Green screen lighting for tiny studio and Z5?? at DVinfo.net

Christina Bulpett · July 5th, 2010, 04:38 AM

I have been charged with setting up a green screen studio but with very tight parameters and was hoping for some advice....

We have a small room/studio in which to set up a green screen, lights, camera and of course, presenter. The room is approx. 4.5 mtrs by 3.8mtrs, with a few awkward angles, corners, as it is not simply a rectangular area, that would be too easy!

I am shooting on sony Z5, with small canon Legria HF200 as secondary, and will edit on FCP with keylight plugin.

The lights currently owed are: Lowel pro-light, Rifa exchange88 and Rifa lite 44, Fluo-tec studio 450 and 250; a dedolight DLH4 and an Arri 650plus.

With the space and equipment owned, what is the best solution, is there one? Or should I consider options like Datavideo CKL-200 (CKL200) Dual Colour Light Ring & Retro Reflective Cloth or the Reflecmedia ChromaFlex / EL Bundles?

I am an editor, but my new company seem to think that I should also know everything about filming and lighting too!! Any help would be gratefully received.

Chris Duczynski · July 6th, 2010, 12:06 AM

The two main things you need to do no matter what lights you use are:
1) maintain seperation from the background so there's no shadow
2) Light the background flatly and evenly.

To help you do this, run a laptop with a feed in and watch your key "live" using the editors keying presets.
Hair is difficult, so ask the talent to pat it all down and obviously don't wear anything vaguely the same colour as your key colour.

If you do all this, the built in properties of your keyer will make a nice clean pic. Simple.

Lou Bruno · July 6th, 2010, 05:31 PM

It is also VERY important that your "TALENT" does not wear anything green in color for obvious reasons.

Julius Smith · July 13th, 2010, 10:33 AM

Hi,

I was in a similar situation for my local church...here's some tips (some already stated)

1. Make sure your green screen is very flat with no wrinkles (if it's cloth, make sure it's spread out). If it is wrinkled, iron it!

2. Make sure it's nicely stretched out with no visible folding patterns

3. Make sure it is evenly lit. What I do is bounce a 1000w light just in front on the camera. It's not a perfect set-up but I don't get any shadows and it looks good

4. When filming don't pan or zoom, otherwise you'll have to fix it in post using keyframes (depends on your background).

5. Yeah, don't have anyone wear any shades of green, including the furniture.

Hope that helps.

John M. McCloskey · August 23rd, 2010, 07:03 AM

May sound crazy but it works great especially if talent must be fairly close to green screen and some green is reflecting on talents outline. Put a light behind/above your green screen facing down on the back of talent with a magenta gel. It knocks the green reflection off the talents outline.

Bill Mecca · August 23rd, 2010, 10:20 AM

I use a Photoflex 5x7 collapsible green screen in my office. I use a softbox on the talent, and a magenta gelled backlight. (both hung from the drop ceiling with scissor clips.) As for lighting the screen itself, I don't. I do however leave the overhead flouros on. they keep it evenly light. the talent is about 6 feet from the screen and the camera about 6 feet from the talent. I use this for talking heads reading from a prompter. I have one room that houses all the gear, editor, etc and as I said it works for me using a Sony Z7.

July 5th, 2010, 04:38 AM	#1
Christina Bulpett Tourist Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Winchester, UK Posts: 1	Green screen lighting for tiny studio and Z5?? I have been charged with setting up a green screen studio but with very tight parameters and was hoping for some advice.... We have a small room/studio in which to set up a green screen, lights, camera and of course, presenter. The room is approx. 4.5 mtrs by 3.8mtrs, with a few awkward angles, corners, as it is not simply a rectangular area, that would be too easy! I am shooting on sony Z5, with small canon Legria HF200 as secondary, and will edit on FCP with keylight plugin. The lights currently owed are: Lowel pro-light, Rifa exchange88 and Rifa lite 44, Fluo-tec studio 450 and 250; a dedolight DLH4 and an Arri 650plus. With the space and equipment owned, what is the best solution, is there one? Or should I consider options like Datavideo CKL-200 (CKL200) Dual Colour Light Ring & Retro Reflective Cloth or the Reflecmedia ChromaFlex / EL Bundles? I am an editor, but my new company seem to think that I should also know everything about filming and lighting too!! Any help would be gratefully received.

July 6th, 2010, 05:31 PM	#3
Lou Bruno Go Cycle Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 815	It is also VERY important that your "TALENT" does not wear anything green in color for obvious reasons. __________________ Lou Bruno

August 23rd, 2010, 10:20 AM	#6
Bill Mecca Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 475	I use a Photoflex 5x7 collapsible green screen in my office. I use a softbox on the talent, and a magenta gelled backlight. (both hung from the drop ceiling with scissor clips.) As for lighting the screen itself, I don't. I do however leave the overhead flouros on. they keep it evenly light. the talent is about 6 feet from the screen and the camera about 6 feet from the talent. I use this for talking heads reading from a prompter. I have one room that houses all the gear, editor, etc and as I said it works for me using a Sony Z7. __________________ Award-winning Pine Barrens Documentary! Video, Audio, Music & More

July 6th, 2010, 12:06 AM	#2
Chris Duczynski Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: sydney Posts: 304	The two main things you need to do no matter what lights you use are: 1) maintain seperation from the background so there's no shadow 2) Light the background flatly and evenly. To help you do this, run a laptop with a feed in and watch your key "live" using the editors keying presets. Hair is difficult, so ask the talent to pat it all down and obviously don't wear anything vaguely the same colour as your key colour. If you do all this, the built in properties of your keyer will make a nice clean pic. Simple.

July 13th, 2010, 10:33 AM	#4
Julius Smith Regular Crew Join Date: May 2010 Location: Montreal Canada Posts: 61	Hi, I was in a similar situation for my local church...here's some tips (some already stated) 1. Make sure your green screen is very flat with no wrinkles (if it's cloth, make sure it's spread out). If it is wrinkled, iron it! 2. Make sure it's nicely stretched out with no visible folding patterns 3. Make sure it is evenly lit. What I do is bounce a 1000w light just in front on the camera. It's not a perfect set-up but I don't get any shadows and it looks good 4. When filming don't pan or zoom, otherwise you'll have to fix it in post using keyframes (depends on your background). 5. Yeah, don't have anyone wear any shades of green, including the furniture. Hope that helps.

August 23rd, 2010, 07:03 AM	#5
John M. McCloskey Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: West Point, MS Posts: 313	May sound crazy but it works great especially if talent must be fairly close to green screen and some green is reflecting on talents outline. Put a light behind/above your green screen facing down on the back of talent with a magenta gel. It knocks the green reflection off the talents outline.