Dipping my toe into the green screen pool
Just about a month ago, a client hired me for a rush job, including some video work, and then changed their mind a few days later. Thankfully, they then agreed to reimburse me for time and materials, which included a "green screen" cloth for some chroma key scenes that we had planned.
I hadn't even unpackaged the cloth until I decided to learn some more about chroma key today. Lesson One: If your face is well lit, it's going to cast shadows on the green screen, and that's bad. I guess ideally, one needs a second set of lights just on the green screen itself. {sigh} Lesson Two: Creases from recently-packaged cloth are also bad. Lesson Three: Do not iron "cheap" green screen cloth to remove said creases; it melts immediately!! (Thankfully I didn't need the entire piece.)
I also learned more about my Logitech HD Webcam C525 today, which also hasn't seen much use. (Hey, I've been focusing on audio, not video.) Even though it allows me to use my Samson C01U Pro USB Studio Condenser Microphone, the software included with the webcam does some sort of processing that really distorts the audio, making it pointless to use the better mic. Plus it kept complaining that it couldn't hear the mic, even though it could. Oh, and video and audio fall noticeably out of synch. Maybe different software might make a difference? Not sure. At least I was able to hide my silly kitty-litter-jug microphone mount and pop filter. Another annoyance was that the webcam (software?) kept auto-correcting color, changing my skin tone to match my purple shirt; you'll see all this below.
Still, I'm going to try to not stress over these points. Considering that my target audience for this short is video creators, these problems may possibly work in my favor, i.e., I'm looking to help them, not really compete with them.
Here's one scene of the raw video:
I hadn't even unpackaged the cloth until I decided to learn some more about chroma key today. Lesson One: If your face is well lit, it's going to cast shadows on the green screen, and that's bad. I guess ideally, one needs a second set of lights just on the green screen itself. {sigh} Lesson Two: Creases from recently-packaged cloth are also bad. Lesson Three: Do not iron "cheap" green screen cloth to remove said creases; it melts immediately!! (Thankfully I didn't need the entire piece.)
I also learned more about my Logitech HD Webcam C525 today, which also hasn't seen much use. (Hey, I've been focusing on audio, not video.) Even though it allows me to use my Samson C01U Pro USB Studio Condenser Microphone, the software included with the webcam does some sort of processing that really distorts the audio, making it pointless to use the better mic. Plus it kept complaining that it couldn't hear the mic, even though it could. Oh, and video and audio fall noticeably out of synch. Maybe different software might make a difference? Not sure. At least I was able to hide my silly kitty-litter-jug microphone mount and pop filter. Another annoyance was that the webcam (software?) kept auto-correcting color, changing my skin tone to match my purple shirt; you'll see all this below.
Still, I'm going to try to not stress over these points. Considering that my target audience for this short is video creators, these problems may possibly work in my favor, i.e., I'm looking to help them, not really compete with them.
Here's one scene of the raw video:
Click to view