6 Replies Latest reply: Mar 11, 2014 5:43 PM by Steven L. Gotz RSS

    Questions about video studio

    reindeer4 Community Member

      Hi.  Not an Abobe question per se, but I'm going to be setting up a video studio / green screen room  and thought some Abode users might be able to point me to an appropriate place to ask some questions about how this should be built.  (Planning a 16' x 16', room, but could be up to 16' x 20' if necessary, standard 8' ceilings (no way around that).

       

      Would like to film a weekly show in the studio with anywhere from 1-3 people sitting at a greenscreen desk; would also use the room to record singing and piano.

       

      Will be processing with Adobe master Suite CS6 (and Sonar X2 for music in conjunction with Audition).

       

      I've done some greenscreen work with a consumer grade digital camcorder and hardboard painted green, Keying with After Effects and using Premiere as nonlinear editor.  But I'd like to set up something more professional now, while trying to keep the budget under control.  Perfectly fine with DIY softboxes and screens as long as they work well.

       

      Have questions about lighting, cameras, preferred room dimensions, and any othter factors I should consider when having this built (and needs to accomodate the recording of piano and vocals as well).

       

      Thanks for any suggestions.

        • 1. Re: Questions about video studio
          JSS1138 CommunityMVP

          [Moved to the Lounge.]

          • 2. Re: Questions about video studio
            Steven L. Gotz Community Member

            There are  lots of videos online about shooting greenscreen. Tubetape has videos on YouTube. They sell greenscreens and are therefore interested in helping you set it up. Videomaker has a few. This one from EOS is OK, if a bit silly.

             

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjvqsB2EAuc

             

            The most important things you will learn is that you need to keep the talent as far away from the green screen as possible. You need to be able to light the screen without it reflecting on to the talent. And you need to do it with different lights than you use for the talent.

             

            So, the longer the room, the better.

             

            The more you are able to keep the green screen out of focus while the talent is in focus , the easier it is to key out. And that is done with a longer lens, so you need to be able to back up quite a bit.

            • 3. Re: Questions about video studio
              reindeer4 Community Member

              Thanks.  One of my questions is about room dimensions, whether 16' length is long enough (would leave about 5-6' between talent and screen) and could then put camera 9-10 feet away - or if I should really push to have a twenty foot long room.

               

              Also interested if there are any suggestions about an affordable video camera (maybe $1000 top) or if I'm just as well off with a consumer grade camcorder if I don't want to spend more than that on a camera.  Also saw an attachment that would let you take footage directly from a camera in the 4:2:2 format as opposed to 4:2:0 which would help a lot with green screening.

               

              Also any tips about how to build so good for recording vocals and music

              • 4. Re: Questions about video studio
                Steven L. Gotz Community Member

                I have about 20 feet and to be honest, I wish I had more.  By the time I set up the camera, I am down to about 17 feet. Or, about 10 feet to the talent and 7 more to the screen.

                 

                A lot depends on the lens you use, or in the case of a video camera, how close you really want to be to the talent. Too wide and it distorts them,. Too close and you can't fit them in the shot without them sitting really close to each other.

                 

                Which means, you need to know the capabilities of the camera before building, or build it and then and buy a nice camera that will work.

                 

                If you can record at 4:2:2 that will certainly help, but then again, it is really going to depend on how clean you can shoot. So the lights make a huge difference.

                 

                I don't know about inexpensive video cameras anymore.

                • 5. Re: Questions about video studio
                  reindeer4 Community Member

                  Thanks Steven.

                   

                  I've been worried about the 16' being a little too tight - so will go with the 20' (even bigger might be better, but that's the most I can really do).

                   

                  A few other questions:

                   

                  1) I thought I was going to be limited to 8' ceilings, but depending how things lay, it might not be a big deal to put in 9' ceilings.  Would that help significantly with the lighting or is it not a big deal.

                  2) Should I have electrician install lighting on the ceiling to illuminate the greenscreen (back wall) from above or to shine down on the talent from above and behind for backlighting - or should I just do all the lighting with standing softbox lamps?

                  3) I've read that sound in a rectangular studio can be a big problem.  One recommendation was to hang black curtains on tracks that could cover all areas not in the shot - this would reduce bouncing of light and spill over from greenscreen, while also minimizing standing waves / echo.  Any advice on this or other economical things to consider as room is being built? 

                  4) I have a HV20 Canon consumer grade HDV camcorder - it has an HDMI port.  Anyone have experience with Blackmagic Intensity Pro - which should let you capture uncompressed raw video from the camera?

                  5) Any one have advice on the Sony HVR-V1U MiniDV Camcorder  - can get used for under $1000 - would this be a giant step up and make green screening / keying much easier (using Adobe Premiere and After Effects CS6) - or not worth the money?

                  6) Any advice on what to do for microphpones during a show where 2-3 people are seated at a rectangular table facing one camera and talking?  Will also record some electric piano and vocals.

                   

                  Thanks for any suggestions (including advice about any other forums where I should post my questions)

                  • 6. Re: Questions about video studio
                    Steven L. Gotz Community Member

                    I am not a lighting expert by any means, but I can tell you that my 10 foot ceiling still makes it difficult to get my lights up high enough.

                     

                    So embedding some of them in the ceiling might be a solution for you. Or, paint the ceiling a reflective white and bounce your lights off of the ceiling.

                     

                    Black curtains could be helpful. The heavier, the better. You might find yourself using more reflectors to bounce light since the curtains will swallow all of it that they can.

                     

                    I can't help with cameras, but I would put lav mics on the talent. You might find it easier, or maybe even necessary to run the three audio inputs through a mixer (hardware) to equalize the volume properly.