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MX-4 DV USER GUIDE

CHAPTER 10

The color used for the background must not appear elsewhere in the image. For example, if Kong’s head (in the example above) contains colors close to the chromakey background, the picture of the bridge would appear in those areas. (Professionals often use a special “blue screen” paint for the backdrop when filming the image.)

The color of the background must be evenly distributed. Glare from camera lights and shad- ows of the subject can alter the background color. MX-4 DV’s chromakey circuitry might not be able to handle the different values, thereby spoiling the illusion.

This chapter explains how to prepare footage for use with the chromakey feature. Of course, screen images appear in grayscale in this book.

Background

Keyed

Footage

Footage

 

Chromakey

 

Footage

The Background footage shows traffic moving along a freeway or highway.

The Keyed footage, specially prepared, shows our intrepid hero flying against a solid colored background.

The Chromakey footage is the result of combining the background footage and keyed footage using the MX-4 DV chromakey feature.

PREPARING THE BACKGROUND FOOTAGE

Preparation of the background footage does not require anything special. It might be footage of automobile traffic taken from a bridge.

TIP

The more unusual or dramatic the Background footage the greater the final effect of the chromakey.

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FOCUS Enhancements MX-4DV manual Preparing the Background Footage