Can I make a video that HAS a green screen for the end user ?

ckatosmith

Newbie Joined: May 28, 2014 11:58 Messages: 24 Offline

Solved by

Jun 05, 2014 15:56

Everything I have researched tells how to use the chroma key to replace a background, but is there a way to produce a video that IS a green screen so that the end user can change out the background WITHOUT ME SHOOTING IT AGAINST A GREEN SCREEN?

Example, how to isolate a bee on a flower so that the end user would have a video with just a bee against a 'green screen' that they could use? From my photography background, I've often isolated subjects to a one color background, but don't know how to isolate a subject in video yet.

I understand the concept of 'green screens' in general, i.e., you can't have any color in the subject as the screen color or else it would disappear in the end user's desired production. Maybe I haven't researched this the correct way?? I often shoot macro, and it's unlikely I could capture an insect to put against a green backdrop. Also I think it would be hard to film such small objects without a color cast of green falling onto the subject.

I have shot some macro against a white background, and then I suppose I could try color replacement of green for white?

But what about films made outdoors, like insects on plants, where there is background to remove? Do I have to do this frame by frame in a photo editor and re-import as a make movie by jpeg file sequence? Looking for the best PD workflow. I haven't tackled learning to work with frames yet if the answer is there, but I want to learn.

I love PD12 so far and really appreciate the helpful answers from the folks in this forum. Makes me want and able to grow in the product. I've been able to make a good start.

Thanks for any direction or information.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Jun 05. 2014 16:05

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Jun 05, 2014 17:03

Hi ckatosmith -

Very challenging question.

Now - if you've shot a bee or butterfly that's completely motionless, you could easily create a mask to remove the background (just as you'd do with a photo)... but a video shot of a motionless bee/butterfly would be about as interesting as lint.

I've done the same sort of thing you're asking but ONLY isolating still objects (like a building shot from a tripod) & switching the background.

It could be done frame by frame... how much time do you have???

Cheers - Tony
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ckatosmith

Newbie Joined: May 28, 2014 11:58 Messages: 24 Offline

Jun 05, 2014 20:05

Thanks for your reply, Tony. I don't have much time, per se, but often will go the long haul to get the results. I've been known to scrape pixels at 3200% view in Photoshop, heh heh. I recently spent near a week (a few hours every night) for one photo file, a panorama of over 40 photos I had 'stitched' of a microscope slide I had panned at 60x. Surprisingly, I have a life .

Could you or someone elaborate on how 'frame by frame' would be done? Do you mean doing a mask on a frame in PD on the timeline? (not even sure I'm asking the right question, as I'm new to NLE and haven't really worked with masks, not even in Photoshop).

Or do you mean taking a snapshop of each frame, working on it in a photo editor and bring it back into the timeline? What are the mechanics of replacing a frame in the timeline? I didn't see an overwrite feature. Would I some how trim/cut a single frame and somehow insert my newly edited frame? Is there a tutorial on how to do that?

Is there a 'paint brush' function in PD or in one of it's FX plug-ins (like from NewBlueFX or elsewhere)?

Open to all suggestions, thanks.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jun 05. 2014 20:50

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Jun 05, 2014 21:43

Did you say you were just acquainting yourself with PD? If this was swimming lesson, you'd be out of the pool and into white water rafting territory (minus the raft). EEK!

Taking a snapshop of each frame, working on it in a photo editor and bring it back into the timeline?

That could work, but it would be seriously time consuming. You'd effectively be constructing the video frame by frame.

Let's say you had a 1 second video of that butterfly or bee... that's 30 frames (NTSC) 5 seconds = 150 frames 30 seconds = 900 frames blah blah blah.

There's also other software (not PD) that can extract the frames from a video in almost no time flat.

There's no tutorial I know of, but members here could guide you through it if you have plenty of time. It's doable, but I wouldn't generally put a beginning swimmer in a raging torrent to see how they go! Still - you have the photo editing part under control, and you don't seem to lack tenacity!

I'll see if I can dig up something that might help.

Cheers - Tony
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ckatosmith

Newbie Joined: May 28, 2014 11:58 Messages: 24 Offline

Jun 06, 2014 02:57

Sometimes my motto is you gotta have WIT (Whatever It Takes), but not always...

I did look up and try two frame extractors, at your hint. IrfanView couldn't open my files (MPEG-4), but csSimpleVideoToImageExtractionTool did, so that was nice (and no bloatware as far as I could tell).

I'll have to wait till next week to work on this more. I can see that one file at a time background removal would be hard going for things like insects with skinny legs sticking out, but maybe not so terrible for objects that have a more unified perimeter, like a revolving cake on a lazy susan.

Thank you, Tony. Your reply made me laugh.