Digital Backdrops

Digital backdrops are commonly used in today's chromakey productions. A digital backdrop is any kind of computer generated background that is ideal for chromakeying over. Some examples are Virtualsetworks virtual sets and Digital Juice's Jump Backs. Both virtual sets and looping animations make ideal digital backdrops for chromakeying talent in front of. Digital backdrops increase the quality of a production by allowing for more creative flexibility than a traditional backdrop; with no physical materials to change digital backdrops are easier to change because they exist only in a computer.

 Virtual Sets

The Virtual Set is fast becoming a common means of television and film production. A Virtual Set uses green screen chromakeying to create a set or stage that isn't real, and in some cases could not be. An actor or talent stands in front of or on a green or blue stage and a piece of hardware or software called a chromakeyer like an Ultimatte removes the color and replaces it with an image generated by a computer. This image is called a virtual set, which can be designed by an in house designer, a company that specializes in virtual set design or you can buy virtual sets online.

Virtual Sets are ideal for situations where a real set is too expensive because of either space, location, or materials cost. Building a football stadium would be very expensive. Building a football stadium made of gold on the moon would be impossible, but not with a virtual set. A small stage covered with a green screen or blue screen and adequate lighting is all that's needed to put your talent anywhere your imagination wants to put them.

 Chroma Key Backdrops

Getting a good even color behind the talent is the first step in chromakeying, this usually requires a chromakey backdrop in the form of cloth or paint. Chromakey paint can be picked up at hardware stores or lighting places like Studio Depot (Burbank, Ca), green cloth can also be found many places. Some companies sell blue or green pop up chromakey backdrops which travel easily and popup like a windshield shade.
Another alternative is Chromatte, a unique retroreflective material which is gray to the eye, requires little or no light, and casts no spill on the talent because the material is gray to the naked eye. But to the camera it sees it as a perfect blue or green. This is because of the Litering, a ring of LEDs around the lens which casts blue or green light onto the Chromatte. Chromatte is also very portable in the form of a Chromaflex, a 7x7 popup which folds down into a 3 foot hoop.