Part of Lesson Plan: Introduction to Chroma Key

Activity Overview / Details

Good chroma key techniques are required regardless of the equipment being used.  

Each manufacturer has proprietary controls and parameters for adjusting the colors and tolerances which makes the discussion more difficult. 

There are several techniques in common to all methods of keying, which include:

• Lighting the chroma key wall (paint, fabric, paper or mat) evenly so the color is consistent but not light too brightly.
• Lighting the talent with three-point lighting.
• Keeping the talent far enough from the screen to avoid casting shadows.
• Clothing must be contrasting to the color of your screen
• Textures with fine details on the edges like curly hair, loose earrings, and frilly fabric are difficult to key because of the complex variation in contrast and opacity.

Chroma key effects can be created live using a video switcher hardware, or in post-production using chroma key software filters.  

The following video demonstrates how to adjust the chroma key filters in three popular video editors; Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, and Final Cut Pro.

Play movie, “How to get the perfect green screen key” (5 min)