Needle n Thread

[Martyn]

Still no bugs in the garden and now it's raining again. Have to make do with experimenting with extension tubes and reversed lens on the table.

 

Full set of extension tubes, reversed 28mm lens, iso100, 1/200 sec, f16, manual flash full power. No cropping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul]

Good result for the setup but if you don't mind me saying, the green background is a bit "loud". 

 

Sharp. Especially at the end that's in the blu tac...

 

 

Paul.

[ChrisLumix]

Good result for the setup but if you don't mind me saying, the green background is a bit "loud". 

 

Sharp. Especially at the end that's in the blu tac...

 

 

Paul.

 

On the other hand, a"green screen" makes it phenomenally easy to change in Photoshop using the Magic Wand selection. And it is what film-makers use when actors need to play opposite some CGX that doesn't even exist yet.

[Paul]

That's right enough Chris.

 

There was software out called Green Screen Wizard that made the task even easier than it sounds.

 

Paul.

[ChrisLumix]

That's right enough Chris.

 

There was software out called Green Screen Wizard that made the task even easier than it sounds.

 

Paul.

 

LOL. What's easier than clicking the Magic Wand on the green, then copying to a new layer?!

[Paul]

I think the principle is to just copy your image into the software and it does it for you. No need for selections, feathering, or owt else.

Paul.

[ChrisLumix]

I think the principle is to just copy your image into the software and it does it for you. No need for selections, feathering, or owt else.

Paul.

 

Yes, but you'd have to select the portion of your image you wanted to be 'green screened', so you'd have to select SOMETHING!

[Barbara]

Yes, but you'd have to select the portion of your image you wanted to be 'green screened', so you'd have to select SOMETHING!

 

With Photo key it does everything for you, thats the whole idea of a green screen no messing around 

 

[Paul]

With Photo key it does everything for you, thats the whole idea of a green screen no messing around 

 

 

GSW does the same. Might even be the name of the software now from back then.

 

Paul.

[ChrisLumix]

Hmm. I can't see much overhead in Photoshop from just clicking the green with the Magic Wand tool, to be honest. You'd also have the advantage (in Photoshop) that you have a powerful array of tools to match the colour/tone/texture/exposure/ etc, of the two images. I note that the reviewer on YouTube carefully used two images with similar values. 

 

I personally couldn't justify the extra expense of additional software for so little added value, but that's just my opinion of course.

[Barbara]

I am on a very tight budget.  Photo key was a freebie and I certainly found this a lot easier than using the extract tool in PSE9, I haven't used it yet except to try it on Martyn's image, here I have just plonked it onto one of my textures

 

I always think Photo editing something of an adventure,  if you have the chance to give a bit of  Free  software a go and don't, you will never know if it will compliment what you already have 

[ChrisLumix]

I am on a very tight budget.  Photo key was a freebie and I certainly found this a lot easier than using the extract tool in PSE9, I haven't used it yet except to try it on Martyn's image, here I have just plonked it onto one of my textures

needle_2.jpg

 

I always think Photo editing something of an adventure,  if you have the chance to give a bit of  Free  software a go and don't, you will never know if it will compliment what you already have 

 

Sorry Barbara - I think you've misunderstood me? All along I've not been talking about the Magic EXTRACTOR (which is a useful tool for extracting objects from complex backgrounds, but it's quite time-consuming placing all those pink and blue dots over your image, then you have to - inevitably - refine it when PSE doesn't get it right first time...).

No, I was talking about the Magic WAND - you know, the toolbar option that looks like a conjurer's wand? Using that, you just click once on the green background, PSE selects the whole area in that colour, you then just backspace-delete and save your image in a format that supports Alpha transparency (TIFF? PNG?), and there it is, to use wherever and whenever you want. You don't even need a green screen - it can be white, yellow, pink, blue - whatever. As long as it's a single colour, the Wand will select it.

 

 

There it is - though whether it's uploaded as a transparency depends on the forum software. (ETA: oh good, it has. PSE6 didn't get rid of all the green around the needle, but I could have increased the wand's sensitivity and it would have.)