Video background

[tlkelley]

Anybody know where I can find a tutorial on how to create my videos so that they have a white background and only the character is visible?

Much like fordvehicle.com F150 flash.

Thanks...

[Jonathan_B]

Hi.
To do that you really need to shoot the character against a blue/green screen and then key out the background using some chroma-key software (which is included in most advanced NLEs).
Otherwise, you have to go through the video frame by frame and eliminate the portions you don't want by hand.
jb
www.wildform.com

[tlkelley]

Hmm.. I currently have a PowerMac G4 and have worked with making home videos using iMovie. Is that chroma-key software included in iMovie?

You recommend any video software?

Thanks..

[Jonathan_B]

Hi.
I'm not sure if iMovie has chroma-key support. It's in Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premier.
jb
www.wildform.com

[gabeshaughnessy]

iMovie can't do any keys, so your out of luck there. Final Cut Pro just released there latest version, 4.0, and it's pretty sweet, but you gotta pay big bucks for it. I'd try going down to the local university and see if they have any NLES available in the library. I know ours does, and you don't have to be a student to use one, just look like you know what you're doing. bring your video down there, edit it real quick and then dump it back onto your camera with a white backround.

If you're shooting your video and plan on keying out the backround, a good cheap way to film is to use a blue tarp as the backdrop. that color blue is easy to key out, just make sure you use a really warm light to light the scene and that your subject doesn't have any blue in it. You need to shoot in a well-lit room, and I've found that indoors works a lot better for this type of thing. If you're shooting a car (or anything else big for that matter), try finding a swimming-pool blue building with a blank wall on one side. I've had great success with that before.
good luck