Hi,

I'm producing an instructional DVD for drum set for a client. He wants the drum set "positioned" in front of different backgrounds, via green screen.

Here's the problem:
The cymbals are very shiny and reflective, and some green (or blue for that matter) will always reflect and cause leakage when keying.

My question:
I've looked into serious magic's Ultra 2. Would this be the (slightly costly) solution? Or do I have other options? I'm working with Premiere Pro. Green screen hasn't been a problem before, as I didn't not have to deal with reflections like this. But I don't have very much experience with it either.

thanks in advance,
H.S.

Think you could send me a JPEG screen shot of the leakage your experiencing.
bhandler@kent.edu

I find it somewhat hard to believe that PP won't let you set your tolerances to do what you gotta do.

Just so I know, do you have After Effects?

Also if you have photoshop and the image is really static to the rest of the screen you can make an alpha channel around the drum set itself.

Ultra 2 is a very good keying program and I've used it on a few studio occasions. Though it has a very simplified tolerance system and a freaking great anchor system (for zooming and interactions)....it's overkill for what your doing.

thanks Brian.
the image is "relatively" static, but when the cymbals are hit, they move, if only slightly, (they are the only part of the drum set that move visibly). Does that rule out the alpha channel solution?

I don't have After Effects. Would you recommend it for this? I'm currently away from the project, so can't send you a jpeg.

I should also mention that I'm more or less testing this right now without a professional green screen, but in front of a green background which is not perfectly lighted either. Maybe that's the problem. ..or the fact that I have little experience with it.

Any advice is appreciated.
H.S.

AE has a few more keying tools than premiere, thats why I asked. I'm confident you can make it work just using premiere. I use green screens in our studios daily...and I'm often stuck using a studio swicher to do the keying. The thing that always makes the difference is good lighting and ensuring that your subject is a fair distance from the background.

Without getting too technical, I would try the shoot again with the green background and be sure to balance the lighting on the background. Make sure that it's spread nicely and not too concentrated or diluted in any spots. Then bring your subject (drums) as far away from the greenwall as possible and light them independently.

I kinda think you were too close to the wall now.

It sounds like you've already captured the footage. Rule of thumb is that when you are shooting reflective, shiny objects, go with large, soft lighting.

Garbage matts.....

Jeff Patnaude