Add img/vid to background w/out covering rest

MikeLV wrote on 3/29/2016, 5:35 PM

Suppose I have a talking head video, on a blackish background and I want to add something (either video or still image) to that black background, but around the person, not covering him. I know I can add a picture on a track above the video and turn the opacity down so the video below it shows through and that's kind of cool, but is there a way to block out the image except for where I want it to appear over the video?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 3/29/2016, 6:17 PM

If the background is pretty much a single solid color then you can use the Chroma Keyer effect to mask the background. Place the talking head on track 1 and the image/video on track 2. Add the Chroma Keyer effect to the talking head event, and using the eyedropper tool click on the black background in the preview window. You may need to adjust the sliders somewhat to get it to mask out all the black without losing any of the head.

MikeLV wrote on 3/29/2016, 6:48 PM

The background is a solid color, but it's a dark color, and that color also appears in areas that are not the background so I'm afraid that chroma key method would wipe out parts of the video that I don't want wiped out.

Former user wrote on 3/29/2016, 7:10 PM

You can use the MASK option in the PAN/CROP effects and draw a soft edge around the foreground.

MikeLV wrote on 3/29/2016, 7:16 PM

So the video with the foreground should be on a track below the background image I want to use, correct? Then, do I use the anchor creation tool to plot the path around the foreground? And after that do I have to do anything?

Former user wrote on 3/29/2016, 8:20 PM

I would put the foreground on the ABOVE track and draw along the edge of the person. Hopefully they don't move much. Then select soft edge. It may not be a perfect cutout, but done correctly it can be a good effect.

Here is a sample of a video I did using this type of effect. The people being interviewed were in front of a plain burlap cloth. All of the text/graphics around them were added by drawing a mask around them, no keying or chromakeying.

[url=

MikeLV wrote on 3/30/2016, 12:32 PM

Wow, Donald, that's pretty slick, those graphics look like they're on the burlap - nice job!

Former user wrote on 3/31/2016, 8:39 AM

thanks, I was real happy with the result.