[offtopic] Hey, DW, may the gods bless you for your work on the Cataclysm continuation project.[/offtopic]Back on topic.
Morley, for a first, low budget attempt, the result is really good. I like to see such creativity.
Now, fate has it that I've been working with
Orad and Ultimatte virtual sets for about six years now.
Obviously, such technical solutions have price tags that are way off-limits for mere mortals like us...however, I can give you some hints and tips about compositing.
-A green screen requires less lighting and less perfection within those lighting conditions. Green is brighter than blue, and since you are working with a luminance key here, it will require less light. However, since it's that bright it will inevitably "spill" creating those uneven edges around you.
-A blue screen needs better lighting, but when properly done, it will get you better results, such as more defined less "clippy" edges on your actor. Because blue is the opposite to most skin tones. The blue spill is a lot more faded than the green one.
And most cameras are somewhat more sensitive to the blue colour of the spectrum (or used to be? I don't know if this still applies to the latest models).
-Yes, the number one issue is lighting. It has to be quite equally spread, however you should focus to obtain such homogeneous lighting on the green backing primarily. Your background needs to be as perfect as you can get it. So think about washing, starching and ironing your sheet cloth before you start.
-After that, you place yourself (or a placeholder) in front of the green screen and add more light in order to eliminate shadows as much as possible, however, you need to do so while affecting the previous light settings as little as possible.
Essentially, yes, you are working with 2 separate light sets, one for the screen and one for the actor.
-The recommended position for a green screen would be 1.5-2 meters (that's 5 to 6 ft to you imperials) from the screen. However, makeshift lighting may not allow that, setting your actor in shadow. But remember, the closer you are to the screen, the more spilling you get.
-You need to position your lighting in various spots, to cover all possible angles. However, you should take special care with face-level lighting. It should come from about the same height as your actor's height, and subsequently be at the same level as your camera.
Too little face lighting and you lose details and turn your actor in a gipsy. Too much and his face will burn as the sun.
-Whatever you do, do NOT light the actor significantly more than the screen!
-And here comes the main problem. Floodlights rather than spotlights. Ideally, you will need a mixture of these two, but that is advanced stuff.
You could also use a diffusion filter for each individual light, that will help enormously by casting less shadow and making the light more uniform.
Tracing paper works best as a makeshift diffusion filter. White shower curtains, rice paper and similar things work as well. But such things
will catch on fire when placed too close to powerful hot lights.
-I'm trying to estimate this by ear... I only know pro lighting sets. But. I think you should get something like two 500W quartz lights. Diffuse them if you can. (Safely, please). Place them at both sides of your wall, angled at 45 degrees to the wall. You should put them at about 1-1.5 meters away from the screen. Here experimentation works best.
You primarily need to preserve the
saturation of the colour, and make sure it's not too dark or too washed-out.
-Ok, now for the actor lights. Again, 500W quartz lights, but this time you do not want them pointed at your actor. Face lighting should be "bounced" rather than projected. You could use a couple of those photoshoot umbrellas if you can get them cheap... but I strongly recommend 2 large white styrofoam sheets that are normally used for insulation. Which, *cough cough* coincidentally, it's also extremely flammable. *Cough*
-Horrendous green muslin works rather well for chroma key purposes and you should be able to find some cheap. It does not wrinkle easily, it is not that reflective and can be ironed.
There you go.
I hope I managed to properly punch through the language barrier with all these technical terms. And if you have any questions, just shoot, I'm more than happy to help.
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