--- In shoestringscifinews@yahoogroups.com, "Gregory Tyler"
<greg_tyler@...> wrote:
>
> Hi, Steve! Welcome to the group!
>
> Postproduction on Astronuts -- the film described at
www.shoestringscifi.com
> -- has very recently resumed after a months-long hiatus. (Basically
the
> computer I used for editing went to the junkpile in the sky, and I only
> recently bought a new one.)

I hate when that happens!

I fought a computer for a year. I could capture one take, then I had
to reboot to get the next take, or it had massive dropped frames. To
edit, I had to insert a shot, save, then reboot. I couldn't get it to
render without massive skipping of the video! I finally found out it
was nothing wrong with the software. It used the VIA chipset, and it's
known to have sound or video skipping problems. Ugh. Had to save up
for quite a while to replace it.

> Greenscreening is fun, isn't it? Astronuts uses it -- bluescreening
> actually -- in every scene. It's good that you've done a lot of
tests. In
> 2001 -- yes, that long ago -- I decided to "damn the torpedos" and
start
> filming after only a few tests, and I've been paying for it ever
since -- it
> has taken hundreds and hundreds of hours of postproduction "repairs" to
> bring the quality of the bluescreen mattes to an "acceptably bad"
level.
> Having said that, I think the low quality of the composites adds to the
> cheese factor of Astronuts, which is a no-budget sci-fi farce. :)
Next
> time around, the compositing will be better!

Aaah!!! Never say "fix it in post". I screwed up on the sound, I shot
the Academy head with the mic on the camera. Then spent lots of time
trying to fix it.

I'm a huge fan of doing it on the cheap. I love your reflectors! I'm
using two shoplight fluorescent fixtures mounted vertically on ABS
tripods I made. I did buy a new greenscreen on eBay, but my bluescreen
I found at a thrift store. My main lights are those quartz halogen
worklights, three 500W. It'd be four, but one of the heads is worn
out. I'm going to try converting them over to some fluorescent
security lights from Costco, so they'll be cooler.

I did a panel at Rustycon and Radcon called "Really Cheap Fan Films".

What software are you using?

Steve Greenfield