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DIY-Make Your Own Greenscreen for $16

homepage.mac.com — This is a great tutorial for any independent photographers. This greenscreen uses pvc piping that will only cost you $16. I found this tutorial earlier and today my friend and I built one. It worked great!

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  • dmcipod, on 10/12/2007, -23/+11i wonder how this works with video
  • felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Great article - the link to the Photoshop color keying technique is excellent, too.
  • Dooser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13There are filters in Final Cut (and alike NLE's) such as 'greenscreen' effect. You can even choose which color to elimnate; ie. you could even have a bluescreen.

    Videoblogger Nathan Miller describes how he does it:
    http://www.bicycle-sidewalk.com/?p=64
  • dvddesign, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12If you can't afford $120 for a real greenscreen setup, this might acceptible for closeup photography...

    What you don't get in a setup like this is you lack any ability to create a wide enough greenscreen to accomodate more than one person in anything other than closeup.

    You'll spend more time adjusting the keyer for the breaks in the color of the fabric to nullify the savings in cost of a professional screen. A professional screen's going to have a wider and taller single piece of fabric of the appropriate color, size and material to best light for keying.

    I can't recommend enough for a digg, but if it gets you interested into finding out more into how keying works and how it's not as easy as it looks, then give it a whirl.
  • Lane5slacker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If you are going to any cool shots with that, you might want to think about extending it on the floor so you can stand on it. I ran into that trouble when playing around with the green screen at my school
  • cantrap, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is certain to spawn another slew of sci-fi fan movies! ...Knowledge to be used for good and painfully bad.
  • SpaceNinjaDino, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The tricky thing is the lighting especially for full body shots. I have five 1000 watt studio lights and I still have shadow problems around the feet. If your aim is just for news anchor like shots, this will do.
  • magneticpigeon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Well the greenscreen is inexpensive which is cool (I got some green fabric from Malawi that cost me like $5 that my mom sewed together to make a 15' x 15' greenscreen, but i don't have the PVC pipe stand! good idea on his part). However, the thing he lacks is the lights, which is the most important part of any good key, lighting the subject and the screen well (and seperatly). THAT may cost a little more than $16. But a few lights from home depot mixed in, and you could have a *pretty good* greenscreen.
    • elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Does anybody else find it funny that he had his mom sew it together?
    • rekrapt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Well, isn't that what mom's are for? If he had sewn it together himself, what would you have said about that? Called him "gay"? ;-)
    • Mischa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I got an ex girlfriend to machine sew my 6m x 6m screen.

      Worked good enough to cover 4 people full shots. Had troubles with the feet. But the setup cost 60$, duct taped the cloth to the wall.
  • Stormwysper, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5Now all I need is two robot puppets and I can make my own MST3K.
  • DomoDigital, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1definetly need a floor...but this is great.....Im not gunna do it, but its great!
  • kickarse, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Not bad for a newb
  • aklschnapps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hmmm...his poor .mac account is gonna be dugg out of existence this month. =P
  • hsmtp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Take a look at the green reflections on the guy's face and shoulder:
    http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/jeffscomputersupport/tech_help_articles/photography/graphics/jeff_screen_replaced.jpg
    That's why professional photographers didn't use Greenscreen or Bluescreen even for $16k.
    • apotropaic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Absolutly correct! And his lighting on that background really isn't that great.
    • kwilliam71, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Proper lighting would eliminate the green (or blue) ambient light reflections.
    • Silent-Bob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Well, the problem there is two-fold. First off, the lighting isn't the best for chromakey. Second, he is standing too close to the screen. That's why professional screens are huge. It is so you don't have to stand right next to it.
    • raeshao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Plus pulling color spill out of the foreground of your key is common practice in compositing. Even people who work on large budget shoots run into badly shot footage sometimes.
  • ref-d, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1"That's why professional photographers didn't use Greenscreen or Bluescreen even for $16k."

    Professional photographers know how to get rid of that tho.
    But i will say greenscreen isnt as important or useful in still photography as it is for video.
    • apotropaic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Obviously a professional could get rid of the green reflections... but a professional wouldn't purposfully put those reflections in every portrait he took... waste of his time.
    • bradmoreland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1An experienced professional would know how to properly light and place his subject so as not to get colored reflections.
  • Anim8ir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Part of the problem is the color green being used there. It's way off.
  • ihate2regist, on 10/12/2007, -23/+6no digg, made on a mac :(
    • Zyk0tiK, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1What the hell kind of reason is that?
  • starbirix, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Maybe it's just me, but did the 400+ people who dugg this really think this article was all that interesting? I think all anyone would have to hear is "hang up a green screen behind it" and people could figure out what to do from there.

    If I tossed an old sheet over the curtain rod in my shower and showed that I could take pictures in front of it do you think it would make digg's front page?
    • magneticpigeon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes. Yes it would.

      Well I think his pvc pipe idea is a good one, but you still need an effective way to STRETCH the screen. But yeah, not too original here.
  • cptmorgan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10amazing, I never seen someone make a frame and stretch a piece of cloth over it! lame.
    • Mister.Joshua, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This comment would be better without the "lame" at the end.

