In the era of special popularity of video content in entertainment media, including video blogs, creative people working in this direction, are concerned about the quality of the image. Filming on a natural background is far from always appropriate, and setting up scenery is an expensive and time-consuming task. The chromakey technology helps to solve the problem - this is a technique that allows you to combine two or more frames or images in one composition. Nevertheless, not all beginner video makers know how to work with this effect, since most recently it was used only on television and professional video projects. How to use chromakey technology, and why is the green background used for this?
Hromakey: basic principles of work
Translated from English, the term chroma key literally means “color key”. If it is necessary to create locations in a film or video clip that cannot be found in the natural environment, the shooting takes place against the background of the rip screen, which then will be replaced by the desired location during installation. Why is the blue or green background most often used? The fact is that these colors are least likely to be found in clothes, and the owners of blue or green hair are even more difficult to meet on the set. If the clothes or props match the color of the screen, they will become transparent on the mounted clip, which will certainly affect the quality of the video.
Cromake in the cinema
Today it is hardly possible to meet a person who has not seen a single movie whose action takes place in distant galaxies, mysterious deserts or magical forests. It is impossible to find such locations in the real world, so in such cases, chroma key is a real salvation. Actors act out scenes in a room with walls completely curtained with a green or blue rier screen. Workers on the set who need to assist the actors in the frame, but not get into the final picture, put on special suits to match the color of the screen. Of course, not a single movie can do without scenery, however, when shooting battle scenes and fights, for example, the effect of chromakey is irreplaceable - the viewer's attention is distracted by the exciting actions of stuntmen or actors, so he does not notice a certain “plane” of the background.
Chroma Key and TV
Surely everyone who watched news television programs at least once noticed that behind the presenter there is often an interesting and beautiful background. Hromakey here also helps the crew, making the everyday workroom stylish. Interestingly, the well-known New Year’s address of the President of the Russian Federation is also shot not in the “fresh air” against the backdrop of the Kremlin, but indoors using the same technology. For the first time, the New Year’s address of President V.V. Putin was similarly shot in 2000 - before that, the former head B.N. Yeltsin was shot against the background of the interiors of his residence.
Video blogging hromakey
Now chromakey is not only a cinematic and television reception. Many successful video makers sharing their work on YouTube have long and successfully used the effect for their videos. True, novice bloggers are not always cleverly controlled both with the screen and with editing, which is why they become “transparent” in the frame. In order to make a really high-quality video, you need not only a “green chromakey”, as young video makers mistakenly call it (in fact, it is called a rip screen), but also the skills of proper shooting and editing. Often, for the oversights in using this effect, novice bloggers are criticized by more advanced "colleagues." Well-known youtuber Andrei Nifyodov has been making reviews about young lovers to show themselves to the Internet for several years now. Interestingly, Andrei himself long ago abandoned the chromakey, preferring to speak against the backdrop of a cozy home environment. This, however, is not surprising - complex installation only interferes with the "conveyor" production of video content.
Chroma Key in Photography
Chroma key is a real find not only for bloggers and TV people. Photographers use this technology for pictures that will subsequently be processed in an editor program. Photo studios not only use the screen for work, but also, selling special equipment, can help colleagues acquire the background for such shootings. Both plastic and fabric screens of any size are on sale, so before buying it is worth deciding where the background will be located.
Mounting with chrome effect
In all known programs for editing video clips, there is a menu and even a whole set of options for working with the chromakey effect. After Effects and Sony Vegas are by far the most popular and widely used video processing software. Before downloading such an expensive and heavy software, you should study the basic installation skills, since otherwise there is a chance to throw money away - not all functions in such programs are intuitive. If the chromakey effect was used for taking pictures, then Adobe Photoshop and Corel Photopaint are suitable for editing pictures. The complexity of editing and editing is to make the image look as natural as possible. Such processing takes a lot of time, especially when it comes to videos, so you should be patient and focused in order to achieve a high-quality result.
Despite the difficulties associated with the use of the chromakey effect, today this technology is an indispensable tool for a large number of creative people and groups. Appearing in the 90s of the twentieth century, the chromakey is still used in almost all television shows, series, films, video clips and other videos. However, the ability to mount the footage in a quality manner is an integral part of the creative work, and do not forget that no tricky tricks will save the video maker or photographer who is not competent in his field. Nevertheless, the acquisition of the rip-screen is a big and important step to success in almost any kind of visual creativity.