Step on Reflecmedia

L

lhdor

Well-known member
Okay, I know you would recommend something else like ProCyc for this.
I just want to know has anyone had any problems stepping on a Chromatte for a Reflectmedia light ring. Does the keying still come out well? Is the matte pretty durable for walking? How long has it lasted before you needed a replacement?
Thanks for your thoughts
 
Reflecmedia Chromatte / Holoset works regardless of the "plane" of the fabric in relation to the camera - the reflection happens indipendantly at each "bead" on the fabic. So yes, you can salfy lay the fabric on the floor and shoot normally.

However the normal "background" Chromatte fabric isn't super heavy duty, so if you are going to be walking around on it a lot, then you'd probabaly want to look into "Basematte" which is specially designed to be used on the floor: http://reflecmedia.com/content.aspx?Content=BaseMatte.htm

- Mikko
 
mikkowilson said:
Reflecmedia Chromatte / Holoset works regardless of the "plane" of the fabric in relation to the camera - the reflection happens indipendantly at each "bead" on the fabic. So yes, you can salfy lay the fabric on the floor and shoot normally.

However the normal "background" Chromatte fabric isn't super heavy duty, so if you are going to be walking around on it a lot, then you'd probabaly want to look into "Basematte" which is specially designed to be used on the floor: http://reflecmedia.com/content.aspx?Content=BaseMatte.htm

- Mikko
Click to expand...

Thanks Mikko,
my thinking error was the alligment of backdrop and camera viewpoint.
We used the colabsable backdrop system a couple of times about two years ago and it were all static, full frontal interview shots...
So, as long as LED ring and lens are alligned properly, you can hit the backdrop at any angle you want...?
 
Yup.

The backdrop works like any retro-reflective reflector. The laws of physics means that it always reflects light directly back to the source.

So with the light coming from the lens (or around it, as is the case), the Chromatte material will always reflects it directly back to the camera, regardless of the shape or angle of the material.

They have demos where they have people wearing clothing made from the stuff and it works just fine!

- Mikko
 
i hate to bring this thread back from the dead, but has anyone unearthed a cheaper alternative to the reflecmedia basematte floor tile? this stuff is VERRRRRYYYYY expensive...

is it simply the same material backed by rubber? could one get the cheaper background material and lay down rubber backing on the floor?
 
First time poster - this forum's been an invaluable resource as I've piece together how to setup a chroma keying setup.


My apologies for resurrecting this thread. I've been experimenting with retroreflective fabric, and am having a lot of trouble getting the flooring or ceiling wrap to light up.

I'm not actually using either a Reflecmedia light ring or their cloth - instead, I'm using Datavideo's LD-1 light ring, and some cheap retro-reflective safety cloth. We're able to light the backdrop just fine. But when we try to use the material as flooring, it fails to light up.

After our experiment with the cheap cloth failed, I contacted Datavideo asking if it was possible to light the floor or ceiling wrap if we were to purchase their better quality fabric, but was told their material can't be lit if it's off angle by more then 40-60 degrees - the fixative keeping the glass beads in place inhibits the reflection.

This lines up with what we experienced with our cheap fabric. But this contradicts your experience, Kwan. So I'm now I'm a bit confused. :(

Did the Datavideo fabric actually work well for you as flooring? Any caveats or recomendations on using it as flooring?
 
I've used both the original Play "Holoset" and the Reflectmedia "Chromatte" fabrics on a floor (with backdrop at the same time) without too much trouble. I thin the slightly newer Reflectmedia fabric worked a little batter off-axis.

As mentioned above, Reflectmedia makes Chromatte panels specifically for use on floors.

Reflectmedia is definitely pricey, but it's also the best in my opinion.

- Mikko
 
Thanks for the information, Mikko! It sounds like the fixative solution Reflecmedia's using is awfully tolerant of off-axis shots. Very cool!

But golly, also very pricey. Do you have any idea how durable their Basematte floor tiles are? If I'm going to have to put down a relatively large (for my business) amount of cash on the material, I do hope it can take some abuse.

I'm still curious about Kwan's experience using Datavideo's (much, much less expensive) screen as a flooring solution. In our case, we don't have a lot of height to work with, so we also need to make a ceiling wrap. It's the flooring problem again with the off-axis lighting, just not with the same durability issues. It'd be nice if we could make do with the cheaper Datavideo material for the ceiling wrap, to free up budget for the Basemattes.
 
David S. said:
Mikko:

Any suggestions for eliminating the halo?
Click to expand...

Haloing usually occurs with Reflecmedia if your litering is too large for your lens, or if your subject is too far away from the backdrop and too close to the camera.

The former usually happens when a smaller lens is used with a larger litering. The LEDs are meant to be as close to on-axis with the lens as possible, because that's where the light is reflected back to. What size is the lens filter thread diameter?

The second happens because you want about 8-10 feet between your subject and litering as a minimum, but also don't want that subject too far away from the backdrop. The system works better the closer your subject to the background, contrary to other green screen systems.
 
The second happens because you want about 8-10 feet between your subject and litering as a minimum, but also don't want that subject too far away from the backdrop. The system works better the closer your subject to the background, contrary to other green screen systems.
Click to expand...

