? about Chroma Key

[Kevin Lewis]

Are the chromakey abilites the same in both Movie Studio HD and the professional version of Vegas? I'm tring to determine if the chroma key abilites are more robust and offer more options then the Movie Studio version.

[Edward Troxel]

I believe they are the same. Many prefer using a more powerful keyer, though, such as those found in NewBlueFX or Boris.

[Kevin Lewis]

Ed, I just looked at the New Blue fx site. The Chroma key is 99.00 and comes with other features. The price seems low, do you think that the results will be much better than what Vegas can do?

[Mike Kujbida]

The price seems low, do you think that the results will be much better than what Vegas can do?

Don't let the low price fool you.
I have read only good things about the NewBlue keyer and yes, it is much better than the one in Vegas.

[Larry Reavis]

almost all my work involves CK and I've used New Blue extensively. I much prefer it to the native Vegas capabilities.

However, I just recently purchased Boris CC7, and it is so superior that I'll never use New Blue again. Pricey, but you won't regret it if you want good quality keys.

You can see a sample that I recently put on the web at physics. The CK is the talking head shot that begins at 1-min. 16 seconds into the video.

The New Blue CK was used for the waist-up shots. It's not bad; but because of a dark halo to the left, I put a semi-dark background behind the New Blue CK.

In order to assess the CK quality, be sure to click the Full Screen button.

[Brian Luce]

Just wanted to throw out a plug for the keyer in Boris. It puts the Vegas keyer to shame and functions from within Vegas. Great tool.

[Jerry Amende]

fwiw, here's a comparison of the Sony Chroma Keyer vs. the NewBlueFX Chroma Keyer.

...Jerry

[Brian Luce]

Originally Posted by Jerry Amende

fwiw, here's a comparison of the Sony Chroma Keyer vs. the NewBlueFX Chroma Keyer.

...Jerry

Big improvement Jerry! I think NewBlue is more affordable than Boris. But still, anyone seeking to supercharge their Vegas, consider Boris.

[Brian Wagner]

One more endorsement for Boris.

There is a complicated workflow in Vegas, stringing together a bunch of FX to key with the built-in tools. I wasted a few hours doing that. Then wound up buying BCC and accomplished even better results in a few minutes. The price is steep, but keep an eye for deals, especially during big events. NAB sale was almost half price.

[Laurence Kingston]

Boy do I have to fight to get a good key no matter which software I use.

Here's my assessment of the three options that I know about: Vegas, New Blue and BCC7

Vegas keyer: solid key in the middle, but a nasty dark halo around the edges that you can't get rid of.

New Blue: Nice around the edges for the most part, but it isn't precise enough for things like feathered hair, and by the time you really tune in the edges, bits of the middle are disappearing.

BCC7- Gorgeous around the edges (including feathered hair), but when you view it moving the edges look like they are crawling with motion. I was initially so exited, then disappointed with this keyer.

I'm sure that in a studio with a larger green screen area and bigger lights I would have better luck, but for what I do, the only thing that is practical is a little pop out chromakey screen and small luggable lights.

Anyway, the way i get around these limitations is to do it in two passes. I use the stock Vegas and put the action against a generated pure green background. This gives me an image with a black halo around it against a solid green. At least there are no holes in the middle.

I take that image and run it through the New Blue keyer using the choke function to get rid of the halo and put that image over the new background. It looks great.

Here is a bit of a promo for a faith healer that I did this way. In this case it would have destroyed the effect if the dubbed in background was obvious.

Resurrection Weekend Miracle Services in Tampa Bay

I could only get that good a key from my two pass approach.

[Brian Luce]

Ouch that is disappointing! I've only done a little testing so far with Boris.
There is a lengthy Boris tutorial out there, I'll try and link it, it demonstrates keying using a variety of the tools in Boris -- not just the chroma key tool.

[Chris Barcellos]

In a thread I started about Vegas and what needs to be added to it, some one turned me on to Lightworks. Definitely a bit of a throwback in terms of workflow, and I was not liking it too much until I tried the keyer. If only for that purposed it may be a good find and worth learning about. Check it out here, and don't forget to download instruction manuals and even look in Vimeo or Youtube for tutorials.

Lightworks

[Adam Stanislav]

Originally Posted by Chris Barcellos

some one turned me on to Lightworks.

Well, I just checked your link and it says it requires a codec (Matrox VFX) which does not exist. Apparently it used to exist, but the link to download it does not work. And a quick web search shows it has not worked for at least four months!

[Chris Barcellos]

Download the program, and I believe it provides a link for what you need during download. I just download it all about 3 weeks ago.

Correction: link is provided during installation, if I recall right.

[Adam Stanislav]

Originally Posted by Chris Barcellos

Download the program

Thanks, but I’ll pass for now. Their web site is very vague on what the software does and you have to register to get the download. That always raises my antennae. I already get tons of spam every day, so I refuse to give out my email address unless I’m convinced it’s worth it.

As for chroma keyers, there is no such thing as the best. Anyone who wants to do chroma keying owes it himself to read Digital Compositing for Film and Video by Steve Wright. It is much more involved than using a keyer.