Make masks in minutes.

Quickstart for Primatte Chromakey 2.0
Get started with Primatte 2.0. This step-by-step guide explains how to quickly create a mask.
[ from: Digital Anarchy] f/x tools for revolutionaries

www.digitalanarchy.com

Primatte Chromakey 2.0 : Quickstart Guide
Quickstart Guide for Primatte 2.0
This Quickstart Guide is an overview of the Primatte 2.0 interface and process. Along with is simple to use but its tools are dierent than Photoshops and therefore need some and just need to nd the functions they expect. our introductory video tutorials, this is a fast way to learn how Primatte works. The plugin explanation. This Quickstart also great for folks who are familiar with chromakey software

About this tutorial

Primatte can extract a foreground from any solid color (though blue or green are typically used). To make things simple, we will refer to the background screen color as blue. For more clarication about specic tools and concepts, please refer to the full Primatte manual and detailed video tutorials available at www.digitalanarchy.com. To follow along, please download this Zip le: www.anarchyunderground.net/tutes/ primatte20_quick.zip. This le contains two Photoshop les; one is a single layer le, the other is a multi-layer le.

Table of Contents

About this tutorial Step 1: Select the subject layer Step 2: Unlock the Background Step 3: Launch Primatte plugin Step 5: Look in Mask View 9
Step 4: Choose blue with Select tool Step 6: Clean up Background Step 6: Clean up Foreground Step 7: Look in Comp View Step 8: Evaluate color spill Variety of Spill tools Use BG/FG in Solid Areas
Step 9: Try the Spill Sponge Have questions?
Step 10: Use the Spill Minus
2007, digital anarchy : f/x tools for revolutionaries
Primatte 3.0: Make masks in minutes.
Step 1: Select the subject layer
Open up the Photoshop le of your bluescreen image. Select the layer that contains the subject to be masked. In the photograph called blue girl multiple.psd, there are multiple layers. The two bottom layers are textures that will act as new backgrounds once the subject is surrounded by transparent pixels. You want to click to select the topmost layer of the girl against a blue screen. In the photograph called blue girl single.psd, there is only one layer, that of the girl against a blue screen. Obviously this is the layer that youll select. However, rst you need to edit that layer to allow your Photoshop le to support transparency. You must do this BEFORE working with Primatte.
The blue girl multiple.psd le.
Step 2: Unlock the Background
In the single layer le, that Background layer has a Lock icon. This layer is like a piece of paper thats glued down. You need to un-glue that Background layer for Primatte to work properly. To do so, in your Photoshop Layers palette, double-click the Background layer. You will get a dialog box; just click OK. Your layer now reads as Layer 0 instead of Background and does not have a Lock icon. Now your Photoshop layer can support the transparency that Primatte needs. NOTE: You do NOT have to go through this process with a Photoshop le if the bluescreen layer is not a Background layer.
The blue girl single.psd le.
Step 3: Launch Primatte plugin
Ok, now were ready to use Primatte! From Photoshops Filter menu, select Digital Anarchy> Primatte 2.0. Primatte opens up and covers the Photoshop interface. Masking in Primatte is very easy. Its essentially a three-step process using the Select tool, Clean BG tool and Clean FG tool. Afterwards, depending upon how much color spill is in your original photo, you will use some of the Spill Removal tools to clean up the masked image.
Step 4: Choose blue with Select tool

By default, the Select tool is active and Comp (Composite) View is turned on. To generate your initial mask in Primatte, click in the blue background. Its best to click a medium tone blue if possible. This is Step 1 of 3 in creating a Primatte mask. You will immediately see a color shift. Thats because Primatte now recognizes blue as the color range to delete. Primatte probably hasnt designated all of the pixels correctly on the rst pass. We can easily x that.
Step 5: Look in Mask View
First, lets look at how our mask is building itself. At top left of the Primatte interface, click on the Mask View button. This shows a grayscale representation of the mask. Black shows the pixels that are now transparent. White shows the pixels that are opaque and fully retained. Gray tones show the pixels that will be retained to some degree. Dark gray means the pixels are more transparent (closer to black) and the underlying imagery will be kept to a lesser degree. Light gray means the pixels are less transparent (closer to white) and will be kept to a greater degree.
2007, digital anarchy : f/x tools for revolutionaries | Primatte 3.0: Make masks in minutes.

