One of the toughest challenges of successfully working with a green screen studio is uniformly lighting it. The screen itself requires its own lighting ; independent from your foreground subject lighting.
The key’s to evenly light your screen, while avoiding the creation of shadows. You ideally need your screen to represent a single, consistent colour. Remember, because you’re attempting to employ the narrowest color range as you can, shadows broaden the range, and are a contributor to lessened effects. If you have shadows ( darker colors ), they won’t be picked up by the camera, and as a result ; those areas won’t get replaced. If you are working with a low-budget setup, shadows become harder to stop thanks to the less expensive, less specialized materials used.
This is the reason why it is even that much more important to make sure your lighting is as even as practicable, especially when working with lower budget setups. Using a minimum of two lights ( the more the better ), you need to direct light inwards from either side, and from below ; alter till you get the maximum even lighting. Using diffusion filters makes a big difference in this step. They seriously decrease the frequency of shadows. Next, when you add your subject, you may notice the subject’s foreground lighting casts shadows on the screen ; you will need to re-adjust your screen lighting and filters for your screen color evenness again.
When choosing a material for your green screen studio, always consider the lighting. Glossy materials yield bad results, as they reflect light and make replaced areas seem paler. At the same time, shiny materials will cast shadows, causing darker areas to not get replaced in the result. What you need to search for is a matte surface. Matte surfaces will diffuse light ; causing even lighting across the entire material, and therefore , a narrower colour range. That is, there’ll be less reflected light ; paler outcomes, aand less shadows ; non-replaced outcomes. Some of the cheaper options when starting out are solids like card or wood, painted green. Another option is a fabric like canvas painted or dyed green. Defects like creases, bumps or divisions in your material are an enemy as they create shadows, and thus defects in your resulting photos. If you choose fabric, ensure it is amply thick or dense, and doesn’t let light or its resting surface show thru.
When shooting with your green screen studio, your subject is also a big element in your lighting decision. You want to make a price difference between your subject and your green screen. Usually a 2 stop difference ( green screen is two stops higher or lower than the subject ) between the green screen studio and the subject is preferable as a lighting difference.
There are so many other websites offering various forms of advice on how to use green screen but most of them are not very specific or precise. Before following these, be sure to check my own articles and reviews on Green Screen Studio and Green Screen, You can also reach me at 1-323-851-3825 or phillipguy@hotmail.com