Interesting! Do you have a suggestion on how close the subject should stay to the backdrop? I was hoping to create a fairly large setup, where the subject could be up to 13' away from the backdrop. That, and a ceiling wrap too. I hadn't even considered the haloing issue.

So very hard to play with and evaluate this tech without spending large sums of money. :(
 
C=64 said:
Interesting! Do you have a suggestion on how close the subject should stay to the backdrop? I was hoping to create a fairly large setup, where the subject could be up to 13' away from the backdrop. That, and a ceiling wrap too. I hadn't even considered the haloing issue.

So very hard to play with and evaluate this tech without spending large sums of money. :(
Click to expand...

In ideal conditions, you want your subject within about 6-8 feet from the backdrop at the max. It performs much better as you get closer, with the best results being about a foot off the backdrop, and then camera (with litering) about 8-10 feet from subject (ideally).
Technically, a ceiling wrap would work about as well as the flooring, though I haven't personally tested it. Any of these surfaces work well until about 80 degrees off-axis, so the concept is sound that it'd work on the ceiling. Reflecmedia doesn't currently make a sheet designed for ceilings, as you're dealing with different ways to secure it and such. But you can get custom curtains made for any size, and they typically have grommits on one side, though I'm sure you could them to custom put them on all four sides for ceiling use.
Reflecmedia's larger curtain sizes are pretty substantial in price, to be sure. But they made a more cost effective kit in the last year called the Deskshoot Lite bundle, that contains an 8'x8' curtain with Litering, pwr supply, dimmer and camera adapter for $1,500. Not nearly as expensive as it used to be.
 
That's really useful information - thanks RandomHero!

80 degrees off axis sounds pretty usable. And I'm not too concerned about how we're going to secure the ceiling wrap - I was already planning on having to build my own mounting frame and grommeting the fabric (thank goodness for PVC). Believe you me, we have way more ambitious stuff we're currently building. :P

I'm more concerned about pulling good keys on the ceiling and the backdrop, given the halo effect and potential distances for the size installation we're plotting.


I noticed you're in Marysville, RandomHero - I'm in Seattle, myself. Do you happen to know someplace in the area that rents out retroreflective gear, or will at least rent out time to play with their equipment? We're going to be purchasing our own equipment, but it'd sure help us evaluate things if we could actually see it in action.
 
C=64 said:
First time poster - this forum's been an invaluable resource as I've piece together how to setup a chroma keying setup.


My apologies for resurrecting this thread. I've been experimenting with retroreflective fabric, and am having a lot of trouble getting the flooring or ceiling wrap to light up.

I'm not actually using either a Reflecmedia light ring or their cloth - instead, I'm using Datavideo's LD-1 light ring, and some cheap retro-reflective safety cloth. We're able to light the backdrop just fine. But when we try to use the material as flooring, it fails to light up.

After our experiment with the cheap cloth failed, I contacted Datavideo asking if it was possible to light the floor or ceiling wrap if we were to purchase their better quality fabric, but was told their material can't be lit if it's off angle by more then 40-60 degrees - the fixative keeping the glass beads in place inhibits the reflection.

This lines up with what we experienced with our cheap fabric. But this contradicts your experience, Kwan. So I'm now I'm a bit confused. :(

Did the Datavideo fabric actually work well for you as flooring? Any caveats or recomendations on using it as flooring?
Click to expand...


You get what you pay for.

I have done full body keys with the basematte from reflectmedia with no problems.
 
David S. said:
Mikko:

Any suggestions for eliminating the halo?
Click to expand...

Whenever possible, I prefer to shoot with a real green/blue screen.

Holoset (& the derivatives) is quick and easy, especially in compact space; but you can't beat a proper well lit green screen for key-ability.

Plus Holoset is a pain with teleprompters.


When you look at the costs of a good Holoset system for a medium/larger studio space; proper lighting instruments & green screen paint/materials becomes comparable pretty quickly.

- Mikko
 
C=64 said:
That's really useful information - thanks RandomHero!

80 degrees off axis sounds pretty usable. And I'm not too concerned about how we're going to secure the ceiling wrap - I was already planning on having to build my own mounting frame and grommeting the fabric (thank goodness for PVC). Believe you me, we have way more ambitious stuff we're currently building. :P

I'm more concerned about pulling good keys on the ceiling and the backdrop, given the halo effect and potential distances for the size installation we're plotting.


I noticed you're in Marysville, RandomHero - I'm in Seattle, myself. Do you happen to know someplace in the area that rents out retroreflective gear, or will at least rent out time to play with their equipment? We're going to be purchasing our own equipment, but it'd sure help us evaluate things if we could actually see it in action.
Click to expand...

Yes,
I actually work for a DVXUser sponsor, DVeStore, and we do just that. We can help spec out a whole system for purchase as well. Rental kits are kind of limited in dimensions and all, as we only really rent out kits that already exist. We also do in-house demos, and have almost instant access to any item in the Reflecmedia catalogue.
Feel free to PM me if you're interested in setting something up.
 
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