I'm looking to record some fitness videos and want it to look proffesional

[zachg18]

So I'm looking to record some fitness videos, where I show people how to use basic gym machines.

However, I want it to look professional. I thought if I could have the video on a white background so it looked like we were in an empty room with just that one particular machine would look best.

Do I need a green screen for this or is it possible to do this without one?

Thanks for any help, much appreciated.

Oh, I have a Mac btw...

[poisondeathray]

usually done in a white studio

search google for "white cyc" or "cyclorama"

[aedipuss]

with proper lighting and filming angles you shouldn't need to isolate the machines.

[poisondeathray]

make sure you have a hot fitness model too

[Baldrick]

Welcome! But please try choose a better title. I changed it for you this time. You can adjust it by click on edit and advanced on your first post.

[zachg18]

Thanks for all the help.

I definitely won't be able to do the white studio thing. Since that would involve me buying/renting all the machines and transporting them to this room, which would cost me thousands and thousands of dollars.

The lighting suggestion sounds interesting, but I'm still not even sure that would get me the results I want, I could be wrong though.

Sorry about the thread title btw...

[budwzr]

Why do you mention you have a Mac?

The reason I ask is because I was about to respond to your question, then I realized maybe you are saying "don't be too technical, I'm a Mac user".

So that's why I'm asking, so I know how to formulate the answer. Since you mentioned it.

[zachg18]

Why do you mention you have a Mac?

The reason I ask is because I was about to respond to your question, then I realized maybe you are saying "don't be too technical, I'm a Mac user".

So that's why I'm asking, so I know how to formulate the answer. Since you mentioned it.

Haha, only because I thought the software that comes with a mac may be different and in turn give me different capabilities....

[budwzr]

Hahaha, OK.

Have you considered building a cheap frame you can skid around, and cover it with a blue tarp?

You'd have to stretch it tight, and lighting it won't be easy, but it would certainly be doable. Unless the machine or model has blue.

Another option might be to use a cheap white painters dropcloth and paint it green with a roller. Make it a crazy green, like florescent or neon. They can tint that for you at Home Depot, no need to buy special paint. I had some mixed at WalMart once, worked perfectly.

If you're taking a long shot, use the "Cookie Cutter" or equivalent function to narrow the area where the green/blue screen is. Vegas can do a bezier cutout, which is more precise, and very helpful for chroma keying, but as you say, you have a Mac so Vegas is not an option.

[poisondeathray]

Ahhhh so you want it to look "professional" without paying the professional price tag

You could use greenscreen for that effect but it still costs quite a bit. Proper lighting setup isn't cheap, and bit of a learning curve to do the setup plus how to do a proper key. Also how would you do the greenscreen setup without renting/moving the equipment... back to square one

Lower budget alternative is to shoot in the native environment like they gym where the equipment is, and forget about the white background

Maybe you can clarify what your expectations were

[aedipuss]

haha yeah right - pro results using the "software" that comes with a mac. you don't even have a clue.

[budwzr]

Although the gentleman above me is quite blunt, I have to agree.

[poisondeathray]

Maybe the gyms are organized differently where you are, but over here in most gyms in Canada, the equipment is right beside each other. There is no room to do a proper shoot to make it look like you were in an empty room. You still have to rent/move the equipment

Unless the picture in my mind from your initial description is totally different? What am I missing here ?

I thought if I could have the video on a white background so it looked like we were in an empty room with just that one particular machine would look best.

I definitely won't be able to do the white studio thing. Since that would involve me buying/renting all the machines and transporting them to this room, which would cost me thousands and thousands of dollars.

[budwzr]

Haha, only because I thought the software that comes with a mac may be different and in turn give me different capabilities....

Yes, it does! A lot LESS capability.

[poisondeathray]

haha yeah right - pro results using the "software" that comes with a mac. you don't even have a clue.

Come on, there's nothing wrong with Premiere for editing, or After Effects / keylight for keying. They are available on a Mac, with slight differences than the PC version

FCP is ok, but FCP X is ....


IMO the setup is the difficult part for what he wants to do, not the software

[aedipuss]

the emphasis was on "what comes with" a mac.

the hard part i agree is the setup and shoot.

[poisondeathray]

the emphasis was on "what comes with" a mac.

Ok I see what you mean. You think he meant a standard OSX install without any software. That would make another big problem and more $$ to shell out

[aedipuss]

you can say it. fcp x is a useless dumbed down pos. the talk is apple is going to dump the mac anyway. not marketplace competitive and not nearly the margin they make on everything else. phones, pads and pods are what they are going to concentrate on.

[edDV]

A white set is known as "Limbo" in the business. It is a difficult lighting project.

Remember the Penn & Teller BS on Showtime?


In the biz this is known as one of the most difficult sets to light at human size although it is often used for product shots. Green screen is more difficult because of green reflection spill. Pro means pro experience not software cheats.

I like the idea of a small set where you drag the equipment. Watch out for footprints. Plastic booties for all.

[edDV]

A good compositing trick.




http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/47/857595

[edDV]

The way the pros do it

[budwzr]

the emphasis was on "what comes with" a mac.

Yeah, the OP would have mentioned FCP one would think.

No offense to the OP, but part of what's irritating about Mac people is that they assume they can do anything and everything at a professional level simply by "buying in" to a Mac. And because Macs are the king of graphics, by golly! Isn't it? And they "just work", right?

