Keying / Pulling a Key (Lingo)
Definition
Keying (or "pulling a key") is the technical process of isolating and removing a specific color (usually bright green or blue) from a video image to make that area transparent, allowing a new background to be composited underneath. While the basic concept is simple, pulling a *clean* key on a professional production is highly complex, requiring the compositor to deal with uneven lighting, motion blur, fine details like hair, and "spill" (the colored light reflecting off the green screen onto the subject).
Contextual Usage
The Compositor updates the VFX Supervisor: "I'm having trouble pulling a clean key on the actress in Scene 15. The green screen was underlit on the left side, and there's a lot of green spill on her blonde hair. I'm going to have to use a combination of different keyers and some detailed edge rotoscoping to get a usable result."
About this section
Visual effects have become an indispensable part of modern filmmaking, enabling storytellers to create worlds, creatures, and events that would be impossible, impractical, or prohibitively expensive t...
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