Thanks Bob! I just tried several experiments and I think I've got it sorted. quick question, what does ND stand for again?

Thanks again!!

Ken

Hi, I'll jump in here, ND stands for Neutral Density.

Duncan

Thanks Duncan!

Ken

I generally agree with Bob but I'll add that the brightness on the hand is giving away a problem, which is that your light is too close. Lights have falloff and when they're close to the subject the little bubble of space where the illumination is roughly within a half stop of your exposure is quite small. Your hand is out of the bubble. You could back up the light and give yourself a little more room to move. Then again, if you're counting on spill from the key to light your backdrop then it gets trickier.

Anyway, move the key back, and reduce your fill a little. Then figure out how to get more light on the backdrop if this has reduced it. Backing up the key will also reduce it so you wouldn't need ND (or a scrim, which is the more professional solution but probably not an option on a Smith/Victor head)

BTW, 15 years ago if I'd seen this on set on a monitor I'd have said the monitor was out of adjustment. The lack of detail in those hot areas says to me that the highlights are getting crushed somewhere.

Rob

1. The too-sharp shadow lines say it all; it's those harsh photofloods.
2. You need a good diffuser, but you need to get some decent studio lights first.
B&H is a good place to start.

You need a good diffuser, but you need to get some decent studio lights first.

Or he could turn the light around and bounce it off a piece of showcard or foamcore. That would effectively move the light source back a few feet (the source is now the foamcore) as well as softening the source. (Softening is not the same thing as diffusing, btw.) The advantage to this is it's cheaper.

The disadvantage of softening the source AND moving it back is that you might find you lose a lot of output from the light.

The advantage to creating more lit space is that talent can lean forward without your forehead blooming, but another option is to flag the light off the hand or to pan the light around such that a little less light falls on the hand (called "wasting" the light). The problem with flagging or wasting the light is that you create an even smaller space to move around in.

Another reality check here is that this is a glossy guitar and this frame grab is kind of a best case scenario where it's not reflecting any of the lights nor is it reflecting the green screen. Just be glad it's not got any chrome on it. And be glad it's a guitar, not a tuba.

I generally try to use a space 30 feet (or 10 meters) deep when doing chromakey.

Talent stands 10 feet in front of the green screen, and the camera is another 10 feet back. I leave 10 feet behind the camera for people to move around, but that is not really necessary.

[I]"Then again, if you're counting on spill from the key to light your backdrop then it gets trickier."[/I]

Everything is tricky. All Ken has is 2x 500W photofloods inside dish reflectors. One is aimed into an umbrella for the fill and for the key he's using it without the umbrella. I suspect Ken also has limited space to work with.

Maybe replacing the 500W lamp with a 70W CFL would get him out of trouble but then he'll have a huge difference in CT between the key and fill. As dxdy has said, without a lot of room it's very difficult to do good CK work even when you've access to any light you might want, when your lighting budget is a few hundred dollars it's much harder.

Bob.


[edit] One tip worth repeating for anyone lighting, especially on a budget, is to invest in a roll of Cinefoil and some C47s aka wooden clothes pegs. B&H seem to stock a cheaper alternative called GAM. Either one should be fine, this semi-rigid black foil is a life saver for stopping light going where you don't want it. Very handy when your lights don't have barn doors.