Studio Backdrop Rentals.

Bilsen

Anyone have any ideas on where to rent photographic backdrop scenes.

For example, if I want to shoot an Indian wardrobe, is there a place to rent a 10 x 10 (or so) Taj Mahal scene??

Thanks.
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Gary752

If this is something you're gonna do alot of, it would probably be cheaper in the long run to buy a green/blue screen and FX home's PhotoKey5. At Tubetape.net you can get a 10'x20' greenscreen for $89.95, and FXhome's PhotoKey5 for $149.00. All you'd need to do is find a JPG of a scene that you'd want to use for the background. Go to http://www.tubetape.net/servlet/the-762/green-screen-software-chromakey/Detail for details and a video on what the software can do. If you step up to the PRO version for $299.00 you have the ability to batch process photos. Just sharing another option.

GaryB

Bilsen

Thanks Gary. For the money I think you are correct.

My top model and I are planning a year long project for 2013. It will involve getting authentic wardrobe from various countries (ie: we have a sari from India already) and placing her in scenes from that country. Given that we expect to do 15-20 countries, you may have the most cost effective idea IF that software actually works to cut the green screen with no fringe or halo effect.

Have you used it? Does it work well?

Gary752

I have used an older version, and it did quite well. The newer version is supposed to be much, much better. I am planning to purchase the latest version in about 2 weeks. If you watch the video that's on the page I sent you, they claim that by tweeking a few sliders even a bad photo can be keyed. What I like about this software, you can resize your keyed image and/or the background image to suit you. I think the newest version even lets you do other edits as well. I need to spend a little time on that site myself and read up on all the updates they did.

GaryB

Bilsen

Gary752 wrote: »

I have used an older version, and it did quite well. The newer version is supposed to be much, much better. I am planning to purchase the latest version in about 2 weeks. If you watch the video that's on the page I sent you, they claim that by tweeking a few sliders even a bad photo can be keyed. What I like about this software, you can resize your keyed image and/or the background image to suit you. I think the newest version even lets you do other edits as well. I need to spend a little time on that site myself and read up on all the updates they did.

GaryB

Thanks again Gary. My concern is the hair. I've seen green screen software that left horrible artifacts around hair. Still, the cost of the software and screen is less than one rental so good suggestion.

Gary752

Check this page out. http://fxhome.com/support/photokey-tutorials and watch some of the tuts, especially the 4th one down the left side. Also, you can download a trial version, but I think you can't save a finished file, but it will give you an idea if it is going to work for you.

One thing I read somewhere a while back, is it doesn't matter what lights you use to light the green screen because it will be keyed out. They recommended having the green screen evenly lit, and having the person 5 to 6 feet in front of the screen. A lot of the guys said that the halogen work lights work real good for lighting the green screen. They use the ones with dual lights on a single stand, and have one on each side. They claimed what works best is to use the left set of lights to light the right side and vise versa. They say this lights the screen evenly. Hope this helps you out.

GaryB

Bilsen

And thank you yet again Gary. I have until Jan 12 to figure it all out. We shoot India that day.

kevingeary

Avoid green screens at ALL costs!

Green screens are great for videography -- they're horrible for photography. If you're going to be compositing, you can composite faster and cleaner by shooting on a white background and not lighting it letting it turn grey. Easy to make clean selections from there.

Bountyphotographer

Interesting? I thought that green screen were the best way to do compositing?
Kevingeary do you have any sample of what you are speaking of?
Just curious.

Thanks

Bounty

divamum

I'll be honest here and say while I get what you're going for, I HATE composited shots like you describe. I've yet to see one that looked really "real", and I have a feeling you're not going to get the "on location" vibe you're hoping for. In the scenario you describe, John (sorry, you'll ALWAYS be John to me lol), I think making it look really naturalistic and "on location" is going to be superhard, and I'd probably go for props to suggest the look and/or intentionally go for it to look "fake" so that it's clear no intentional of realism was ever present.

The other possibility would be to scout local locations as would be done for film/TV and find something that suggests the location enough that you can "create" the look with careful angles and lighting. There are plenty of examples of various kinds of architecture in and around NYC and even in the winter I bet it would be do-able. Hard work for sure, but...

Just my always-overinflated 2c.

anonymouscuban

I have to agree with Diva, especially with the concept of making these shots look fake. Actually, I think you could have a winning recipe if you intentionally make it look hokey. I'm envisioning this to be a really fun, silly, artsy kind of set. Could be a winning recipe to be honest.

However, I see a lot of potential for all sorts of fail if you choose to go the "realistic-fake" route. Not saying anything about your specific skills, just that very few people can pull this off and most are graphic artists with amazing Shop skills.

divamum

What Cuban said

Bilsen

Thanks everyone for the opinions and info.

At the very least the green screen idea is gone saving me about $300.00 in useless purchases. Thunder gray it will be.

I do have outdoor locations for China (Buddhist Temple), Ireland/Sctoland (a friends castle) and Britain (abandoned country estate with a TR4) but India, Haiti and Japan just are tough locations. Maybe I should just take Cyndi to Vegas to shoot Paris, Rome and New York (hmmmm - best talk to the wife about that one. )

I may still try to composite since the concept is Cyndi in authentic gear (I ordered a sari from India and a Kimono from Japan so far). This is the look I'm trying to achieve:



It's a composite from this screen:


YES it's a lot of hard work and I only expect to get 2-3 out of a shoot. The hardest part will be lighting Cyndi to match the light direction in the BKG.