes/keys are done with only one color but this method allows you to properly "sandwich" the actor in between two planes.

[TheFXGuy]

How is this complex?  You just used a few track mattes for each different screen (B/G).

You keyed out the blue on one layer and set a wood texture to the "Alpha Inverted" track matte. You then did the same for the green except you used the holiday card-thing.

Still looks great, though. I just wouldn't call it complex unless you did way too much work on it.

[pxlpainter]

@TheFXGuy You're right and wrong. Complex doesn't mean difficult - it only means it's not straight-forward. No inverted track mattes here - it was all done in After Effects alright, but because of the nature of the original footage, it allowed two separate difference mattes for both background (green) and foreground (blue) layers to essentially "sandwich" the character, even though the character layer remains the top layer at all times - thus the term, "complex matte". ;)

[pxlpainter]

Check out my new book on shooting green screen at: TheGreenScreenHandbook[dot]com

This exercise plus production techniques and much more is covered.

[601190567892]

cool

[InfuserGod]

You've got some good work going on here! =]

[pxlpainter]

Thanks! You can learn more on this through a video I created available on my web site at PixelPainter[dot] com - I will also be featuring a how-to article for iStockphoto with this example in the next couple of months so keep an eye out there as well.

[Cheesepickles22]

nice costume and amazing work on mixxeing the screens :) well done

[HolyFrcknCrap]

Wow - that's great! I never thought of using both green & blue in the same scene this way! Like how you maintained the shadows as well... thanks for the tips!

[pxlpainter]

Supid YouTube compression messes up first 5 seconds of this video - the rest is okay though. Check out my blog for the hi-res download if you want.

AfterEffectsandPhotoshop[dot]c­om

[HolyFrcknCrap]

Too bad YouTube sux so hard when you upload movies! Have you tried posting on VImeo?