[jeryst]

Always looking for something new to do, I decided that it might be time to dabble in some Chromakey effects.

I did a search but did not find much that I could use. There seems to be a lot of Chromakey software on the market, ranging from a few dollars to over a thousand.
Also, the reviews seem to contradict one another. One person says a particular product is great, another says its not worth the price.

I mostly photograph for pleasure, but occasionally do weddings, events, etc for people I know. Since I have had a lot of success with this,
I may branch out and do more of it.

Since there are so many helpful experts on this site, I thought I would ask for opinions here because I have gotten nothing but great advice in the past, so
here are my requirements.

Standalone program, not a plug-in.
Batch processing.
Relatively easy to use.
Handles transparent and semi-transparent areas.
Handles spillover light.
Handles intricate areas, like fly-away hair.
Ability to reposition/adjust background.

Because of my budget, I'd like to cap the price around $200, but that's not definite. I just dont have a lot more
to spend right now, and if I could get something that does a good job, and I have justification for spending more
later, than thats what I would do.

I know that the software scene constantly changes, so I would appreciate any recommendations
from those that have actually used or compared the software.

Thanks in advance.

[Wheatfield]

I suspect you should be checking into Adobe Photoshop, though it is way above your stated budget.

[kxr4trids]

You're looking for an all-inclusive program - I'm pretty sure Greenscreen Wizard is the only thing out there .. which is not to say it's without its faults (the biggest one being control of output resolution), but you might want to download the demo.

Primatte chromakey is the best for doing greenscreen, in terms of quality and control of output, particularly with tricky images, but it's an expensive plugin, and it's not intended for non-chromakey masking.

Mask Pro, Remask and Fluid Mask are cheaper all-purpose masking tools, but not as good at greenscreen.

Fluid mask is the only standalone, but without some of the features you wanted, and IMO (from noodling for a couple hours, not extensive experience) not quite as adept at greenscreen as the other two.

The unreleased successor to Mask Pro (which also works with Elements) is Perfect Mask is also a plugin but works with Lightroom and Elements - surely you have one of those already?

Photoshop CS5 is a great place to start, and the "refine edges" tool in CS5 is a huge improvement, but the people who say "refine edges" replaces the 3rd party software haven't tried it on difficult images.

It's worth keeping in mind that ultimately, the quality of your cut will come down to your control of the photographic scene, rather than your software. If you can keep things well lit and avoid frizz, any of these products will work for you. (elements+perfect mask~$150 to cs5+primatte~$600)

[jeryst]

Some of the stand alone programs I have found so far are...

123 Video Magic Pro
Green Screen Wizard
FXHome Photokey
Chroma Genie

Anyone ever use any of them?

[jeryst]

Just in case anyone wants to know, I downloaded demos of these programs and tried them out.
I downloaded some chromakey photos from Google images as test photos, since I dont have any of my own.
I selected some normal looking photos, plus problematic photos that had fly-away hair, transparent and semi-transparent areas, reflections, green clothing, etc.

I then used these test photos with some of my photos as backgrounds. Here is a very quick rundown of my tests. Please do not take my word as gospel, but
download demos and try them out for yourself. And remember that I used the standalone versions of these products. The Photshop plugins may perform differently.

123 Video Magic Pro ($100) - Only did a decent job on the most basic photos. Did not do well on the problematic photos at all.
The user interface wasnt bad, but after I saw the results, I didnt bother going any further.

Green Screen Wizard Pro ($200) - Handled the normal photos fine. Some of the problematic photos required extra manual cleanup.
The user interface was simple, and a lot of features were available, but after seeing the somewhat poor
results on the problematic photos, I stopped there.

FXHome PhotoKey 4 Pro ($299) - Handled everything I threw at it without any problems. Tons of features, like being able to alter the backgrounds, batch processing, etc.
User interface was a little confusing at first, but made sense once I played with it for a bit.

Chroma Genie ($100-$700) - Handled everything I threw at it with the exception of a photo that did not have an unbroken strip of green at the top. Best user interface of them all.
This program has some cool features that the others dont, (Can batch process with multiple backgrounds), but it lacks some of the artistic features that the others have,
like being able to alter the backgrounds. I called the support number to get the demo key, and had a pleasant discussion with the developer. I would have picked this
software except for two reasons. First, the interface seemed a little buggy as it sometimes didnt do what I wanted it to do. Could have been me, but
I didnt have any such problems with the other software. Second, only the most expensive version ($700) offers batch processing, which is a feature I want.

My Conclusion: I am going to buy the FXHome PhotoKey 4 Pro ($299) to start out with, but if Chroma Genie ever adds batch processing to its lower end products, I will buy it as well because I
really like how the pictures look, as well as some of its unique features.