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| Keying on the Timeline |
Published by: Autodesk Creative Finishing Training
Category: Compositing
Skill: Intermediate
Skill: Intermediate
This exercise covers how to key out a green screen element using the Master Keyer and how to composite it on a high resolution background using a soft FX Axis in a multi layer timeline. Tools used in this exercise: Axis FX, Master Keyer, Color Warper.
| Tutorial Steps | ||
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1. Setup a multi-layer composite 2. Create a matte with the Master Keyer 3. BONUS: Color Correct the shot inside the Keyer 4. BONUS: Reposition and defocus the backplate | ||
1. Setup a multi-layer composite |
In this video:
Set up the timeline
Copy the green screen clip
Replace the clip with the backplate
Video: Setup a multi-layer timeline (2:28)
(click on image to open video player)
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Lesson in written form |
Set up the timeline:
1. Continue with your timeline from the previous exercise.
2. Work with the Src/Rec player.
3. Disable the Ripple and Trim options to prevent changing the timeline duration.
4. Make sure Snap Closest option is selected.
5. Navigate to the beginning of the timeline.
6. If you followed the exercise order, you should have two video layers by now.
7. If not; now Press the Layer+ button to add a new layer on top.
8. Select the first shot “01_entrance_Front” on the timeline.
Copy the green screen clip:
1. We need the green screen element to go on the top layer.
2. Hold C and drag the “1_Entrance_Front” shot straight up to the top layer to copy it.
We will replace the bottom layer with the scene backplate image:
1. Select the clip on the BOTTOM LAYER of the timeline.
2. Expand the source folder “Compositing_Entrance” to see its content; scroll if needed.
3. Select the “Entrance_Backplate” image.
Note that this is a 3K still image.
4. Press the Replace button (between the two players) to replace the clip in the timeline with the one in the source area.
5. The 1-frame background is stretched to fill the duration of the foreground and a soft Resize is automatically applied to fit the timeline resolution.
Change the Resize option:
1. Drag the focus point down to display the bottom layer in the record player.
2. Select the backplate segment.
3. Click on the Resize FX to display its controls.
4. Change the resize option from Center/Crop to Letterbox to frame the 3K image inside the player.
| Tip |
Press Page Down & Page Up to move the focus point up and down (FCP hotkeys). Smoke profile hotkeys are Up & Down Arrows.
2. Create a matte with the Master Keyer |
In this video:
Add an Axis FX and access the Keyer
Pull a key with the Master Keyer
Use Patches to refine the matte
Video: Create a matte with the Master keyer (3:38)
(click on image to open video player)
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Lesson in written form |
Access the Keyer:
1. Drag the focus point to the top layer.
2. Select the green screen element.
3. Enable the Axis soft effect (first Soft FX on the list).
4. Disable Autokey animation (A) if needed.
5. Press the (E) button to access the Axis Editor.
6. Make sure the preview mode is set to PreviewFX inside the module.
This will allow you to preview the keying on top of the backplate layer.
7. Click the Keyer button to access the keyer sub-module.
8. The Keyer is in the middle of the interface.
9. In the Keyer, choose the Master Keyer.
10. Make sure Autokey is deactivated in the keyer.
Create the Matte:
1. Start by sampling the key color:
Click on the left color pot of the Master Keyer (grey box).
A color picker cursor appears.
2. On the green screen, drag from a dark shade of green to a very light shade of green to select a range of color to key out.
This automatically generates a key.
Auto CC is an automatic color suppression tool that removes the color Spill. Auto CC is enabled by default.
3. From the view menu, choose Matte.
On the matte we have different shades of grey that indicate what is opaque and what is transparent. A perfect key would be completely black in the transparent areas and completely white in the opaque areas. The edges in-between would show very little aliasing.
Some general information on the Matte sliders:
1. If you hold ALT while moving across the image, it will display different matte sliders.
On this particular key, there are not many significant ranges available, so we will use other tools instead.
The different matte ranges will affect the values inside the sampled area of the matte. The sliders on top are those that will influence the selection under your cursor the most. Some ranges are complementary and will not appear together. The best is to experiment with the different sliders on various shots.
Refine the matte with patches:
We will use the Master Keyer Patches to clean the matte.
1. By default Sampling is set to Matte.
From the Sampling menu choose Patch 1.
2. Hold CTRL and drag a rectangular selection to include little spots of light grey that you want to force to pure white.
Patch1 is automatically set to White because of your initial selection of light grey pixels.
3. Set the sampling to Patch 2.
4. Zoom out if needed.
5. Hold CTRL and drag a rectangular selection on dark grey areas to force them to black.
Patch2 should be set to Black; if not, select Black for it.
When you sample the patch multiple times, these values are added in the patch.
6. Switch back to Result view.
The result is much better than what we had before, except that there is still some grey fringing around the gladiator and the walls.
Shrink the edges of the matte:
1. Enable the Shrink tool in the Matte Tools.
2. Increase the Width value to expand the transparent areas into the opaque areas.
Be careful not to lose any of the fine details, a value of 0.6 should be sufficient.
