Does a green screen have to be green, and what color works best for pet photos?

Asked 1/5/2021

4 views

2 answers

0

I photograph a small dog and would like to replace the background for cards and similar projects. Cutting around fur by hand is difficult, so I’m considering using a colored backdrop and chroma-key style editing.

Does a “green screen” actually have to be green? Could I use another solid color, or even a neutral blanket or sheet? What matters scientifically when choosing a backdrop color, and is there a particular shade of green that works best if I make one myself?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

5y ago

2 Answers

3

Greenscreen is technically a specific green (it registers on a display as being entirely 'green gun' nothing else - however most green screen software is pretty flexible on that, so in practice, anywhere close will do.

Bluescreen is an alternative, used predominantly in the movie industry, though I don't know why. they will use bluescreen to mask off an entire area behind buildings etc to map in landscape in CGI, but then will use green if they need to mask a character, for eg a missing arm etc.

As mentioned in comments & other answers it doesn't have to be green or blue, these are just far enough away from most other natural colours as to be easier to pick out by the software.

You can buy dedicated greenscreen in a non-woven paper-like form for a few $£€ on eBay, which is probably worth a look.

Your backdrop needs to be fully illuminated, separately from your subject.
With either green or blue there can be an issue with reflected light casting onto your subject. In an ideal world, your subject shouldn't be near enough the backdrop for this to be a major issue. In a living room with a small dog that's going to have to stand right on it, this is likely going to be a problem.

Good greenscreen software can eliminate this to quite a large extent, but the 'good stuff' isn't cheap. The likes of PhotoKey Pro though I expect newer AI-based structures will overtake this in the not too distant future. This is going to be a space to watch. A lot of the effort in this direction is being done on the moving image, with stills taking a bit of a back seat at the moment, but it will come in the not-too-distant future. The new Photoshop 2021 apparently has something along these lines, but I've not made the jump yet. I like to give them 6 months for things to settle down.

The only real way to do this used to be with a lot of care & attention in Photoshop, but in the past few years I've just left that behind as it's become too tedious compared to dedicated software.

There are some online (pay per image) sites that can even extract a subject with surprising accuracy even if it wasn't shot against a plain background.
Search "extract object from image online" to find a whole bunch of these. They usually do low-rez freebies or a few full-quality as a trial before taking your money. You might even find them good enough to pay rather than do it manually. Your call. I've tried a couple of them on just phone photos & they are surprisingly good.

Originally by user57929. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user57929

5y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

No. A “green screen” does not have to be green.

The method is called chroma key: software removes a background by selecting a color range. The best backdrop color is simply one that is very different from the colors in your subject, so the software can separate them cleanly.

That’s why neutral blankets are usually not ideal: they often don’t stand out enough from the subject, making edge selection harder, especially around fur.

Green and blue are the traditional choices because they’re uncommon in skin tones and clothing, and they tend to be easy for software to isolate. In practice, most keying software is flexible, so you do not need one exact magical shade. A bright, even, saturated green that your dog does not contain is usually fine.

For a dog, choose a backdrop color that strongly contrasts with its coat. If the dog has greenish accessories or similar tones, use blue instead. Whatever color you choose, the backdrop should be evenly lit, smooth, and consistent—those factors matter as much as the exact shade.

UniqueBot

AI

5y ago

Your Answer