OPAQUE

TRANSPARENT
Step 6: Clean up Background
To improve your mask, click on the Clean BG (Background) button. This button cleans up any pixels in the blue screen that should have been designated as transparent, but simply werent on the rst pass. Stay in Mask View. Click and drag along the areas in the bluescreen that are not completely black. This tells Primatte to make those pixels transparent. You want all of the blue background pixels to be transparent. This is Step 2 of 3 in creating a Primatte mask.
Click & drag in gray area Now the background area is fully transparent (previews as black)
Step 6: Clean up Foreground
Still in Mask View, lets do a similar pass on the foreground subject, our female model. Choose the Clean FG (Foreground) button. Now click and drag along any areas of the foreground object that are not completely white. This is Step 3 of 3 in creating a Primatte mask. You want the subject to preview as white in Mask View with one important exception. Any areas that are meant to be transparent or partially transparent (like hair, shadows, glass) should remain gray.
2007, digital anarchy : f/x tools for revolutionaries |
Click & drag in the gray areas
Now the foreground area is fully opaque (previews as white)

Use BG/FG in Solid Areas

To retain gray, you should always click/drag the Clean FG and Clean BG tools in solid areas of your photograph. Do NOT sample along the edges of your subject. It is likely that the edges of your subject contain some transparency value. Sampling a transparent area for Primatte to use in building its mask will throw o the color model it is using (which is blue vs. all other colors in the image). Similarly, your photograph may contain interior imagery that is semitransparent. For instance, your model is wearing a sheer blouse or holding a clear object. (In our example at right, the model is holding a see-through plastic umbrella.) In situations where the bluescreen shows through the subject, you should not let the Clean FG or Clean BG tools touch the areas that contain transparency.

Step 7: Look in Comp View
Your mask is almost complete! Click on the Comp View button to view a preview of the composite of your masked subjecct. If your Photoshop le contains other layers, your subject may preview against the bottommost layer. For this to happen, the Composite Against Background Layer popup option needs to be turned on (next to the Back View button). * If your Photoshop le only contains that bluescreen layer, your subject may preview against a solid color. For this to happen, the Composite Against Color popup option needs to be turned on (next to the Back View button). By default, this is neutral gray. You can change the color of that preview through the popup menus color swatch. * If your Photoshop le only contains that bluescreen layer, your subject may preview against a gray-and-white checkerboard. This checkerboard shows transparency and can be turned on/o in Photoshops Preferences> Transparency & Gamut settings.

Mask View

Solid Color

Photoshop layer

Transparent pixels
Step 8: Evaluate color spill
Now that the subject is masked, you may see some color spill along her edges. Spill typically shows up in semi-transparent areas like hair, or shiny areas like patent leather shoes, or along other parts of your subject if the lighting was set up incorrectly. This is because during your photoshoot, light from the blue background screen bounced o the screen onto the model. (In our example, the models dark hair has a purplish tinge from the blue screen.) That spill is easily xed with one or more of Primattes Spill Removal tools.

Variety of Spill tools

There are many Spill Removal tools to choose from in Primatte. Each tool works a little dierently and the correct tool (or tools) for a particular photograph depends upon how much spill is present and where it appears. We will briey cover two of these tools in this Quickstart Guide. For more information about using Spill Removal tools, please watch our Spill Removal tutorial movies at www.digitalanarchy.com/primatte/primatte_tutes.html. You can read detailed information about each tool in the Primatte product manual, also available from that web page.
Step 9: Try the Spill Sponge
To remove the extra blue in our models hair, lets try out the Spill Sponge tool. This is typically the Spill Removal tool that we try rst. The Spill Sponge is very powerful because it has a high threshold; that is, it looks for a wide range of blue tones to remove. Select the tool, then click on the primary area tinged with blue. By clicking once or twice with the Spill Sponge, the blue spill should be removed. However, if you only have a slight amount of spill, then the Spill Sponge may remove TOO MUCH color. Its possible that the Sponge will overcorrect for blue and remove other tones from the rest of your photo. If too much color is removed, hit the Undo button to go back to your original image. Then try another tool with a lower threshhold, like the Spill Minus button.