So it's hard to help them cause, in a way, you gotta burst their bubble first, and get them into reality.

[zachg18]

the emphasis was on "what comes with" a mac.

Yeah, the OP would have mentioned FCP one would think.

No offense to the OP, but part of what's irritating about Mac people is that they assume they can do anything and everything at a professional level simply by "buying in" to a Mac. And because Macs are the king of graphics, by golly! Isn't it? And they "just work", right?

So it's hard to help them cause, in a way, you gotta burst their bubble first, and get them into reality.

OK. I never once thought I could do anything special with my mac. To be honest, I had no idea what I could or couldn't do, which is why I asked (and why my thread was initially titled "Newbie Here..".

I also never thought I could get professional results with my mac without paying the professional price. I simply stated that renting out a space and 20 + different gym machines and moving them would cost me waaaaaayyy too much.

I'm willing to pay a couple thousand dollars, but the initial suggestion is just way out of my price range.

As much as I want this to look professional, it doesn't have to look like it was done in Hollywood. Being the newbie that I am, I thought maybe there was a way to take the video in a normal gym, and maybe outline a certain part of the video and put it on a white background. Clearly that doesn't seem possible.

I appreciate everyone's help/suggestions...except for the one or two people who had to be a smartass.

[edDV]

It could be possible to pull it off for Youtube but more difficult for DVD/Blu-Ray.

I'm thinking lots of green.

[budwzr]

Well, sorry you landed in the middle of a bunch of Mac haters

[edDV]

I'm not a Mac hater. A Mac can work within narrow limits.

[neomaine]

the emphasis was on "what comes with" a mac.

Yeah, the OP would have mentioned FCP one would think.

No offense to the OP, but part of what's irritating about Mac people is that they assume they can do anything and everything at a professional level simply by "buying in" to a Mac. And because Macs are the king of graphics, by golly! Isn't it? And they "just work", right?

So it's hard to help them cause, in a way, you gotta burst their bubble first, and get them into reality.

OK. I never once thought I could do anything special with my mac. To be honest, I had no idea what I could or couldn't do, which is why I asked (and why my thread was initially titled "Newbie Here..".

I also never thought I could get professional results with my mac without paying the professional price. I simply stated that renting out a space and 20 + different gym machines and moving them would cost me waaaaaayyy too much.

I'm willing to pay a couple thousand dollars, but the initial suggestion is just way out of my price range.

As much as I want this to look professional, it doesn't have to look like it was done in Hollywood. Being the newbie that I am, I thought maybe there was a way to take the video in a normal gym, and maybe outline a certain part of the video and put it on a white background. Clearly that doesn't seem possible.

I appreciate everyone's help/suggestions...except for the one or two people who had to be a smartass.

Actually, I thought edDV's compositing trick looked right up your alley. A simple cloth setup and a minor trick in software and it look like could do this well within your budget.

[rallymax]

I seem some serious hurdles - even at an amateur level.
A blue tarp could work as a blue-screen but it's gonna have to be BIG. At least 15x30 feet.
I'd go a little more robust and get a 15x30 canvas and a gallon of neon-green tinted cheap paint - btw I made an outdoor cinema screen a few years ago with the home depot canvas and even at 6x3 feet it sucked up A LOT of white paint. Sure did work well though using a work projector for a summer-in-the garden viewing of an old Indiana Jones flick.
Another big hurdle I forsee is lighting.
About the cheapest thing you can do is get some incandescent work lights but the color temperature (it it's basically white-orange) is going to mean that you have to white balance change your camera. That tint might make the equipment look funny.
you'll also need A LOT of light. I'm guessing at least 3x 500watt per side of the camera from the front - midheight, high and really high, 2 or 4 to back light it too. The key is to get very even lighting on the green/blue as well as WAY more light on the equipment than what's reflecting off of the blue or green. At human size this gets to be a lot of light really quick. - there is a reason that movie sets use multiple 20,000watt lights for basic illumination.
So to hack it all together I'd say get a dozen home depot work lights, put some grease paper over the front (not touching the light!!!!) to diffuse it, pain up a canvas with neon green. buy a copy of a consumer level video editing program like Pinnacle Studio. Choose some software that is capable of "chroma-keying" ie green/blue-screen like the weatherperson uses.

what's your target delivery mechanism btw? DVD, YouTube, Vimeo (this is a professional equivalent to YouTube)? If your target is a disk - I would definitely steer you away from bluray - you really can't do cheap with High Definition.

[edDV]

Green works much better than blue for YCbCr 4:2:0 camcorders. Y is mostly made up of Green and is full resolution. Blue is half resolution H&V and noisy.

[rallymax]

another thought - depending on how well your camcorder does with flicker... you'd probably be better off getting a dozen home depot flourecent work lights ($9.74 + tubes) - much more even/soft.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100193761/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeI...atalogId=10053
here is a pack of 10 40w T12 4ft long daylight (color) tubes for $19.97 (for 10) - ie $1.99 each.
http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-Light-Bulbs-Tube-Fluorescent-Bulbs/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbm...atalogId=10053

far less watts total thus no specially big extension cords.
much easier to look at as the actor.
much cooler
easy to mount with some cable ties and a few strips of wood screwed or clamped together.