Affordable Camera for Chroma

[Alantone]

I currently have a Canon XL1s that I've used with great affection for some time, but now I'm launching an online project that's 100% greenscreen. Shooting and trying to key the 4:1:1 video is a real pain. I'm using Keylight in AE. The guys at The Foundry(who make Keylight) can't key my footage and make it acceptable even though my footage looks very good, it's still 4:1:1.

So my venerable Canon is now on ebay and I'm looking for a $1500 or less replacement. Like I said the output will be web streaming flash video so I don't need super high resolution output, just good 4:2:2 (or 4:4:4) editable clips. progressive would be better, but interlaced is OK too.

My initial thoughts are somthing like the Sony HDR-SR12 and a Blackmagic Intensity capture card, but I'm in no way convinced this is the best route.

The shots I'll be taking and keying will be 2-5 minute clips of models in a studio setting. After keying in AE with Keylight, I'll be editing in Premere and then exporting .flv

Thanks in advance!!

[Matthew R. Rodwell]

If you are not in any rush you might consider trying to save some more money and look into the Red Scarlet. It is twice your budget but it doesn't release till fall so it could give you more time to save.

I would imagine a 4:4:4 3k rez camera would work wonderful as a chromakey camera but until it is actually released we won't know for sure how well it performs.

[Alantone]

That might be a great option, but I need to resume shooting next week, I have 10 models in the can and another 10 to do before the 1st. If the Red camera performs and it's only a few grand then in a couple months, after I get some income, I could switch easy enough.

[Alantone]

Well the XL1 sold on e-bay for $1700, so that was my budget. I decided on a Canon HF-10. I picked it up from Newegg for $1100, I also picked up 4 - SATA 3G 500GB Seagate w/ 32MB cache for $90 a piece. Then I went to e-bay and got a new Blackmagic Intensity card and a 15' HDMI cable for $250. Total budget of $1750 and now I'm able to capture 4-2-2 uncompressed video. What a difference! Capturing is a little strange because you never hit the record button on the camera. It's just a live feed into Premieres capture window and you click on the record button there. The drives are set up into a Raid 1 array (my MB has 6 SATA ports) and I can capture 125FPS in full frame HD. Of course it takes a lot of HD space so I only save the good takes and I'm offloading from the array when I'm done with the clip. The keying is a snap compared to DV. Keylight is amazing and with about 4 adjustments I get a perfect key. Here's my site take a look. http://myvideospokesmodel.com (http://myvideospokesmodel.com/)

[Ducatimark]

Great job on the site. Nice look, too. Do you do ti yourself?

Mark G
www.newmediadevcorp.com

[Alantone]

Thanks for the complement, Yes I designed and built the web site myself. I have an extensive web design and web hosting background. I have owned 2 web design businesses, one in Austin TX and one in Denver CO. I even owned a web hosting company called Infinity Interactive that I sold in 2000.

I love the creative aspect of web site design.