topic Re: Best settings for Green Screen Video with Canon Mark iii in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Best settings for Green Screen Video with Canon Mark iii

rowby — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 19:01:44 GMT

What are the ideal camera settings for Green screen video.

Iso?

aperature?

Depth of field settings (best to have the green screen a bit out of focus?)

Any other camera settings would be helpful.

Thanks

Rowby

Re: Best settings for Green Screen Video with Canon Mark iii

Tim — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 03:52:28 GMT

Hi Rowby!

Thanks so much for writing in about green screen shooting with the EOS 5D Mark III camera. Green screen shooting can come down to some crucial elements and how well you handle the camera and the lighting.

Arguably the most important thing is to have excellent lighting on the screen. Without this, the keys used to replace the green screen will not be accurate. So hopefully you have a good set of lights you will be using to actually light the physical screen.

With regards to ISO, shoot as low as possible. We suggest that you stick in the ISO 200-400 range where possible. With good, high key, proper lighting on the screen this shouldn't be an issue.

Aperture should actually be in the higher end of the range, you would want to stick to apertures around f/8 and above. Again, with adequate lighting this shouldn't be out of reach. This is so the green screen is more in focus, versus having it out of focus, which would not yield successful results.

Use an appropriate lens to the subject, for example if you are doing wide shots- use only the focal length needed for the shoot and no wider. For head shots, close ups- use a lens that will get you close.

Following these suggestions should give you some pretty good results. Remember, if this is your first attempt don't be discouraged, green screen shooting can be difficult to accomplish.

We wish you the best of luck in your endeavor!

Re: Best settings for Green Screen Video with Canon Mark iii

rowby — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 04:09:39 GMT

Thanks, Tim, for that detailed explanation. Some I knew but some I did not know. At least now I can shot a sequence and not worry that I had forgotten some basic camera settings.

I've been around chromakey since the blue screen days - but I know how tricky keying can be. And I want to take advantage of the Canon Mark III's many settings.

I will keep your post as a checklist.

Rowby