Virtual Backgrounds
  • School
  • Portraiture
  • Event/Photo Booth
  • Green Screen

10 Reasons Projected Backgrounds Are Preferred Over Greenscreen

1  - You save time and money!  No post processing is necessary and no computers or software is needed to produce finished image. 

With Green Screen, you can spend hours plugging in backgrounds after the images are captured in the camera, or pay someone else to do it.  But with Virtual Backgrounds, this is not necessary.  You can pay from .30 cents to $1.00 per every image to have the green removed and a background put in.  
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2  - Clients can instantly see the complete image with the subject and background already in place.
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Instantaneous backgrounds, because of digital!
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3  - The photographer sees both the subject and the background in the viewfinder and can pose the subject to the background and adjust the background to the subject.  It is done LIVE!
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4  -  Subjects can wear any color clothing or use any kind of prop without having to worry about the background showing up in unusual places as with green screen.

5  - Photographer can effectively use props of any size or color.


                            13 people on a 9 ft background done in the small room below.
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6  - You can place a subject very close to the VB background screen, therefore making it easy to work in a smaller space.

7  - There is no need for additional light to illuminate the background and  there are no shadows on the background to worry about.

8  -  There is no “Green Bias” influencing the color of the subject or their clothing.

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9  -  With VB you have “live” control of background color, brightness, focus, position, and proportional size to the subject.  What You See Is What You Get! (WYSIWYG) 
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10 – VB Backgrounds look real and do not distract from the subject.  There is no “pasted in” look.

Green Screen Issues

  • Subject often looks cut out and pasted in
  • Green light bounces off the background onto the subject
  • Requires post production - extra touch up and fixing of hair and green color cast
  • Subject can not wear same color clothing as green background
  • Difficult to get a solid green background – requires additional lights to illuminate background as evenly as possible
  • Requires additional space to move subject further from the screen to reduce green tint on skin and hair
  • Composition – you do not see subject and final background in the camera which makes posing and lighting adjustments more difficult
  • No instant results
  • Additional cost (approx. 50 cents per image) if the lab cuts out and fixes the subject
  • Time consuming

Green Screen Solutions by VB

  • Project an evenly lit green background which is easier to extract
  • Does NOT require any additional background lights
  • Requires less space without getting a green color cast on the subject
  • Projected background color can be changed in seconds to avoid interfering with subjects clothing

Virtual Backgrounds Solution

  • SAVE TIME AND MONEY: NO post production needed
  • NO cut out and pasting in
  • Project any background live
  • Project any background you want without interfering with the subjects clothing
  • No light bouncing off screen onto subject
  • No need to light background with extra lights
  • Placing subject closer to screen allows operation in small spaces
  • NO additional cost per image
  • Project still and VIDEO backgrounds
  • VIDEO ON VIDEO
  • Backgrounds look real and do not distract from the subject
  • Compose everything in the camera within seconds
  • INSTANT RESULTS

GREEN SCREEN VS VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS
       Which Is The Better Choice?

Green Screen was created for television and Hollywood.   Recently it has been used as a method to paste in backgrounds in portrait photography after the image is captured.  Green screen works best for “fun photography” such as when an event photographer at a rodeo sets up a concession where he photographs rodeo attendees and places them on a bucking horse  that does not exist.  This cannot be done with optical virtual backgrounds.  It is also being used in low level portraiture such as school photos but the subject typically has to be positioned many feet in front of the green background to avoid shadows.  In many cases, the lab inserts the background long after the image is taken which means green screen is limited to the most simple situations.   Most labs charge for each image to insert a background and there is often a yearly licensing charge.  When the lab inserts the background, the photographer has zero control over how it is done.  Common problems include a “cut out” look and if the subject is wearing a color close to the background color, that part will be turned into background which has to be reworked with Photoshop or the image has to be reshot.

Green screen software can cost less than $100 but the real cost must include the photographer’s time and image quality.  Because green screen is so cheap, it is being widely used by amateurs and some professionals to paste in backgrounds.  There are a wide variety of negative factors to consider when contemplating using green screen on professional level portraits besides your time.

Digital Virtual Backgrounds is a very different and higher level method for bringing background variety into a photograph.  Unlike with green screen where the background is added later, the photographer sees the background live, as it will be before they capture the image.  The photographer has complete live control of the background including brightness, focus, position, proportional size, and even the color.  Both the photographer and the subject can see the results immediately.  The process is NOT affected by the colors the subject may wear or the colors in the props.  When using virtual backgrounds it is like “being on site” but with the many advantages of working in the studio where the photographer is in total control.  Virtual Backgrounds can be very portable and can be used in small spaces because the subject is positioned only 3 to 4 feet from the screen.

Virtual Backgrounds is primarily used for mid-level and higher end portrait work because of the high quality results it can deliver.

EXTRA:
The Virtual Backgrounds company holds a patent on using projected color backgrounds for the chromakey (green screen) process.  The projected method of creating the chromakey background solves several of the major problems that come with using the green screen process the ordinary way without the issues.  VB enables the photographer to choose the most appropriate method, green screen or virtual backgrounds as needed.




101 Uhland Road #200
San Marcos, TX 78666
Phone (512) 805-4844
Email Address: info@virtualbackgrounds.net
Hours:
Tuesday - Thursday 8:00 - 5:00
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Website comments/suggestions: tyler@virtualbackgrounds.net