| Chromakey Studio - Audio assistance and 2nd opinion I am looking into setting up a room for chromakey video recording. Would you be able to offer any advice on the equipment to make this work?
The equipment we own currently is the camera, a Kodak – PlayTouch. The items we are looking at are listed below. As far as the lighting and screen goes, I believe these will be sufficient. So that leaves the audio. Which I’m unsure what would be the best method to record 1 to 3 people without seeing any wires over the chromakey screen. I was thinking the wireless lavalier listed below could work. But how would I record up to 3 people with the camera we have?
Looking at:
Backlights »www.harborfreight.com/1000-watt-···2166becc
Softbox Kit »www.amazon.com/Lighting-Chromake···03Y31CAC
Screen »www.chroma-key.com/item--11-x12-···_01.html
Wireless Lavalier: »www.amazon.com/Technica-PRO88W-R···4&sr=8-1
Thank You,
Jumbo21 |
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| There are so many things wrong with this setup, I don't know where to begin...
First, you're about $12K short on the budget for the video cam. You need a cam with 4:2:2 chroma sampling or better, to do proper chromakeys. Unless you're experimenting for fun, this is not going to produce suitable results.
The light is single point. You need at least two softboxes to light a chromakey screen properly. Then you need a rim light, a key light and a fill light to illuminate the talent.
You need to expose the screen at 50IRE on the scope (you do have a Yc scope, don't you?) The you light the talent for 70IRE skin tones. You'll need a good chromakeyer like Keylight (plugin for Adobe Premiere) to do the final composite.
Now, to the audio, ideal would be to use three Lectrosonic wireless lavs with cardioid mic capsules, one per person. A compromise, if you are in 'dead' room is to use one omni mic to capture all three if their in close proximity (works well for wedding ceremonies). Studios use an overhead mic on a boom pole. That would be cardioid pattern.
First step, find someone to bankroll some decent equipment.
M. Weiss
MW HD Pro Video Productions |
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| When my son was 12, he did some really good chromakey work with far less than what he wants to use and I think he's doing something along those same lines. With a higher budget, your suggestions would be good but not in this case. |
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| That all depends on how you define 'really good'. The definition has lost its meaning since camcorders and camera phones have become numerous and cheap. Video is suffering from the "MP3 Syndrome", it's not audiophile quality, but it's good enough for kids who listen on 3" computer speakers. It's the difference between a bad Youtube video and an epic motion picture (many of which didn't transfer all that well to Blu-ray and in reality, don't look that great).
I used to experiment with chromakey in the 1980s with two Newvicon color video cameras and an FX switcher, but it looked like garbage. It was good enough for a tele-evangelist TV show during musical breaks, but that didn't change the fact that it looked awful. |
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