Your Guides Robert W. Walker and Mo Fitzgibbon Directors/Founders Walker|Fitzgibbon TV and Film
step 1
Find a well-lit greenscreen studio Additional lighting is always necessary to set up good key/fill/rim lighting for the talent (see step 6).
step 2
tap the signal
Set the Sony V1U HD camera to capture
24fps/1080p, then route the signal out of
the camera by tapping the hdMi output, a
true 1920 x 1080 HD signal, BEFORE it hits
the camera’s HDV compression circuitry, and
send it to the AJA Io HD interface.
Walker|Fitzgibbon Television and Film Productions is an in-demand production company based in Hollywood, California, with more than 20 years experience writing producing and directing television shows, specials, documentaries, music videos and commercials. The facility’s client list includes Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Juanes, Jon Secada, and Andy Garcia, as well as NBC Universal, Telemundo, Lifetime, HBO, MTV/ VH1, CMT, DirecTV, Sony Music, Epic Records and EMI.
step 3
Feed the tapped signal into the aJa io hd
box For conversion
The tapped HD signal is fed directly into the AJA Io HD
box, which transcodes the signal to Apple ProRes HQ
for recording direct to a custom RAID. We’ve found that
Apple ProRes HQ works very well in this situation.
step 4
record direct to Final cut pro
Take the converted Apple ProRes HQ out of the AJA Io HD box and record it into Final Cut Pro through a Firewire cable. Use Final cut pro’s internal keyer to test the key in real time on the set. By using a 17-inch panasonic btlh1700 hd lcd monitor, which features a waveform overlay, you can make instant judgments about: 1) how evenly the greenscreen is illuminated (edge-to-edge luminance values are quite obvious on the waveform); 2) extremely fine focus issues; and 3) the quality of each take during real-time playback at full HD resolution.
We were hired to shoot three television commercials in one day on greenscreen. Due to the time constraints, we wanted to be able to do live greenscreen with the modeled set built in After Effects and capture all the footage seamlessly during the shoot. To do this, we assembled an on-set, direct-to-disk, shoot-capture-edit configuration that let us check a greenscreen actor’s action relative to the virtual background on location. After using the AJA Io HD box on the commercials, we moved confidently to our next two projects: a music video (scheduled for worldwide release this fall on MTV BASE) and real-ity/talk show pilot for well-known Nigerian actress/singer Dakore Egbuson. We used our greenscreen setup again and got the same great results. This job was a multi-camera, multi-scene, music video, and we were ready for it with the AJA box. (Tutorial written by Robert W. Walker and Deb Snyder.)
Tools Used: Sony HVR-V1U HD Camera, AJA Io HD Box, 17-inch Panasonic BTLH1700 LCD Monitor, Apple Final Cut Pro 2, 17-inch Macbook Pro, Adobe After Effects
Walker|Fitzgibbon tV & Film
www.walkerfitzgibbon.com ph. 323.469.6800
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