Jaggies on Green Screen Footaage in FCP and AE

[Jeff Zimmerman]

Hello All, looking to see if there's a solution to a jaggies problem I'm having. Link of video file: be kind I'm shooting this Green Screen in my home office.

Formats attempted:
DV
DVCPro
DVCPro 50
DVCPro HD 1080i - Best Result

Final Sequence:
Betacam 8-Bit Uncompressed

Camera:
Panasonic HVX-200

Lighting:
Lowell DV Pro 3 point lighting kit. Light Amber gel on back light.

Programs:
Final Cut Pro 6
After Effects Pro 7 with Keylight

Problem: jaggies occur on movement and curves.

Solution: want smoother edges

Attempted using keylight in AE and chroma keyer in FCP. Both key out the green fine but leave jaggies on the arms and shoulders. Tried softening, suppressor and others. Looking for a clean key. Any suggestion to filters, techniques using above mentioned programs would be great.

File: www.skyhighsports.com/1080Green.mov

Thanks,

[Jonathan Jones]

I have never used AE Keylight, but have heard it is a pretty good application. However, I have done lots of chroma keying in the last 2 years, and the two things I have learned to be the most valuable are proper lighting, and patience.

Check out:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage...d_monahan.html


It was written for an older version of FCP, but I followed this guide when I was trying to imrove my keying and thus far, this info has been the most helpful to me so far. I continue to follow these steps as listed and I am extremely pleased with the quality of my end result, as are my clients. Just using the stock chroma key tools in FCP and special attention to lighting and green screen shooting, I have been able to do some really great work with some very well known clientele, so the Ken Stone site has worked well for me.

Hope this helps.

-Jon

[Jeff Zimmerman]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Jones

I have never used AE Keylight, but have heard it is a pretty good application. However, I have done lots of chroma keying in the last 2 years, and the two things I have learned to be the most valuable are proper lighting, and patience.

Check out:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage...d_monahan.html

Thanks, its a good link. I've alos heard that the shutter speed on the camera can alos affect results. Any truth to that? What shutter settings do you prefer.

[Daniel Ross]

Post some stills (before and after) if you want specific help. Or maybe the link above is enough.

[Jonathan Jones]

Originally Posted by Jeff Zimmerman

I've alos heard that the shutter speed on the camera can alos affect results. Any truth to that?

Yeah, they will affect the results, but in my estimation, only insofar as they generally do anyway, irrespective of chroma key efforts. You will want your shutter speed to be set appropriate to the subject, exposure, and motion you are shooting. Since it is generally preferable (if it is within your means) to light the green screen independent of your subject, so that your key lighting has a nice, clean, and smooth luminance with no shadows or blow-outs, but that your subject lighting is also well exposed for image clarity since that is the primary focus of your shot.

Some formats lend themselves more easy prey to the 'jaggies' you noted. I shoot on MiniDV, with 4:1:1 color space, which makes it a challenge to key, but that is also why I find it helpful to use the color smoother 4:1:1 as noted in the earlier link. FCP also has one for other formats that help with the color jaggies as well, depending upon the format of your content.

-Jon

[Jeff Zimmerman]

From the link mentioned above I found that what I was missing and really helped was the 4:2:2 Color Smoothing. This helped soften those jaggies being created. Knowing that DVCPro HD had a 4:2:2 Color space helped in correcting the problem. Everything seems to be smoother and more acceptable.

Other thoughts and ideas mentioned above will help in knowning what I may face in the future.

Thanks again,