      So long as your comment doesn't involve minorities in some way, I don't think it's necessary to give away irony. And let's face it, people will call you a racist even if your comment poking fun at racism is clearly labelled as ironic. They'll say, "Only a racist could have thought of that joke! Ask yourself some serious questions, because you have issues!" So, no, don't ever give away irony. Not even with a smiley.
    • Mister.Joshua, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Why do you think my comment went to -1 so quickly?

      a) People respond negatively to negativity and "me too" comments, so any comment on another comment will always be down-modded.
      b) My comment was interpreted as a snub against Internet users in general (it actually was snub against Internet users in general), and people don't like to be challenged.
      c) Someone saw that I mentioned racism and, being a Moonbat with no understanding of irony, decided that I must be a racist.
      d) ?

      It really is a mystery to me.
  • hipsterelitist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1green colored seamless paper is probably the best bang for your buck. you can get a ton of it, and you can stand on it. the only thing is you need a seamless rig, which if you're a photographer you probably already have access to.
  • dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11note: price does not include actual green screen. the $16 quoted was just for a pvc frame.
  • Lyph4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0When I was in AV in high school, we did something like this with green paper that we taped to the wall. It wasn't perfect, but it was free and easy to do.
  • speedyrev, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It seems pretty common sense. The screen is not the hard or expensive part, now give me flat even light for $16.
  • TheSoulforged, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I did something similar to this back in high school for my senior project. Except we didn't use PVC pipe, or even green fabric for that matter. We took huge sheets of yellow construction paper (The kind off of the 5 foot industrial rolls) and taped it to the wall outside of our electronics shop, for our backdrop, and did all of our photography work there. It turned out great.
  • skremer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Good idea with the PVC pipe.....but you probably want to invest in somthing heavy...ie sandbags...to weigh down your base. Otherwise if someone even bumps into it slightly it all comes a tumblin' down.

    Can I get a shout out for being the oldest poster here to use Chroma-Key Green Screen? I first used it at WJIM-TV (now WLNS-TV) in Lansing, Michigan way, way back in 1978....almost thirty years ago!!
  • antiintel, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1This is cool.

    ~A
  • Bigfat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+416$ still doesn't come close to replacing the thousands of dollars in lighting equipment you need to actually get a good key. Honestly, just learn to pull out good masks by hand before getting yourself in deeper with cheap tricks like this.
    • MikeCampo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah thats true. Lighting plays a huge role, not matter what type of screen you have.
    • raeshao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0There's one really good lighting setup that can work wonders for certain shots. You just setup outdoors and use the sun. Bounce light into the screen to eliminate shadows. It's common practice when shooting shows on location.

      Also, the screen does make a huge difference.
  • brandizzle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Great for a beginner (even if it is a tad common sense-ish), if a person finds they like it they can then invest in a more expensive one.
    At my school instead of green we have black...it doesn't reflect color as much so I guess that's why we use that...considering it isn't professionals using it I guess it's a better idea, since a dark picture is better than a green face.
    • magneticpigeon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oh a black one. So when you key it out it keys out the blacks on your face/hair/body? DOH!
    • orangetiki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1VERY much a beginner's keyscreen. But I guess good for those who aren't savvy with tools.
    • bradmoreland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Black chromakey? Are you absolutely sure they're using it for chromakey? The reason I ask is because once you key out black you're going to have a lot of missing pieces in your foreground subjects.
    • raeshao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You'll get better results if you lumakey that background out. If it's much darker than your foreground elements, you'll be able to isolate it and eliminate it easily.
  • kd5ftn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The article seems to be all about building a stand. I think the best bet is to buy a roll of gaffers tape ($12), and then strech/tape whatever material you're planning on using to a wall.

    Much simpler :-)
  • elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I always figured the easiest way to do this would be to simply tape a green sheet to the ceiling. Make it nice and taut by pulling it down, and then taping it to the floor. Ta-da!
  • dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Slightly over complicated, PVC piping surely isn't very easy to move around, thus you'd be better just sticking it to the roof/a wall..

    "Oh a black [screen]. So when you key it out it keys out the blacks on your face/hair/body? DOH!"
    Erm, no, if you light it well, you get a perfect black background, and a well lit subject, for photography (Which is what it'd only be used for, really) it's perfect, and you could use layer blending to composite it.. For video, you could luma-key it, but chances are it'd be worse than a poorly-lit greenscreen..

    Anyway, this seems a bit pointless, just how to build a frame for a bit of fabric.. Keyers now are good enough to work with crap uneven screens (Ultimatte Advantedge, or Composite Lab are the best for DV), and for photography, you could easily manualy key them out (or as suggested in one of those links use the layer blending, then go back and tweak any that need sorting)..
    - Ben
  • Kashey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The green shade is clearly visible in photoshop tutorial.! Before you choose color of your screen you have to choose color of your clothes.!
  • ubergmr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1luckily I have a wall painted bright green
  • abbott75, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1*You may not hold me responsible for the stand falling on you because the joints weren't tightened!
  • Starforge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is awesome, I was just thinking of creating my own solution for a self-supported screen!

    +digg!
  • efree58, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've made green screens before using several tag board sheets nicely taped to a wall and then editing in a back round for that using Adobe Premier. I didn't even read the article.
    • gmshow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree, we use green tag board on our podcast moreinputshow.com all the time and it works just fine. Right on buddy. Also this guy is clearly coping the guy with the 14$ steady cam idea.
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