Replacing background at DVinfo.net

Darryl Murphy · March 7th, 2011, 07:00 PM

Hey everyone,

I recently shot some hair tutorials that will end up as a dvd set. The problem is the makeup guy/art director didn't want it to look like we shot in a salon. He wanted to shoot against a white wall. The obvious problem that he didn't understand was shadows from the talent on the back wall. The ceiling wasn't high enough to bring the lights high and I didn't have enough space to compensate on the shoot, so I wanted to know if there is a way to remove the background and replace it. I took a full shot of the white wall with nothing else in it just in case I can fix this. I'm using FCP 7. Thanks in advance for any help.

Darryl

Allen White · March 7th, 2011, 07:11 PM

You can possibly color-key some of it out. Of course you should matte out the big areas first before you apply the key.

White is a lousy key color -- it's everywhere in a shot, since it's the main highlight color, as well as in areas like people's eyes. And the wall shadows won't be white, in any case.

This is not going to be fun to fix. Matting around hair is about as bad as it gets.

I suggest getting a copy of After Effects (or borrowing somebody else's machine with a copy), since it has much more powerful color-key tools than FCP.

And here's a great free FCP matte plug-in. Takes some practice to use, but works very well:

50 Point Bezier Matte

Another idea -- crank UP the white levels instead, and matte out anything not white -- go for that "in the matrix" look.

Good luck.

Darryl Murphy · March 8th, 2011, 07:27 AM

Thanks! I'll try it right away.

Allen White · March 10th, 2011, 11:28 PM

Should have mentioned -- try the Luma Key filter instead! It may solve your problem, or at least be a better solution.

March 7th, 2011, 07:00 PM	#1
Darryl Murphy Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: St. John's Newfoundland Canada Posts: 34	Replacing background Hey everyone, I recently shot some hair tutorials that will end up as a dvd set. The problem is the makeup guy/art director didn't want it to look like we shot in a salon. He wanted to shoot against a white wall. The obvious problem that he didn't understand was shadows from the talent on the back wall. The ceiling wasn't high enough to bring the lights high and I didn't have enough space to compensate on the shoot, so I wanted to know if there is a way to remove the background and replace it. I took a full shot of the white wall with nothing else in it just in case I can fix this. I'm using FCP 7. Thanks in advance for any help. Darryl

March 7th, 2011, 07:11 PM	#2
Allen White Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 60	Re: Replacing background You can possibly color-key some of it out. Of course you should matte out the big areas first before you apply the key. White is a lousy key color -- it's everywhere in a shot, since it's the main highlight color, as well as in areas like people's eyes. And the wall shadows won't be white, in any case. This is not going to be fun to fix. Matting around hair is about as bad as it gets. I suggest getting a copy of After Effects (or borrowing somebody else's machine with a copy), since it has much more powerful color-key tools than FCP. And here's a great free FCP matte plug-in. Takes some practice to use, but works very well: 50 Point Bezier Matte Another idea -- crank UP the white levels instead, and matte out anything not white -- go for that "in the matrix" look. Good luck.

March 8th, 2011, 07:27 AM	#3
Darryl Murphy Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: St. John's Newfoundland Canada Posts: 34	Re: Replacing background Thanks! I'll try it right away.

March 10th, 2011, 11:28 PM	#4
Allen White Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 60	Re: Replacing background Should have mentioned -- try the Luma Key filter instead! It may solve your problem, or at least be a better solution.