Basics for a chromakey studio.

Setting up your studio for chromakey work can be a very specific progcess. The correct way will vary depending on factors such as your location, equipment, space contstraints and technical style. Our goal is to help you identify factors that will improve your photographs in anticipation of chromakey masking.

Read this Studio Setup article for basic information about lighting setup, posing your model, and choosing a screen for chromakey photography. We will refer to Primatte Chromakey, however, these tips will work with virtually any chromakey software.

Key points of this article.

Here are some key points that you will get out of this article. Keep in mind that your situation and equipment will benefit from some of these tips, and some won’t work for you at all. As with most areas of photography, chromakey requires some experimentation to figure out what works best for you. ALWAYS do some tests before you take your chromakey work out into the field!

For people, you should use a green or blue background. There is no specific shade that’s necessary.
The background must be as evenly lit as possible. This means one flat, continuous tone across the background.
Use the least amount of light possible to do this. Otherwise you will turn the green screen into a big, green light.
The background light should be one stop below the foreground light.
The material of the background matters more than its specific color.
We recommend a foam fabric because it is light absorbent, but any felt-like fabric will do nicely.
Avoid paper as a background. It’s usually shiny, which causes light to bounce, which causes color to spill onto your subject.
Light the background and foreground with separate lights for best results.
Use the least amount of light possible to get a flat background.
Use a Magenta back light if there’s too much green spill. Use Orange if there's too much blue spill.
Use a floor light to eliminate shadows around the feet or base of your subject.
Position your subject 8-10 feet away from the background. You can get away with 4-6 feet, but more is better.

Have questions about studio setup? Just post them to our Anarchy Underground forum. It's a great way to talk with us, and the answers you get will benefit other folks on the forum.