DV Matte Pro and Keying in FCP 5

Anyone have opinions on what the BEST plug-in to key in FCP5 is?
I heard DV Matte Pro was the best but not sure about it.

Anything new come out that is better than this recently?

I want a plug-in that will work awesome in FCP5 and that does the best job at keying hair, shadows and delicate edges.
Thanks as always for the help.

Mike D

DV Matte Pro is very good at what it does...but DV is very difficult to key even if it's spectacularly well lit.....you might try your keys in After Effects if you are styaing DV compression and use Keylight...an excellent tutorial on dealing with DV and Keylight (which works very much like DV MATTE PRO) is located over at creativecow.com

at this link:

[forums.creativecow.net]

If it's possible...shoot uncompressed or BETA SP and pull the keys from an uncompressed time line....you will get FAR better results ..especially with fine hair and delecate edges...

If not..DV Matte Pro (and keylight...or Ultimate - more expensive) is the next best thing

Andy

I should have mentioned, even though it's still DV footage, we'll be shooting HDV footage on a Sony HDV HVR-Z1U.
Will that make a difference in how it's keyed or what program we use to do it?
Is DV Matte Pro even compatible with FCP 5? The DVGarage website doesn't say it is.

Thanks again.

Mike D

Yes I've used it with FCP 5 and it works fine...although you might want to email them if you plan on using FCP5 UNIVERSAL with the new Intel macs..

I can say (I emailed the authors) that the CHV and CGM plugins work fine with FCP 5 and the new intel macs/universal FCP 5

AS for HDV footage...not sure....FCP treats it like DV footage, I think...and all plug ins seems to work no matter what the resolution... I think you can download a demo of DV MATTE PRO and try out before you buy.

Andy

if you capture the HDV as DV, then all hte DV issues are still there.

if you capture as HDV, i believe it;s much eaiser to pull a good key.

render time will go thru the roof, tho!


nick

I recently started using this
[www.kenstone.net]

Mostly I've tested it with PAL SP, but it also did a nice quick key for me on a PAL dv line.

Worth checking out.

It looks like a great product  - Vector Key 2.0 Chroma-Keyer
Oak Street Software [www.oakstreetsoftware.com] ...and very reasonably priced at 59.00 I haven't used it yet...but for the Keying afficianados in the group...here's very good news.

Serious Magic's Ulta 2 Keying program - that only works on PC's because it uses Windows Active X....will NOW WORK ON AN INTEL MAC - provided you bood in Windows XP....if you are looking to do anything with virtual sets, this program is astonishing.....and their software engineers (and web site) say it uses what I assume to be similar "vector keying" used by the product above.

Anyone doing corporate work relies a great deal on dull boring office interviews....being able to set up a simple green screen and put your company official anywhere but in front of books and a potted plant is a huge plus.

Key on! Andy