Creating a White Background

[Austin Me]

Hi,

I'm new to filming and want to know how to create a white background. I have seen many videos talking about how to set a physical white background up, but I have literally no space where I will be filming, and even spending over $100 is something that would be very difficult for me to do...

I am trying to figure out if there is a way to simply film myself, then put me on a white background digitally. I am not even going to be moving around that much...mostly talking and stationary, with some basic arm and leg movements. I will add animation for everything else. I would think there has to be some easy way to do this...but I have not found anything. Is it really not possible?

Thank you!

[poisondeathray]

Hi,

I'm new to filming and want to know how to create a white background. I have seen many videos talking about how to set a physical white background up, but I have literally no space where I will be filming, and even spending over $100 is something that would be very difficult for me to do...

I am trying to figure out if there is a way to simply film myself, then put me on a white background digitally. I am not even going to be moving around that much...mostly talking and stationary, with some basic arm and leg movements. I will add animation for everything else. I would think there has to be some easy way to do this...but I have not found anything. Is it really not possible?

Thank you!

The problem is isolating you from the existing background. Normally it's done with green screen / chroma key , to key out the background greenscreen to replace with whatever background. It's cheap/ fast and it works. But the cost of a proper greenscreen setup with proper lighting and space required is going to be more expensive than your white background setup

Otherwise you'd have to rotoscope or mask yourself out (lots of manual work and corrections, if you want it to look good). Properly shot greenscreen maybe takes a few clicks - everything is easier. But a home made greenscreen , with crappy lighting - will work, but it takes extra work in post production finessing to make it look good

[smrpix]

Don't you have a blank wall? Or a bedsheet?

[Austin Me]

Thank you for your responses. It just really is so baffling to me, that with all the amazing things we can do with technology nowadays, I would THINK that we would have figured out how to isolate a figure from its background...

For more info... — This is my room setup.


[Attachment 50375 - Click to enlarge]

There is about 2 feet of space between me and my bed. I don't know how I would fit a bedsheet, or anything, in so small a space, or how I could have a white background big enough to completely isolate me. I would love to be able to do it right here, so I can control my computer as I film.

I suppose I could always stand up and put a big white thing over the mirror at the other end of the room, but I don't know how that would work either...

This is something that I know I want and need to do...but I don't know how to make it possible. Thank you SO much for helping me figure this out! (fingers crossed)

[smrpix]

All you have to cover is this. Hang it from the ceiling. Put your bed up on end. Lots of options. Then you can garbage matte out the rest.

And we do have that technology. It's called a light-field camera and you can't even afford to THINK about it.

[jagabo]

There is one technique you might be able to use. But it requires the camera be perfectly still (you can move), nothing is moving in the background, and the background lighting doesn't change (sunlight coming through doors/windows can be a problem on partly cloudy days). First you shoot a video of just the background. Then shoot your normal video. Finally, in an editor, you replace any pixel that's the same color as the background with white.

$20 of PVC pipe and fittings will allow you to construct a simple frame onto which you can hang a sheet in the two feet behind you. Getting the lighting good enough for an infinite white background may still be difficult. There are lots of videos on Youtube that discuss methods for this.

[Cornucopia]

Yes, that's called difference masking. Harder to do than you would think, because the lighting & shadows often change.

Scott

[jagabo]

Yes, that's called difference masking. Harder to do than you would think, because the lighting & shadows often change.

And you still have to avoid having similar colors in the foreground and background.

[veresov]

You're not going to look good against a white sheet/background. Do you ever see that on professional video? Get a large map of the world and hang that up behind you. Anything!

[ozymango]

I've done a bunch of videos when it's just me and my head in the shot (like narrating an instruction video, I work for a university) and I'd highly recommend you just get yourself a cheap green screen sheet, hang it from the ceiling behind you (or mount it on a frame behind you, they've got thin frames nowadays), and chroma-key everything afterwards. A green screen sheet is thin and cheap, you can find one on amazon for around twenty bucks US, and the thing about why you should use a green screen: Your Skin Color And All Your Clothes. This I learned from many (failed) experiments with different backgrounds, though I have gotten pretty good results using an old turquoise-blue wall as a background for one video.

The problem with any other background colors is the separation of your image/face/skin/clothes when you're trying to replace the background later -- the particular shade of green used in these screens is pretty much "opposite" of anything in your own skin color (unless maybe you're a Martian) and it's much easier in editing to separate your face/image/outline from the background if there's that green contrast to your own face/image/outline. Related: Don't wear a green shirt with a green screen. You can also just use a blue sheet, I've had decent luck with that, but I personally find it easier to work with a green background, you can really make your image "pop" from the background that way.

I pretty much do all green-screen head shots nowadays because it's so easy (relatively speaking) to swap out the background to be anything later -- I can superimpose myself on another video I'm demonstrating, or I can just change the background color to a solid white, or black, or any image/color I want, and it gives a little more visual interest to my static head shot while I'm talking, if I can tweak the background to make a visual point or joke or whatever.

Good luck!

[ozymango]

Hey, if you're really pressed for space and need something more portable, something like this looks like it could be pretty cool. https://www.amazon.com/Webaround-Portable-Webcam-Background-Screen/dp/B06Y2G2YP5?psc=1...SIN=B06Y2G2YP5