Any good keying plug-ins for Vegas? at DVinfo.net

Brian Luce · August 1st, 2009, 10:52 PM

The built in keyer on Vegas is limited. AE is difficult for me, are there any alternatives? Stand alone keyers or plug ins?

Mike Kujbida · August 1st, 2009, 11:53 PM

CineGobs Keyer is freeware.

A chroma keyer is part of NewBlue's Video Essentials II package ($80 U.S.).

Boris FX & Boris Red both have keyers as part of their packages but they're a lot more money.

Brian Luce · August 3rd, 2009, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Kujbida

CineGobs Keyer is freeware.

A chroma keyer is part of NewBlue's Video Essentials II package ($80 U.S.).

Boris FX & Boris Red both have keyers as part of their packages but they're a lot more money.

Are any of these better than the one that's built in to vegas?

Mike Kujbida · August 3rd, 2009, 09:54 AM

Brian, I've only used the keyer in Vegas so I don't know what the others are like.
When i need to do chroma keying, i go my old dpsVelociy as it as a lite version of Digital Fusion built into it.
That's a great keyer with all the options i need.

Over the years, I've learned that flat even lighting of the backdrop is critical as is enough distance between the talent and the backdrop.
Light the backdrop about one stop lower than the talent.

Using Chroma Key and Chroma Blur in Sony Vegas is an excellent tutorial about getting the most out of the Vegas keyer.

I've heard good things about both the CineGobs and NewBlue keyers.
CineGobs is free and there's a trial version of NewBlue so I'd encourage you to try both and see if they meet your needs.

The offerings from Boris are more complicated but, once again, trial versions are available.
If you had an older version of Vegas (Pro 7, as I recall), it came with a light version of Boris FX which means that you're eligible for a reduced price on both of these packages.

John Rofrano · August 3rd, 2009, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Luce

Are any of these better than the one that's built in to vegas?

I've never used the free CineGobs keyer but the NewBlue FX keyer is far superior to what Vegas has and Boris FX keyer is far superior to what NewBlue FX has (and it had better be at 4x the price).

The Vegas keyer is only color removal. Both NewBlue and Boris have matte chokers and spill suppression and other tools needed to create a clean key (although starting with cleanly shot footage is the best thing you can do for any keyer). Boris goes one further and has a Light Wrap tool that will take the "light" of the background image and wrap it around the foreground keyed object making it very convincingly look like it is part of the scene. Both plug-in to Vegas.

~jr

Lee Brennan · August 3rd, 2009, 04:01 PM

Hi,
Cinegobs is a much better keyer than the one in Vegas. I was amazed. It's free so you have nothing to lose.

August 1st, 2009, 10:52 PM	#1
Brian Luce Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,290	Any good keying plug-ins for Vegas? The built in keyer on Vegas is limited. AE is difficult for me, are there any alternatives? Stand alone keyers or plug ins?

August 3rd, 2009, 04:01 PM	#6
Lee Brennan New Boot Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Linden, Virginia Posts: 5	Keyer for Vegas Hi, Cinegobs is a much better keyer than the one in Vegas. I was amazed. It's free so you have nothing to lose.

August 1st, 2009, 11:53 PM	#2
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	CineGobs Keyer is freeware. A chroma keyer is part of NewBlue's Video Essentials II package ($80 U.S.). Boris FX & Boris Red both have keyers as part of their packages but they're a lot more money.

August 3rd, 2009, 09:54 AM	#4
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Brian, I've only used the keyer in Vegas so I don't know what the others are like. When i need to do chroma keying, i go my old dpsVelociy as it as a lite version of Digital Fusion built into it. That's a great keyer with all the options i need. Over the years, I've learned that flat even lighting of the backdrop is critical as is enough distance between the talent and the backdrop. Light the backdrop about one stop lower than the talent. Using Chroma Key and Chroma Blur in Sony Vegas is an excellent tutorial about getting the most out of the Vegas keyer. I've heard good things about both the CineGobs and NewBlue keyers. CineGobs is free and there's a trial version of NewBlue so I'd encourage you to try both and see if they meet your needs. The offerings from Boris are more complicated but, once again, trial versions are available. If you had an older version of Vegas (Pro 7, as I recall), it came with a light version of Boris FX which means that you're eligible for a reduced price on both of these packages.