Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #23
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So how do you use this in your keying process?
Before applying any of your color key filters to your footage, you should apply the Color Smoothing filter first. [an error occurred while processing this directive]That being said, what I have found that works for me is to go ahead and key the footage as I normally would without the Color Smoothing filter. I tweak the settings of the keying filter (Blue and Green Screen works great for DV footage) until I get a near acceptable result. I think of this step as a course or rough adjustment.
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| The results of applying the Blue and Green Screen filter. Not bad from a distance, but look closely at the next image. |
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| When zoomed in, the DV artifacting around the edge of the keyed suject becomes very noticable and unacceptable. |
I then apply the Color Smoothing 4:1:1 filter. If you follow this recommendation, be aware that the Color Smoothing filter is added below the Keying filter you applied. In this stacking order the Color Smoothing filter will do nothing to the footage. Instead, you will need to move the filter to the top of the filter stack in the Filters Tab of the Viewer Window.
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| Make sure that the Color Smoothing filter is at the top of the filter stack. |
With the Color Smoothing 4:1:1 filter active, you should see a dramatic improvement to your keyed footage.
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| Dramatic improvements to the keyed edges. |
From there you can go in and make other tweaks or adjustments to your Keying Filter, and top it all off with the appropriate Spill Suppressor.
That’s all there is to it.
If you have worked with Final Cut Pro 3.0, and now are working happily with Final Cut Pro 4.0, you might notice one additional thing about the Keying Filters – nearly all of them are real time. This means that if you are using the UnlimitedRT feature of Final Cut Pro 4.0, you can see your keyed footage play back without having to render. This of course depends on the speed of your system, etc., but considering that keying is one of the more render intensive aspects of video, having it playback in real time (or near real time) is a huge bonus.
Now that you know how to successfully key footage in Final Cut Pro, and now know you can get an even better key with the Color Smoothing filters, I expect more and more people to discover the joy and wonder of keying DV footage in Final Cut Pro.
Here is a current list of the Final Cut Pro Quick Tips to date:
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #1: Texture Treatments to Enhance Video Productions
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #2: Using Markers to Quickly Edit a Music Video
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #3: Import Your Music the Right Way
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #4: Nesting Helps Manage Longer Projects
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #5: Keying Explained
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #6: Configuring Your Scratch Disk
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #7: My Favorite Effects
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #8: De-Interlacing
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #9: Color Correction workflow tips
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #10: Locating files in the Timeline
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #11: Backing up at project end
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #12: Exporting to After Effects
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #13: When is title safe, not title safe?
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #14: Storyboard your edits and then edit in an instant
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #15: Join Through Edits
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #16: Exporting to Pinnacle Thunder XL
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #17: Marking Clips
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #18: Color Correction Freebie
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #19: Importing Image Sequence
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #20: Time lapse^2 with Fit to Fill
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #21: Time Remapping in Final Cut Pro 4.0
Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #22: Fixing Boris Calligraphy in Final Cut Pro 4.0
When not working deep in the labs of the DMN Central Division testing the latest and greatest software/hardware products Stephen Schleicher can be found at the local university teaching a few courses on video and web production. He can be reached at schleicher@mindspring.com. You can also visit him on the web at www.mindspring.com/~schleicher
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