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Review: GreenScreen Made Easy by Hanke & Yamazaki
During the few years I spent teaching animation and visual effects at an art college, inevitably the question would come up about half-way through the semester: “I shot something on a green screen. How do I remove the green background?” I would take a deep breath and choose my words carefully, not wanting to get into an hourlong discussion on the complex art and science of chromakeying. The easy way out would be the response of “Use the Keylight plug-in.” However, I very well understand that the production and post-production processes of chromakey are much more complex, involving not just one plug-in used correctly, but a whole series of processes that must be carefully considered, from the camera, to the lighting all the way through to the keying process. Until now, there have been few resources to which a we can point students, hobbyists and budget-conscious filmmakers as a definitive guide for acquiring and keying greenscreen video, and at that, doing it well and on a budget.
This brings us to the new book from Jeremy Hanke & Michele Yamazaki (coincidentally, the latter a former Junior High peer of mine.) This book fills the educational void in this part of the production and post production process. Following a logical workflow, the book starts with the physical greenscreen itself (whether to buy or build, and how), progressing to the camera, lighting and shooting considerations, to the nitty gritty technical workflow of the post production process, such as footage preparation, how to battle noise and artifacting, and how to effectively use a number of keying plug-ins for After Effects and Final Cut Studio.
Moving to the post production process, you’ll find tutorials for keyers included with After Effects, as well as third-party keyers for other NLEs and compositing applications like Keylight and my personal favorite, Primatte Keyer Pro. What you will not find is any mention of the built-in keyers within Final Cut Studio. I can say first hand that I’ve had limited success with these, and that if you are determined to do your compositing in your NLE that you should consider one of the two 3rd party plug-ins mentioned. Once you’ve keyed, there are many great tips and processes described in making a realistic composite, such as grain matching and creating light wraps.
My only complaint about the book is that the construction of the book itself isn’t very sturdy, being a downer if you’d like to keep it in your gig bag for reference. Also the paper stock is a little flimsy and not very vibrant. It’s life will be best spent on the shelf next to your other reference books, rather than in the trenches of production. Considering the cost of mass production, and I am sure that the choices made have allowed for the low cost of the book, $20, to be affordable for the students and budget filmmakers that need it most.
If you are looking to get started with greenscreen production as a hobbyist or a professional, this book has everything you’ll need to hit the ground running. If you are a motion designer and visual effects artist with little exposure to the “other world” of production, including cameras and lighting, you’ll want to grab this book for a great primer on the subject. It’s a quick read, is loaded with information and has a lot of specifics that you can reference later on.
Retail Price:$19.95 USD