How is chroma key used?

Have you ever wondered what’s behind a Hollywood blockbuster with spectacular special effects? Find out in this post where we’ll reveal everything you need to know about how chroma key is used.

What is chroma key?

Chroma key is a green or blue background used in audiovisual productions that, later, with specialized editing software, images with effects are introduced to create action, fantasy, or reality-inspired scenarios digitally. It’s an audiovisual resource that allows playing with creativity and imagination, as totally incredible and original scenes can be created in post-production. This screen allows extracting a color to replace it with images and videos easily using editing programs.

It’s very common in series and movies to reveal that the original recording was made with a green or blue background behind. This is very frequent because it’s a much more economical way to record action scenes or scenes with great detail. This way, a large budget is not allocated to building specific recording sets for each type of movie that requires it.

Chroma key is a resource generally used in action, horror, fantasy, historical movies… But it’s also widely used in television studios for recording news programs, for example.

Types of chroma key

There are different types of chroma key depending on the needs of the audiovisual project and the budget allocated to create a studio with chroma key.

DIY Chroma Key

Sometimes, when audiovisual productions have a small budget or film and video enthusiasts want to carry out their own projects, they opt for a DIY chroma key. Se trata de colgar de una pared una tela o pantalla de papel de color verde o azul lisa. Es una manera muy sencilla de poder incorporar efectos especiales a las imágenes y, dependiendo de la agilidad en las herramientas de postproducción, los resultados pueden ser relativamente buenos. Sin embargo, es importante tener en cuenta que no llegarán a ser del todo profesionales dadas las limitaciones técnicas.

Studio Chroma Key

More professionally, there is also the studio chroma key, which consists of large rooms, even industrial warehouses, equipped with a well-lit green or blue screen or background and all the necessary devices for making large audiovisual productions: cameras, rails, lights, microphones, screens, dressing rooms… An example of this is our Chroma Space, a set with a green chroma cyclorama designed to adapt to all types of audiovisual productions.

Portable Chroma Key

The portable chroma key is another low cost and very practical alternative to have a chroma key wherever needed. It’s a collapsible structure on which the chroma fabric can be placed easily and quickly. This resource can get many out of a tight spot during a production.

How to light a chroma key to use it correctly?

During a shoot with chroma key, it’s important to have correct lighting to ensure that the special effects applied in post-production are not altered and are of the best quality. To correctly light a chroma key, homogeneous lighting is needed across the entire background. Objects and people positioned in front of it should have their own lighting, so that shadows are not cast on the background that could interfere with post-production.

Rent a Chroma key studio in Barcelona

If what you’re looking for is a studio with chroma key where you can carry out all your audiovisual projects professionally, at AVisual STUDIOS we rent recording sets and chroma key studios. Especialmente, nuestro Chroma Space es un espacio en forma de L de 5,20 m x 5,70 m de longitud. La sala está perfectamente equipada con una parrilla de paneles LED completamente modulables para iluminar correctamente el estudio y cuenta con una sala anexa ideal para utilizar durante la realización del rodaje. Además, en AVisual STUDIOS podrás alquilar todo el complementary equipment that you may need for your shoot.