Is there a good way to do chroma keying in Vegas?

Guy S. wrote on 10/3/2016, 4:55 PM

I just completed our first video shot against a blue screen. It turned out well, but I had to use Premiere Pro CC's Ultra Key because  Vegas' chroma keyer lacks the fine adjustment controls required to pull a clean key.

I did download a trial of Boris' Chroma Key Studio plugin for Vegas but timeline performance was unusable and rendering time increased 6-fold so I didn't buy a license.

I'm hoping there's an effective way to do chroma keys in Vegas - any ideas?

Comments

VMP wrote on 10/3/2016, 5:12 PM

Vegas + Boris Chroma Key Studio plugin is what I use.
The Vegas chromakey doesen't give a clean key for me either.

All in this video below I've done with Vegas 13 + Boris (render seems to be fast for me).
Later on I've done some extra tweaking and got even better results, with lightwrap etc.




 

Former user wrote on 10/3/2016, 5:16 PM

I'm hoping there's an effective way to do chroma keys in Vegas - any ideas?

If you have a version of Vegas that includes HitFilm you can give it a try. I get pretty decent results with it.

cold ones wrote on 10/4/2016, 2:07 PM

I use Boris Continuum Key and Blend Unit (v9) in Vegas 13 but it doesn't show up in 14.  Anybody having success with it?

[edit]

Whoops, my mistake, it was Boris v8 and now shows up & works in Vegas 14. Opening my current project into Vegas 14 & it definitely played snappier---multiple PNG overlays over nested chromakeyed material---than in v13.  That having been said, anyone see any advantage to upgrading to Boris Key & Blend Unit v10?

Guy S. wrote on 10/4/2016, 4:41 PM

I'm downloading a trial version of Hitfilm as we speak, thanks for the suggestion!

I also liked BCC's lightwrap, it's a subtle but very noticeable improvement to my chroma key. I just wish the performance hit wasn't so profound. As an FYI it crippled timeline playback in PP CC as well as Vegas.

Marco. wrote on 10/4/2016, 4:43 PM

You'll find a similar feature like BCC's lightwrap in HitFilm's chroma keyer which is the one I meanwhile love.

cold ones wrote on 10/4/2016, 4:51 PM

Thanks, I also appreciate lightwrap, it's worth the wait IMHO.  I have Hitfilm 2, I'll revisit that, too---although since I already have Boris, the upgrade cost to v10 is minimal, I'm just wondering if there's any reason to do it.  Anyone using it in Vegas 14?

I'm also happy to see that Beauty Box works in v14 as well...

Marco. wrote on 10/4/2016, 5:06 PM

I think light wrapping already is available in HitFilm 2 Ultimate. It's not part of HitFilm Ignite for Vegas Pro, though (actually in HitFilm it isn't part of the Chroma Key fx, but an own fx to be coupled with the chroma keyer). So to use it you need to send your media to HitFilm and in a Composite Shot you can use lightwrapping as a layer based fx.

Guy S. wrote on 10/4/2016, 5:11 PM

Hitfilm's chroma keyer is realtime at Full Best quality, which is Great News. Unfortunately the trial version plasters a semi-transparent logo over my key, making it difficult to evaluate the result. I also noticed random single-pixel color sparkles in some dark areas. I've never seen this with the Boris or Adobe keyers and didn't have much success trying to remove them. I also had a small amount of blue spill that I couldn't get rid of. I'll check for additional tutorials that go more in-depth than the ones I've seen.

Thank you all for responding!

Guy

Former user wrote on 10/5/2016, 8:03 AM

Try using the chroma key preset in: Presets / 2D Effects / Bluescreen Key or Greenscreen Key. It adds 3 effects layers to your composite: Chroma UV Blur, Color Difference Key, Spill Removal. Then you can tweak each effect / channel as needed to clean up your key. Of course, you can also add a mask if needed.

ccliffy wrote on 10/5/2016, 8:50 AM

Thanks, I also appreciate lightwrap, it's worth the wait IMHO.  I have Hitfilm 2, I'll revisit that, too---although since I already have Boris, the upgrade cost to v10 is minimal, I'm just wondering if there's any reason to do it.  Anyone using it in Vegas 14?

I'm also happy to see that Beauty Box works in v14 as well...

the Chroma keyer in Hitfilm 3/4 is much better than V2

cold ones wrote on 10/5/2016, 9:39 AM

ccliffy, that's good to hear---I tried Hitfilm 2 this morning and, although it's peppy, it can't despill the way that Boris does.  I'm still wondering if there's any improvement in the Boris 10 over 8...

Former user wrote on 10/5/2016, 9:45 AM

ccliffy, that's good to hear---I tried Hitfilm 2 this morning and, although it's peppy, it can't despill the way that Boris does.  I'm still wondering if there's any improvement in the Boris 10 over 8...


Did you try adding the Spill Removel effect?

cold ones wrote on 10/5/2016, 1:35 PM

ccliffy, that's good to hear---I tried Hitfilm 2 this morning and, although it's peppy, it can't despill the way that Boris does.  I'm still wondering if there's any improvement in the Boris 10 over 8...


Did you try adding the Spill Removel effect?

Yow!  Thanks, that did it, what an improvement!  I read your previous post more carefully---Color Difference Key with Light Wrap & Spill Removal looks great!  Even better than the Chromakey I was using!

The only plus for Boris is that it's a plugin within Vegas.  I can import Hitfilm 2 projects directly into Vegas 13, but this is no longer possible in Vegas 14.

Marco. wrote on 10/5/2016, 1:45 PM

"I can import Hitfilm 2 projects directly into Vegas 13, but this is no longer possible in Vegas 14."

To make it possible in Vegas Pro 14 just copy the file "HitFilm.fio2007-config" from the VP13 program folder to the VP14 program folder.

cold ones wrote on 10/5/2016, 2:21 PM

Thanks, that did it!  As I have more questions, I'll start a new thread re: Hitfilm.