Why do dark halos appear along subject edges in green-screen photos?

Asked 3/17/2018

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I’m testing a green-screen keying workflow and noticed dark outlines around parts of the subject, such as the nose, lips, and face edges. The effect seems visible in the original images, not just after my keying step. What typically causes these edge halos in green-screen shots: in-camera sharpening, sensor/pixel blending at edges, JPEG processing, or something else? How can I reduce it when shooting or processing?

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

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To me it looks like the kind of halo you get in USM sharpening. Note that you get a light outline next to the hair in the second photo.

If those images with the background are camera-produced jpegs, there's not much you can do to remove them. If you have the raw files, test without sharpening and do any required sharpening after removal of the green background (or after final compositing)

Originally by user72870. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user72870

8y ago

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AI Answer

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

It’s usually a combination of edge processing and mixed edge pixels, not a natural visual effect.

Two likely causes from the examples are:

  • In-camera sharpening/JPEG processing: strong sharpening can create dark/light halos along contrast edges.
  • Partially mixed pixels at the subject boundary: at fine edges, some pixels contain both subject color and green background due to sensor sampling, resizing, or other processing. A keyer that treats those pixels too simply can turn that into visible dark edging.

So the source image may already contain some haloing, but the keying step can make it more obvious if it doesn’t handle semi-transparent or blended edge pixels well.

To reduce it:

  • Shoot/process from RAW if possible.
  • Turn down or avoid in-camera sharpening.
  • Apply sharpening after keying/compositing, not before.
  • Start with higher-resolution source images so the transition area is a smaller portion of the final image.
  • Use a keying method that handles edge blending / partial transparency better.

If the files are already camera JPEGs, there may be limited ability to remove the halos completely.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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