simple set design
 

Hey
Not really sure where to put this post.
I want to build a simple set and I need some advice. Basically we video the host comes on and talks briefly to intro it.
I've got lights and an EX3, but I need to decide on the background. I could either go the chroma key route, or buy a static background that never changes.
I just really don't want the chroma key to look cheap or tacky. Even the NBA has problems with them sometimes. Like where you see the green light on the players shaved head.
If I buy a muslin, it's more of a risk, cause you have to stick with it for every show. And it will get a little boring watching a guy just standing and talking in front of a sheet I think. I just don't know many alternatives. It's got to be clean, professional, and less than a couple hundred.
Please give me advice.
Thanks

well you kind of already made your mind on chroma key, so it sounds like going with a static background is the way to go. You might want to look at something that you can give a different look by splashing colored gels on it. That way you can change it how you want. Also what about on location. I'm not sure what your videos are about, but can you do the intros out in the field at different locations? Harder to do but can pay off depending on your format.

Shooting intros on location is something we have definitely considered, but there's a couple reasons we choose not to. Most everything that we shoot is "run and gunnish", so having it in the studio is a nice contrast. Second, it is really hard to tease the show when it hasn't happened yet. Of course, we could do it in the field at the end of the trip, but we're usually pretty rushed, and don't have time to break it down and get a real good intro.
If not for those issues, it would be done in field.

For our show I rely on green screen keying to create the show opening and segment intros. I shoot background plates in advance and composite with After Effects and Primatte. It's done with an EX1 and looks absolutely seamless. I've posted examples here on this forum recently.

If chroma key is done right it looks great. I've went to mostly chroma key in my studio so I can do easily have a different set look, but I've also do the backdrop background and use patterns and gels to get different looks. Maybe by a nice background, but it's also very inexpensive to built a chroma key background as well, then you have the best of both worlds.

exactly, to get the best of both worlds is only the difference of $100. Thanks for the advice guys

Just a thought,

chroma key and then use virtual set. I saw them somewhere, probably on this list.

dale