Chroma Key backdrops

[XO-Studios]

:help
I am on the verge of splurging for a chromakey backdrop, as an alternative to a bunch of muslins.

Anyone care to give me some quick pro's and cons in this approach.

One thing I have heard, which I do not fully understand yet, is that with a chromakey backdrop, non standard or partial lighting doesn't work (like a dramatic side light)

XO,

[Shay Stephens]

If you are shooting video, go for chroma-key. The video editing programs that strip out the background are keyed to these colors.

But if you are shooting stills, there is no inherent advantage to shooting against chroma-key. You are probably better off shooting against white or gray generically. Ideally, you would shoot against the color of what the final background will be be.

So if you planned on a brownish castle setting for the final background, shoot against a solid brown background. That way, any fine detail in the hair that does not get perfectly extracted will be brown tinted and blend better with the brownish background you will be putting in, rather than having green or blue fringe that you have to figure out a way to blend.

And as with all background/subject lighting, treat each independently. Light the background separately from the subject. Then you can use any type of lighting you want on either.

:help
I am on the verge of splurging for a chromakey backdrop, as an alternative to a bunch of muslins.

Anyone care to give me some quick pro's and cons in this approach.

One thing I have heard, which I do not fully understand yet, is that with a chromakey backdrop, non standard or partial lighting doesn't work (like a dramatic side light)

XO,

[XO-Studios]

If you are shooting video, go for chroma-key. The video editing programs that strip out the background are keyed to these colors.

But if you are shooting stills, there is no inherent advantage to shooting against chroma-key. You are probably better off shooting against white or gray generically. Ideally, you would shoot against the color of what the final background will be be.

So if you planned on a brownish castle setting for the final background, shoot against a solid brown background. That way, any fine detail in the hair that does not get perfectly extracted will be brown tinted and blend better with the brownish background you will be putting in, rather than having green or blue fringe that you have to figure out a way to blend.

And as with all background/subject lighting, treat each independently. Light the background separately from the subject. Then you can use any type of lighting you want on either.
Thanks Shay, I never thought of it that way, but now you mention it, yes it is childishly simple in PS to edit out any color, not just chromakey. I am also thinking that using a studio grey backdrop would leave almost zero color cast, something which I have noticed my small hand held 5x4 chromakey does every so often. (I know distance subject <-> backdrop, and proper light on backdrop would fix this).

Thanks for the fast reply.

XO,