Green Screen Video Editing - Chroma Key Effects Made Easy

From Classic Film Effects to Digital Chroma Key on Your Computer

Do More with Video - Blog Carnival July 1, 2013

Here are this edition's entries to Do More with Video:

Teri Jones presents 10 Reasons to Visit a Drive-In Theater with The Kids posted at Nanny Jobs, saying, "Once the drive-in theater was a fixture on the American landscape. Young families with children and young couples with dates pulled their cars up to the screen, tuned their radios in and enjoyed the latest Hollywood hits on the big screen."

Javed Anwar presents How to be a video star posted at Times of India, saying, "The low-down on tools you can use for editing, watching, or backing up your videos."

Internet Video Gal presents Advice for Video Taping Weddings posted at Video Production Tips, saying, "How one videographer approached the art of a wedding video."

Jon presents Using Video Tutorials to Grow Your Business posted at Jontus Media, saying, "interview with a podcaster who is setting himself apart by also making outstanding video tutorials."

Using a Painted Wall for Green Screen Video Software? posted at Green Screen Blog, saying, "Some points to keep in mind if you want to use a wall painted green for chroma key video editing."

Jennifer O'Rourke presents Tips for Compiling Road Trip Videos posted at VideoMaker, saying, "Road trips for the annual family vacation might give some people thoughts of the horrors of a Griswold Family Vacation, but if you plan how you record it, you can come back with a great fun video to share."

You might also be interested in:

• Edit Cell Phone Video Recordings
• Bring Photo Memories Back to Life as Video Slideshows
• Tips for Entering Video Competions
• VirtualDub Plugins for VideoPad
• Super Features of Debut Video Capture Software
• Creat Video Slide Slideshows on your Android Tablet
• Record Time-lapse Videos from your Webcam
• Easily Burn CDs and Video DVDs

That concludes the first edition of Do More with Video. If you have a video story to share from home movies to video production submit your video blog posts for the next edition.

VideoPad: Video Editing Excellence

We are very proud of the fact that even though VideoPad hasn't broken into the top three on TopTenReviews' list—yet—they have awarded our video editor for excellence. With each new release, we strive to add more of the advanced features professionals crave, and just as importantly stay easy to use. That user-friendly quality that allows everyone to make movies is in a large part what TopTenReviews has noticed and is recognizing:

"Using VideoPad requires little effort. Before we even looked at the manual, we were able to create a video. To add transitions, effects and more, all you have to do is drag and drop them in place ... Overall, VideoPad has some excellent features. It can import files directly from many types of devices and it has 3D and green-screen capabilities. It is easy to use and has basic editing tools."
    –  TopTenReviews

If you haven't tried VideoPad video editing software yet, why not download a copy today. We think you will agree that VideoPad is both an excellent and easy video editor. Those of you who are already VideoPad users remember you can always send us suggestions on how we can make VideoPad even better. With your help, those other video editors better watch out, because we plan to keep moving VideoPad forward and raising the bar on video editing excellence.

VideoPad Introduction in Manga

Not only is it fun for us to learn about see or listen to the audio and video projects that people create with NCH Software products, we also enjoy hearing and seeing what people think about and have to say about our software. When we stumbled upon a comic in a Japanese blog introducing readers to our VideoPad video editing software we contacted the creator and asked for permission to share a translated version with our readers. So take a look at the translated VideoPad comic below.

For those of you who are curious or know Japaenese you can view the original and read more of his thoughts on VideoPad in his blog, Try! Various things! (チャレンジ！いろいろ！). While you're there scroll to the bottom of the post to watch his test video showing some of the things that VideoPad is capable of.


If you are read to give VideoPad your own test drive, visit www.nchsoftware.com/videopad to download a copy for yourself.

Easy Chroma Key Video Overlays

Often during editing you will want to remove the background from a video. This is commonly seen with television newscasts or interviews where the video of the person is overlaid onto a different video backdrop, or a logo animation is overlaid on a background. Chroma Key is also commonly referred to as green screen. Sometimes videos will have a transparency or alpha channel that you can adjust to remove the background, but more often than not, you will have to utilize Chroma Key tools in video editing software to remove the backgrounds.

Proper lighting makes using Chroma Keys far easier. Ensure the subject(s) and background are both well-lit. Solid color backdrops work the best. You can buy professional blue or green fabric backdrops or special Chroma Key paint. Avoid having shadows or hot spots on the background or unnecessary detail in the background as it will make it harder to “pull a key” later. Natural sunlight can often make the foreground subject bleed into the background when trying to key a color, so it’s best to use artificial lighting.

NCH Software’s VideoPad Video Editor has the ability to select a Chroma Key color with its Overlay feature. Add the video as an overlay track, and select the Use Chroma Key checkbox to bring up the Chroma Key preview window.

Select the Chroma Key color by clicking on the color you want to key out in the preview image. Then, using the preview image as a reference, adjust the Background and Foreground sliders until the desired transparency is achieved. Note you can click different positions on the timeline to see how the video will look. Click OK to apply changes.

If you would like to make changes later, first select the overlay in the list on the Overlay tab, and then click the Change button next to the Use Chroma Key checkbox.

Below is an example video we made using the Videopad Chroma Key feature. Download VideoPad for yourself to try this and the other easy video editing features for yourself.