Please help.. Juno titles

Paul, tell us what gear and software you have.

Paul, there's a lot of stuff here on the COW and on google regarding green screen if you look it up. But some basics for you: It can actually be any color, blue and green are most common because they have the least amount of skin color in them. The green is also not a shade used in clothing, and green is a little better for keying because it piggy-backs in the luminance channel in some TV systems.

You can use any flat, non-reflective blue or green cloth and any flat-finish latex paint, if you color-match the paint at the hardware store to a sample. Put the paint over a quality white primer coat for best results. Photographic paper rolls are around fifty bucks at camera stores. If you use cloth, it can't be wrinkled, it must be pulled taut. See rosebrand in New York's web site for free samples. They have excellent prices, but you can also match with stuff from the local sewing shop. I like to use vinyl sheet flooring to make my white or chromakey coves; the back side (side that takes the glue) takes a nice paint finish after priming with Kilz brand latex primer.

You may not need as big a green wall as you think: you only really need enough to put a few inches to a foot of green around the actor/actors, the rest is masked away by software on all sides.

The most important item is to light the color wall or cloth or paper EVENLY. For this you need adequate lighting. On a budget, long fluorescent tubes on 3-4 sides might do it, or softboxes. You light the talent separate and keep the talent at least their body height plus 2 feet from the wall to prevent shadows and color spill. Then it's up to your software.

You have more reading-up to do before you jump into this: please do use the copious resources in the COW archives to your advantage before you commit your dollars, so you only have to spend them once.

There are cropping tools to mask off the top, bottom and sides where there is no green. That much, you can do right in FCP or PRemiere or Avid right on the timeline, you don't need aftereffects to do it, necessarily.

Your green is badly lit in that picture, the fabric should be less wrinkled, not wrinkled at all in fact, and the guitar player needs to be far enough in front of ' apar6t from that green that his shadow does not fall on the wall at all. You will be able to add back a shadow with more control later, turst me, you do not want one right now int he orignal shot.

Fix those things and get back to us later, good luck.