2nd that !!

3rd - it is a huge time saver

4th. It' great.

Ok. What does it do?

JJK

Ultra is the poor man's Ultimatte, except it's pretty well as good as Ultimatte, with a few missing pieces and a few extra features.
Chromakey tool that can key off almost anything, and allows for instant difference masking among other things.
You can also buy libraries of stages/sets, and "fly" cameras in and around, making it appear as though your subject is in a much more expensive set than you might otherwise afford. if you have a fast computer, it allows for SDI input and live monitoring/output as well. There are some features I wish it had, the biggest of which would be offering direct plug capability for Vegas and/or other software tools.

DSE, could Ultra 2 be used in a live school broadcast enviornment?

Yes, but their Visual Communicator is more suited for that. Several Channel One subscribers use it. I think VC is likely more aimed at the ed channel

Ill have to check out VC. I just want to make sure that I feed the Ultra Live output without having to render anything into the video switcher for broadcast. If it can do that, they just got a new customer.

I LOVE Ultra 2 by SeriousMagic.com

When called on to lecture about greenscreen technology, it's the software I use.

All the key work done in my "how to" video, "Light It Right" was shot on a Sony PD170, edited totally in Vegas 5 and 6 and (get to the point Victor) - all the key work was done in Ultra - some from unimaginably crummy setups.

Yes - I absolutely recommend the software.

v

Get Vic's "Light it Right" - and that's an ORDER!

Set against an introduction via the "Old Masters", for me, Vic made the "craft" of lighting attainable by illustrating his approach with many illuminating examples. He also demonstrates how to construct your very own, budget light box. PLUS it was this box that was USED on "Light it Right" - the DVD!

Vic is one of your country's National treasures! We are very fortunate to have him with us on this Forum.

Howdy...

We use it for the opening and endings of our video podcast:

http://www.neo-fight.tv

Best,

Benjamin
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http://www.neo-fight.tv [The "Techno-Debate" Video Podcast]

Ultra2 and Vegas 6


I had the best luck with Ultra 2. I also have AE with keylight and it was just too many dials to have to go through. I only wish Ultra 2 would let you keyframe your keyer settings. Can't believe they havent figured out that video moves!

I did this all before watching Vic Milts DVD. I would rather have shot this with a nano light and two fluorescent shop lights on either side of the screen but I cant even afford that right now. I have to finish this project (friends VIP trip to two aircraft carriers with a lot of personal photos and shaky VHS c video and my new footage of him on-screen descibing the adventure)

Ultra 2 did the best job and was easiest to use. Vegas did a pretty good job too when I used that alone but once you add the color correction and chroma blur and what not, you get just like AE with keylight -- a million dials to play with and you go around and tweak and then try one more thing and just when you thought it looked promising you take it too far and have to start over. arghhhhh!!!!

TomE

I also used the bezier mask to make a garbage matte to get rid of the white edge of the portable greenscreen that occassionally popped into the shot.

Tom, that wasn't necessary with Ultra 2. All you would have had to do is to adjust your "Input Cropping" (slide it over toward the right) and you would have been done!

Jay,

That input crop is just a straight line. It also is not keyframeable. I made the huge mistake of zooming in and out a bit during the shot. Should have been a locked down camera. Also when the on-camera talent moves they can easily have a hand or arm go out of the shot. So a keyframeable mask is the only way to adapt to this. Vegas pan crop also does a good job of just cropping an edge (you need to de-select the stretch to fill frame option and you can cut off the edges just like in Ultra 2s input cropping.

Grazie says: "...by illustrating his approach with many illuminating examples"

Is that "illuminating" or "enlightened" examples.

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Thanks for everyone's input !!

Should have been a locked down camera.

Yes, that's absolutely true. Welcome to the live and learn club!

while you can't zoom in a typical greenscreen situation, you CAN zoom albeit in a limited fashion in ULTRA 2.
Have done it many times without being discovered - heh heh.

For a point of knowledge there is a "zoomable" greenscreen setup called the ORAD system, which I had opportunity to use. (At $700 per hour). The greenscreen itself has a grid of slightly darker green squares painted on it. I guess the ORAD computer (Sun based) grabs those squares and maniuplates your background in concert with the squares.

You can not only zoom in and out, you can also pan around the set, as well. It's awesome. The spot is something I dreamed up for Travel & Leisure Magazine. It features fifty foot tall T&L covers (created in Infini-D) - which the talent walks around in-between. Looks absolutely real. But real money was spent on that spot.

I'll see if I can find it for you.

v

p@mast3rs,

Ultra is not suitable for live use. Especially in your broadcast. You use it off air to composite/key your shots and then integrate the completed pieces into your broadcast. We use it extensively and it is wonderful. It just is'nt an on-air tool.

Visual Comunicator Studio has some live capabilities, but they are meant for web casting and they include multi-camera shows. The problem with your application is that it takes the DV frame, blows it up to a computer monitor and then you use a scan converter to get it to video for going out to air.

We use VC constantly. We prepare segments with it for roll-ins. We have used it to assemble a show, but it must be rendered and then sent out to tape. It is one of the best starter tools I have used for getting students started in your situation.

Keith

"The poor mans Ultimatte." - Ultimatte is definitely the best Keyer I've used so far. But its render times are loooooong. But I guess that's the price you pay for a Realistic Key.

I feel that some of Ultra2's Backgound Library's are 'Cartoony'. A lot of them look very Unrealistic or too SciFi. I've found that the best use for Ultra2 is its Keying capability (naturally) but using my own Backgrounds. I like the Realistic look. I'm not into the SciFi thing. Most of my Corporate clients aren't either. I usually laugh when I see someone's project that uses an Ultra2 Background. I'm sure they would work on some projects... but they are NOT suited for most.

If Ultra2 would work as a Plug-In to Vegas... OMG! That would be the Cat's Meow.
Actually, if Ultra2 made itself available as a Plug In for any NLE... scheeeew! I'm sure it would become the go to for Keying. Especially at its price.