Back to Virtual Camera Workflow's Keying Setup
Back to Tracked Camera Workflow's Keying Setup
Introduction
The background is one of the most important parts of a green screen studio. It is essential to have a well-built background if you desire a high-quality production.
While using a clean plate can significantly improve the quality of the final key, even with a lower-quality background, it is still advised to have a seamless build.
In this article, we will talk about what to look out for, when you are building your background in your green screen studio.
Guidelines for Building a Quality Background
When choosing the elements which the background will consist of, it is essential that the shade has to be the same, or at least very close to one another. For example, if the back wall and the floor are two different shades of green, you will have two possible outcomes. Either higher or the lower part of the keyed image will be at a decreased quality.
The different parts of the background should be seamlessly joined. Any gaps or imperfections could be visible in the final composite, or to counter the visibility of the join, the keying will lose its quality.
3d cleanplate can help you with slow changing unevenness like the one coming from uneven lighting.
But it can't help with sudden change in colors. This is because it would need a pixel precise camera tracking which in practice is not possible.
Depending on your needs there are more types of background materials to choose from. You can read more about the different types of materials and their advantages here: Green Screen.
Common Background Issues
Reflective Material
If the Green Screen is made of reflective material, it can reflect anything, such as the talent and the light. Since reflections make the keying more difficult, the quality of the keying will be decreased.
Variation of Shades
If you are using multiple types of backgrounds it is important, that the shades should be the same, or at least as close as possible. As the shades are going further from each other, the quality of the keying decreases.
Bad Join, Dirty/Wrinkled Material
When multiple parts join together the background, it is important, that the edges have a flawless join (Either there are holes in the joints, or the joint is a different color, or the joints are wrinkled). The imperfections you can see will be picked up by the camera as well, decreasing the quality of your keyed image. The same can be applied to any dirt on the surface of the background.
Preparing the Studio for Production
Now that we're finished setting up the background, we can start to do the Prerequisites of a Good Keying.
