For this tutorial I’m using footage from Hollywood Camera Work which you can download here. You’ll want a camera that can record 444 colour resolution to a native or RAW format. The colour resolution, pixel resolution, green screen lighting and recording format play a huge role in the keying software’s ability to do it’s job. It should be said that the most important aspect of getting a good key is the one you might not be able to control: the footage. This will take our keys to a level above single pass keying and will still be quick enough to do even on the tightest deadlines.

For this tutorial we’ll only cover the essential three passes: the super tight garbage matte, the core matte and the edge matte. But good keys require multiple passes: garbage mattes, core mattes, edge mattes, spot fixes and yes, possibly rotoscoping. They’ll be forced to push the clip white and black sliders too far and end up with a harsh, unsatisfactory matte. In the context of After Effects that’s one Keylight effect on one piece of footage. Many times artists will try and do a key in one pass. In this tutorial we’re going to explore the triple pass keying method in After Effects. Work and time which you need to put into your shots to pull good quality mattes. But that’s very seldom the case, pulling a matte takes WORK. There’s a misconception that keying is an almost one click, five minute process and that if the results are unsatisfactory that there is something wrong with the keying software. I have often noticed that those who are new to compositing and VFX go about their green screen keying the wrong way.

After effects keylight 1.2 for black