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Chapter 13, Livematte, Section 13.1 understanding keying – NewTek TriCaster 2 Elite (3 RU) User Manual

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Chapter 13

LIVEMATTE

Although its controls are deceptively simple, the

LiveMatte™

feature employs powerful

chromakeying technology capable of extremely high-quality results. Used alone or in
conjunction with DSKs, M/E Overlays and LiveSet features, you will find LiveMatte can

play a ‘key’ role in your live productions.

As we mentioned earlier,
chromakeying

or simply “keying” –

is used to combine images by
eliminating a portion of a
foreground image (effectively

cutting a digital ‘keyhole’ in it) to

reveal another background. This
method is also used to insert talent
seamlessly into virtual sets via

LiveSet

™.

LiveMatte

™ controls are located in

an

expandable group in the

Image

tab of

the

Input Configuration

panel for

each

Switcher

source. To access

them, click the

Configure

button

(gear) that appears above an
onscreen monitor in the

All Monitors

tab.

The method by which part of the image is defined as transparent is generically referred to as chromakeying,
for its dependence on the color values (chrominance) of the video stream. (LiveMatte

’s mature algorithms

far exceed typical chromakeying techniques to provide real-time results

, but for our discussion it’s not

necessary to get into all of the details; suffice to say it works very well, and is easy to configure.)

Hint:

Crop controls in the Input Settings tab can serve as a ‘garbage matte’ tool for chromakey sources.

SECTION 13.1

UNDERSTANDING KEYING

Chromakeying has become an essential tool in video and
film production. Typically, foreground footage is shot in
front of a blue or green screen, and then that background
color

the

key

color

is treated as transparent, allowing

another image to be inserted.

FIGURE 173

FIGURE 174