T2i Backdrop Questions

brandondull

brandondull

Well-known member
I am looking for a white & black backdrop for music videos. Where is the best place to look for them? What size is reasonable? or should I just buy a green screen & key out the green then add black or white when needed?

Thanks,
Brandon Dull
 
Green screen is cool for effects that would have been impossible otherwise (I love using them to place people inside TRON-like environments or to have someone exist between background transitions), but they can be a pain in the @#$ to get the keying to look natural.

If you're just going to key to a solid color like white or black, you are ALWAYS better off just filming in front of a white or black background. ESPECIALLY with DLSR video, which is especially hard to key with DOF (out of focus means blurry green bleeds).

For white, I use a white paper roll from B&H. For black, I recommend a black background fabric from Amazon.com. I recall seeing some very affordable options there for that.
 
brandondull said:
would this work? http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-...G2HS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1295405276&sr=8-4
Click to expand...

That, or any other size, really depends on what you need to do. How wide of a field of view do you need? How many people, how many instruments, how many props will you need to have in front of the background? How much camera movement do you want? Small, portable kits like the one you linked are okay for locked-down mediums and close-ups, but can only handle wide (full-body) on one or two people, with the need for some handy work in post with a garbage matte. For the wider shots and more complex camera movements, you'd really need a full-size studio cyc which includes seamless walls and floor.
 
Thanks. I wish I could get a full studio! Maybe in the future! As of now all I want to do is have 1-3 people in the same shot on a backdrop as a wide & close up. For example an Apple Commercial.
 
brandondull said:
For example an Apple Commercial.
Click to expand...

That will take some engineering with one of the portables. You may end up having to crop sides with the aforementioned matte, since you may not be able to fill the frame with the background and still get a full-body shot. Make sure, especially if you're shooting on white, that you are very, very well and evenly lit.
 
Rotobrush is a masking tool that is supposed to be able to follow your subject to make masking out easier.

Some people use it as an alternative to Chroma keying.

Personally, I don't think it's all that great, and a good key will look much better if following a person. But if you've got CS5, give it a shot!
 
dishe said:
Rotobrush is a masking tool that is supposed to be able to follow your subject to make masking out easier.

Some people use it as an alternative to Chroma keying.

Personally, I don't think it's all that great, and a good key will look much better if following a person. But if you've got CS5, give it a shot!
Click to expand...

I don't have CS5 I use Final Cut Studio. What size backdrop do you suggest I get?
 
brandondull said:
any ideas to what size to get?
Click to expand...

How's your math? Especially trig?

Essentially, you are solving for one side of a triangle. You already know two things.

1. The angle of view (provided by the lens of your camera
2. The distance from that camera to the background.


The wider the lens, the wider the background needs to be, given a constant distance. You are the only person here who knows the distance and your lenses, so we cannot tell you what size to get.
 
PerroneFord said:
How's your math? Especially trig?

Essentially, you are solving for one side of a triangle. You already know two things.

1. The angle of view (provided by the lens of your camera
2. The distance from that camera to the background.


The wider the lens, the wider the background needs to be, given a constant distance. You are the only person here who knows the distance and your lenses, so we cannot tell you what size to get.
Click to expand...


okay I see now. I am using primes. I have a 35mm & 50mm lens. I would like to get one person on the backdrop full body view & close up from a straight on angle.
 
Rotobrush is a lot of work to look right, and the results are just so-so in my experience with it. Maybe someone else better than me has some good examples they can show using it. I haven't been impressed yet. Since you don't even have AE, don't bother IMO.

Meanwhile, if you shoot over a white backdrop and have it lit and exposed properly, you can mask out the borders of the backdrop, effectively making it look like your background goes on forever. I've done this when shooting infomercial product reviews over a white backdrop in my studio.

If you look at this video I worked on a long time ago, you can see where I did this at about 3:32 minutes in.
http://www.infonotmercial.com/mighty-putty-review.html
(please don't comment on the quality of the footage, it was practically no budget and I wasn't always the one operating the camera)

The paper backdrop is mounted on a wall in my office, where I can pull it down as needed. The problem is, I very often end up with the borders of the paperr visible in the frame, showing the ugly yellow painted wall behind it.
Here's what my wall looks like (just taken on my phone as I write this):
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/mnrgilden/IMG_20110119_122257.jpg
 
dishe said:
Rotobrush is a lot of work to look right, and the results are just so-so in my experience with it. Maybe someone else better than me has some good examples they can show using it. I haven't been impressed yet. Since you don't even have AE, don't bother IMO.

Meanwhile, if you shoot over a white backdrop and have it lit and exposed properly, you can mask out the borders of the backdrop, effectively making it look like your background goes on forever. I've done this when shooting infomercial product reviews over a white backdrop in my studio.

If you look at this video I worked on a long time ago, you can see where I did this at about 3:32 minutes in.
http://www.infonotmercial.com/mighty-putty-review.html
(please don't comment on the quality of the footage, it was practically no budget and I wasn't always the one operating the camera)

The paper backdrop is mounted on a wall in my office, where I can pull it down as needed. The problem is, I very often end up with the borders of the paperr visible in the frame, showing the ugly yellow painted wall behind it.
Here's what my wall looks like (just taken on my phone as I write this):
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/mnrgilden/IMG_20110119_122257.jpg
Click to expand...

What are your dimensions of the paper roll?
 
brandondull said:
Any thoughts on this product? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...TDKT_20BWG_STDKT_20BWG_Studio_Stand_with.html
Click to expand...

9ft is about wide enough for 1 person... if they stand quite close to it. If they stand far enough from the background not to cast a shadow on it from a front light, you'll need a quite narrow lens to keep from getting edges.

Make this easy on yourself. Mock it up in a room like I did. Place your camera at a typical distance from a wall. Place a chair or a couple of chairs where you might have your talent. Frame the talent with the camera. Then mark off the wall behind it with blue tape at the edges of the camera frame. Then measure the distance between the blue tape.

I found that at proper greenscreen distances (subject to background) with a 35mm lens, I needed about 20ft of background to cover a 2-shot properly. You can be about half or 2/3 that if you're not having to stand people off a chroma-key screen.
 
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