Reflecmedia Reflective Green Screen - Lightable?

tildenm

tildenm

Member
Hi all,
I just got really cheap access to a large soundstage that has a Refelcmedia reflective green screen. Normally, these are lit by a green ring light that sells for $500 used. Being a cheapskate, does anyone know if I can just light the screen like a regular green screen, but use green gels, and have a keyable screen?
Thanks!
Tilden
 
Doesn't the soundstage have their own ring light already? I would just rent it from them if you have to...Seems a lot easier, especially if you're already in their soundstage.
 
Hiya,
No you can't light it like a normal green screen unfortunately.
I have a reflecmedia kit and have used it for years. it really is awesome but be very careful with the halo effect and the shadows. There is a good document on how to shoot correctly to avoid it on the reflecmedia site.
I have used the light ring (I have two myself with various adaptors) on quite a few cameras including my Canon 7D and I love it.
Ross
 
Rosferatu said:
Hiya,
No you can't light it like a normal green screen unfortunately.
I have a reflecmedia kit and have used it for years. it really is awesome but be very careful with the halo effect and the shadows. There is a good document on how to shoot correctly to avoid it on the reflecmedia site.
I have used the light ring (I have two myself with various adaptors) on quite a few cameras including my Canon 7D and I love it.
Ross
Click to expand...

Whoa! Could this price be true? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ia_RM_1123WSB_Chromatte_Small_Blue_Light.html
 
RyanT said:
Haha, I don't quite understand what was wrong with green screen in the first place....jeez. Sure you gotta work a little bit to get rid of spill, but at that price I'll find another way to make it work.
Click to expand...
I haven't been overly impressed with these types of systems; when I used it it seemed like a really expensive way to get a mediocre key (because there's always a gray shadow around your subjects, caused by the inherent way the LED causes a little bit of unexposed shadow). However, the big point to a system like this is to a) be able to set up anywhere in very little time, and b) be able to do so in very little space. For proper greenscreen and spill control you need to get absolutely as much space between the screen and your subject as you possibly can -- ten feet at a minimum, twenty is better. With these types of products (datavideo and reflecmedia) the opposite is true -- the closer you can get the subject to the fabric, the better key you'll get (smaller gray shadow). I have other problems with it -- spraying a green light on your subject has the tendency to ... well, to make your subject look green, which isn't usually all that flattering on skin tones!

In general I have always opted for conventional greenscreen wherever space allows. These products have their places, but I don't think they're all that good for what they cost.
 
To answer the OP, the light rings are removable. You just have to make sure that they'll fit your camera lens. We had to get some adapters to attach them to the lenses we have.

Over a year ago I was handed the keys to a studio using a reflectmedia curtain. I have to admit, its been a struggle using the thing and I keep getting flack from the very people who designed it that I'm not using it correctly, which is very frustrating. Maybe I'm not, but I have had the reps in several times and attempt to do exactly what they recommend but here are my issues.

- That dang shadow kills me. Especially if I have multiple people in front of the curtain and they raise their hands. I always seem to get gray between the fingers. I've tried moving them closer to the curtain, jamming the interview chairs into the corner, the hand furthest from the curtain will still often give me problems. The solution is also to raise the LED intensity which leads to =>

- That dang green hue to the shadows and dark portions of the subject. So, I've pulled the cameras back as far as I can get them and am trying to pump as much light on the subject as possible (they gave me 4 bank kinos, which for a single is great, but multiple subject is rough, I may need more lights) and iris down so that my 'shadows' have some light to wash out the green. This leads to two issues: Too much light on the curtain means less reflection to the LED and you see some grain in the green (this is generally not a problem, but for the editors who are used to clean green BU's I have to hear them complain) the other thing issue is that the producer (and the guy who designed and speced the studio) says I'm not getting as much contrast out of the subject as I would on a traditional green screen.

Basically, I can light really nice single person interview set ups, but I'm not getting the contrast people would like and I'm getting a slight green hue which is easily color corrected but my boss is blaming me for. And in multiple subject interviews with multiple cameras, I run into the gray shadow problem mostly around the hands as well as green ambient bleed.

So, even though I've been lighting now for nearly 20 years and doing camera for about 15 my boss is making me hire outside DP's and operators to come in to 'fix' my problems. Am I doing anything wrong here? Cause its sort of become a huge ego bruiser for me.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.
 
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