At this stage you can continue with the next bonus video if you want to color correct the shot inside the Keyer. Otherwise, Exit the Keyer and Return to the timeline.
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| Tip |
The Result view hotkey is F4, Front view is F1, Back is F2 and Matte, F3.
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| Tip |
When you are using a project with proxies, make sure you work in "Full Res" view when you perform a key. Note: the option Full Res or Proxies is only available in menus when Proxies are setup in the project. See "Project & User" overview for more information.
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| Tip |
You can toggle a patch ON/OFF by clicking on the Patch button. To reset a patch, select the Patch and press Reset
3. BONUS: Color Correct the shot inside the Keyer |
In this video:
Match the foreground colors to the background
Video: Color Correct the shot (2:52)
(click on image to open video player)
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Lesson in written form |
To match the foreground color with the background, you can use the Colour Warper that is embedded within the Keyer.
Access the CW inside the Keyer:
1. Click the CCF button inside the Keyer to color correct the Front.
2. Switch CC to CW (Colour Warper).
3. Go to the last frame; this is the frame at which the gladiator is actually walking into the light.
Sample the source and destination colors:
1. Click the Plot button to define a sample color from the source.
2. CTRL-drag an area of bluish-grey walls in the foreground.
A red circle appears in the vectorscope and indicates where the sampled values are.
3. Choose the Back view in the view list.
4. Click the Ref button to define a destination color in the background clip.
5. CTRL-drag a colored brick area in the background that has similar levels of colors than your foreground selection.
A yellow circle appears in the vectorscope and indicates where the reference values are.
9. Choose the Result view in the list.
You can disable the Source and Destination buttons to unclutter the vectorscope.
These buttons are located under the Histogram.
Match the colors:
1. Click and drag the Midtones trackball towards your reference (orange).
You can see that the plotted circle in the vectorscope moves accordingly.
Aim to line up the plot and ref circles in the vectorscope.
Depending on your samples, you may find that the result is somewhere between the two circles.
2. To increase the color separation, boost the saturation by dragging the Saturation slider up.
3. Add a bit of contrast by lowering the Black slider slightly.
Now you can see that the foreground and the background are matching much better, both in terms of contrast and color.
Return to the timeline:
1. Click RETURN to go back to the keyer, then RETURN to the Axis and EXIT to the EditDesk.
2. Process the segment now and look at the result so far.
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| Tip |
To resize the CW vector scope, hold "SHIFT" and drag the scope. To move it, hold "ALT". To reset it to default, click on the Scope "Home" button.
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| Tip |
If the composite doesn’t look right on the timeline, make sure "Preview FX" is selected on the Player settings. You can also process the segment now to see the final result.
4. BONUS: Reposition and defocus the backplate |
In this video:
Reposition the backplate
Defocus the backplate
Video: Reposition and defocus the backplate (2:37)
(click on image to open video player)
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Lesson in written form |
To reposition the backplate, we will use an Axis soft FX instead of the Resize that was applied by default.
Resize is automatically applied when adding a clip of a different resolution than the timeline.
Here we have a 3K back plate into an HD timeline. The Axis FX is the best tool to reposition a shot in the timeline.
Reposition the background:
Reposition the background so you can see some blue sky and hide the walkway at the bottom.
1. Select the “Entrance_Backplate” clip on the bottom layer.
2. Keep the focus point on the top layer to see the composite in context in the player.
3. Enable the Axis effect.
The Resize SoftFX is automatically muted.
4. Make sure Autokey (A) is deactivated.
5. Set the Prop Scale value to 75% in the Axis controls.
6. Set the Position Y value to -400.
Defocus the background:
We are almost done with this composite, but there is still one thing that gives away the fact that this IS composited: the back plate is sharper than the foreground plate. That is because the back plate comes from a still camera whereas the foreground plate comes from an HD camera.
Blur the backplate:
We will blur the back plate to simulate depth of field.
1. Still with the backplate clip selected, access the Axis editor by pressing the E button.
2. In the Axis Menu, look at the image controls on the right side for the Blur controls.
3. Set a value of 5 for the X and Y values to blur the image.
4. Set the blur type to Gaussian instead of Box for a smoother blur.
5. Exit the Axis.
Process the result:
1. To process the effect; select the topmost clip and click on the Process button.
2. Select the Full Screen Player in the Source Area Layout.
3. Return to the Src/Rec player when done.
Save your work at every important step:
1. Select the record folder in the EditDesk folders.
2. Make sure that the “Smoke_Footage” library is selected in the Library box.
3. Press Save Selected.
4. Choose Replace to overwrite the previous saved timeline.
5. The Record Area is saved in the currently active Library.
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| Tip |
When you are working with very high-resolution images, you can generate proxies in the current project for a faster interactivity. For more information see the "Project & User" overview module.
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| Tip |
To link the X and Y parameters while dragging: "ALT+SHIFT-Drag".
