Keying HDV in Vegas 6.0
 

Is Vegas a good software for keying4.2.0 HDV footage from a JVC HD100? I googled it and found a youtube tutorial here YouTube - How to Chroma Key in Sony Vegas. The guy doing the tutorial sounds like he's about nine years old which didn't inspire confidence or make me feel particularly good about my editing skills. I didn't get great results. Unusable results. Is Vegas suited to this? Or do I need to use Primatte or another software perhaps.

Hi, I looked at that "how to" video, and while it showed the very basics of how to use the Chroma Key tool, he didn't bother to have good footage to start with. Not to mention he stole the program. OK, I shouldn't flame a 12 year old, maybe he will learn to be a good person some day.

I'm probbably not the most experienced user here, but I have been able to get some very good keys with Vegas 6.0d, and my HD-100. If you want a sample you can look on my site at Second Mouse Productions - Home in the videos section, look at the free the track lights video (almost at the end) I dropped in a chroma key as an afterthought to show how the lights I modified work.

Search here for lessons on keying in Vegas, there are several very good ones. If you have a well lit green or blue screen, you will be able to get good results. In case you don't find this tip in other lessons, Apply the Croma Blur Effect on your clip, then the Chroma Key Effect. Also use the eye dropper to select the color to be keyed. You can also drag over an area to select a range of colors if your screen is not perfect.

I don't think you need to purchase more software, just learn how to do it right :)

Using Chroma Key and Chroma Blur in Sony Vegas by Keith Kolbo is an excellent chromakey tutorial.

Try selecting the eyedropper in that keyer plugin screen and mouse over the green on the preview window and use THAT green as the sampled color THEN tweak the other settings to get desired results. That DAK just played until it looked "good" to him.

$90... LOL!

Another option is to try the Secondary Color Corrector as well. It can also do a good job of pulling a key.