First green screen close up done

Following on from the same workflow for the mid shot I attempted my first close up shot.

Two separate keys for the body and head; 2 Mocha Pro travelling mattes covering the face and body provide the hold out mattes along with a Keylight node. Primatte used again for the main key with Keychews applied with blur. All alpha channels brought together in a multi-layer node using iAdd composite mode. Saphire Edge blur then added to the whole output which then feeds into the matte channel of the original footage.

Graded using same method as before; slight desaturation, Saphire Glow then slight decrease in brightness to the whole thing. Piped in a branch off the accumulated alpha channels to the Saphire Glow to remove a slight white rim on the body.

Can't emphasize what a difference the Saphire Glow makes in helping sell the shot. It is only applied at 0.234% brightness but it just adds that certain something which is hard to put your finger on! I read about it being used on a pop video years ago and how the editor/VFX said he applied it to practically everything he does. See what he means now.

I now need to extend the background plate as it's not long enough for the 102 frames as it becomes obvious it is a still frame when the smoke coming out of the space shuttle stops !

Next up a close up of Alex. This was the first footage I had real problems with originally; which led to me trying everything and anything including downloading a trial of Nuke.

I think Nuke is an amazing piece of software but I cannot justify the massive price tag... Over £2,500. Plus, with this new workflow and the lesson I have learnt from the green screen shoot; Shake and it's hidden nodes (now found!) live on!