Hello friends. Today, I decided to share information where you can buy an inexpensive Chroma Key for shooting your videos or taking pictures.
I think it’s not a secret for you that many videos (both television and home) are initially shot on a green (or blue) background. Then this background is removed in the video editing program, and any suitable background is substituted in its place.
Here is a clear example of how it looks before and after applying this technology.
Why Green or Blue Background?
Everything is simple here. The fact is that these shades of colors are absent in human skin color, which means that it will be pretty simple to remove such a background. And after removing the background on your video or photo, the character’s skin will not be affected.
However, the primary condition here is that the character must be dressed when shooting so that his clothes do not contain the same colors. If you are shooting on a green background, the character’s clothes should not contain green; otherwise, they will also be removed.
In general, you will have to tinker a lot with such material. The same situation with the blue background.
So, such a background, which you subsequently remove, leaving only a character in the frame, is called a chroma key.
Where to Buy A Chroma Key for A Home Studio?
Let’s start with the fact that there are specialized offline and online stores with photography equipment, where you can easily find and purchase such a background. Usually, these are pretty big because they are designed for professional studios. These backgrounds are also expensive.
But what if you need a relatively small chroma key and want to save money?
There are several options for solving this problem:
- You can select a wall (or part of a wall) to shoot against and paint it green. The painted wall mustn’t reflect light from lighting fixtures. But remember that when shooting a video, the object needs to be well and correctly illuminated. Because if your homemade background shines or glare, then you will suffer during background removal.
- You can go to a fabric store and buy a thick matte green fabric and hang it on the wall. Here, the main thing is choosing a material of sufficient density, tone, and color saturation.
- Well, the third way is to look for resources where you can buy a ready-made Chroma Key for a reasonable price.
Here is just the third way I will share with you. More precisely, I will share the resource I acquired a good and very inexpensive Chroma Key.
And where do you think I bought it? On the well-known site Amazon! And, here is the product link.
You may also like to read: Photography Backdrop DIY: How to Make a Photography Backdrop?
As usual, I conducted another experiment with a purchase from this resource. I consider this experiment a success, and therefore I decided to share this option for acquiring a Chroma Key with you.
So, I’ll say that I bought a green background from this seller. And my purchase reached me safe and sound. I received in the package this package with my background:
Unfolded, if I’m not mistaken, it goes 1.6 x 3 meters (but, to be honest, I didn’t measure it). These sizes, in most cases, are pretty enough for a home studio. For example, this cut completely closes the opening of a hinged double-leaf door.
True, I didn’t understand what precisely this background consists of, I mean in terms of its structure. You know, it’s not paper, it’s not fabric. But I want to draw your attention to how I would advise you to handle it carefully.
Try not to wrinkle once again and not scratch; washing in a washing machine is out of the question! It cannot be smoothed out with iron without problems; let it sag better. Or, even more accessible, gently stretch it to minimize the wrinkles.
You may also like to read: Backgrounds for Food Photography: How to Choose Your First Background?
In conclusion, I will say that you can choose an option for acquiring a Chroma Key for your work presented in this article. Just be sure to consider all my recommendations for each of them.
As for the Amazon backdrop. I would say that this is an excellent option for your small home studio equipment. It complies with all norms and requirements and very well copes with the task. But of course, with the proper lighting and further actions to remove it in a video or photo editor.
That’s all. I would be glad if my article were helpful to you.
