Green screen in FCPX
Hand
I thought I’d share this project I worked on recently as going in to it I planned to do the animation parts in motion but I decided to try doing the whole thing directly in FCPX. I was pleasantly surprised how easily FCPX handled the key framing and the green screen key, I did make a few tweaks along the way but in general the keyer in FCPX is really good.
For the graphical elements I created photoshop files with a transparent background and imported them as multi layer psd’s allowing me to keyframe each graphical part separately. Opening and closing the video animation fly outs for each element was a bit of a drag, especially when there were a few elements stacked vertically but the app handled the animation with ease.
[update – 11/02/2014 – 13:24]
As noted by Ian in the comments it’s a little confusing as the hand shown in the video is on a white background. It was shot green screen because the client wasn’t sure if they were happy going with a white background so I had to be able to use imagery or another colour if required.
Clear, simple, stylish and effective. I like the white background. The fact that you were able to accomplish this within FCPX is another big green tick for the application.
I also do a lot of compositing within the timeline of FCPX and rarely have to go over to Motion.
Thanks Mark
In my normal photography I have a Lastolite Hi-lite background, which is very nice, as you can place a flash directly inside it. I expect I could do the same with video lighting to get the same result. Expose for the subject normally, but let the background be a couple of stops brighter so that it burns off.
I’ve got one too Ian, and I’ve used it exactly like that in the past. Great things although mastering the technique of folding them up is a bit of a challenge :)
That doesn’t look like a normal use for green screen colour separation overlay, as there was no background. I mistook it for a normal backlit knock-out white exposure. Now I look closer, I can see fringing around the hand. My mistake.
Yes I probably should have mentioned that the client later decided to just use a white background, they wanted to keep their options open at the time of shooting though. I’ll add something about that in the main copy as your right, it is a little confusing.
Thanks, Paul.