Flash Site Design - Recommended procedures for green screen on a budget

Author

Recommended procedures for green screen on a budget

Centerpoint Computer

2005-08-23, 7:28 am

I'd like to record a video of myself introducing my company. I want it to
appear as though I'm walking into the browser from the side of the screen. I
know where to get chromakey green paint and fabric, but what would be the best
budget video production software that I'd use to make this work, and then how
would I overlay the video using a flash document without showing a preloader or
any document borders? I guess transparency settings would do that part. In
addition to that, can I add a cookie that my PHP file will look at to determine
which flash file to load? I'd like multiple videos to come up based on how
many times a user has been to the site, or how long it's been since they've
been to the site. A more interactive and customer service oriented approach is
what I'd like to see. It would be great to have a site that would recognize
that I hadn't been around in a while, etc. Or a thank you and recommendation
for new products to a specific group of customers based on their past
purchasing habits. etc....

bencallahan

2005-08-24, 4:31 am

For the keying, you might check with your local video supply place to get a
roll of chroma green (or blue) paper. They only run $50 around here (mid-west
prices) but they work well - a lot less than the paint or fabric...

Regarding the software, I've always used After Effects, but it's not exactly
budget. Don't really know what else is out there for cheap. I do know that
you'll have a hard time getting a clean key if you shoot on DV. The color space
is so compressed that it makes keying very difficult. It seems like running the
digitized footage through Magic Bullet to get a more "film-like" look before
the key helps in the long run, but you suffer a generation loss.

Good luck,
Ben Callahan
Design District
http://www.designdistrictinc.com