Drag with Spill Sponge

Over-correction shifts colors
Lets try out the Spill Minus tool for this blue spill. This tool will remove a smaller range of the blue than the Spill Sponge. In fact, the way to use the Spill Minus tool is to click/drag multiple times along an area until you see a noticeable shift.
If you go too far with Spill Minus, you can undo in one of two ways. Either click the Undo button or click the Spill Plus button. Both methods will back up as many steps as needed.

Drag with Spill Minus

Blue spill is removed
Step 11: Render your mask
Your mask is nished! Just click the Apply button (which looks like a checkmark) at top right of the Primatte screen. This will render the mask into your Photoshop le, deleting the blue and leaving your subject surrounded by transparent pixels. Now you can add new layers and composite in a new custom image. Primatte will remember the last mask that you created. When you reopen Primatte to work on your next photograph, the settings for the previous mask will apply. Either this will be a convenient, fast x for your next photograph, OR the settings will be completely wrong. Thats easy to x. Just click the Reset button to forget those mask settings and start from scratch.

Have questions?

Have questions? Just email sales@digitalanarchy.com or call us during standard business hours at (415) 586-8434.

Make masks in minutes.

Quickstart for Primatte Chromakey 3.0
Get started with Primatte 3.0. This step-by-step guide explains how to quickly create a mask.
[ from: Digital Anarchy] f/x tools for revolutionaries

www.digitalanarchy.com

Primatte Chromakey 3.0 : Quickstart Guide
Quickstart Guide for Primatte 3.0
This Quickstart Guide is an overview of the Primatte 3.0 interface and process. Along with is simple to use but its tools are dierent than Photoshops and therefore need some and just need to nd the functions they expect. our introductory video tutorials, this is a fast way to learn how Primatte works. The plugin explanation. This Quickstart also great for folks who are familiar with chromakey software

About this tutorial

Primatte can extract a foreground from any solid color (though blue or green are typically used). To make things simple, we will refer to the background screen color as green. For more clarication about specic tools and concepts, please refer to the full Primatte 3.0 manual and watch the video tutorials available at www.digitalanarchy.com. To follow along, please download this Zip le: www.anarchyunderground.net/tutes/ primatte30_quick.zip. This le contains a few Photoshop les. One green screen photograph has been saved out twice as a single layer le and a multi-layer le. You can use either le for this exercise. Theres also an other green folder containing more photos from the same photoshoot. Well use these photos later in the Quickstart steps.

Table of Contents

Select the subject layer Unlock the Background Launch Primatte 3.0 plugin AutoMask reality check! 8 Evaluate the color spill A variety of Spill tools 10
Approach A: The AutoMask button Preview in Mask View
Try the Spill Sponge Use the Spill Minus Render your mask

Check with Front View

Approach B: The AutoMask button Clear mask with Reset button Step 1 of 3: Select tool Step 2 of 3: CleanBG tool Step 3 of 3: CleanFG tool Preview in Comp View Keep transparency as gray

Toggle Comp options

Use AutoMask for Action/Batch Have questions?
2007, digital anarchy : f/x tools for revolutionaries
Primatte 3.0: Make masks in minutes.

Select the subject layer

Open up the Photoshop le of your green screen image. Select the layer that contains the subject to be masked. In the photograph called green girl multiple.psd, there are multiple layers. The two bottom layers are textures that will act as new backgrounds once the subject is surrounded by transparent pixels. You want to click to select the topmost layer of the girl against a green screen. In the photograph called green girl single.psd, there is only one layer, that of the girl against a green screen. Obviously this is the layer that youll select. However, rst you need to edit that layer to allow your Photoshop le to support transparency. You must do this BEFORE working with Primatte.

Unlock the Background

In the single layer le, that Background layer has a Lock icon. This layer is like a piece of paper thats glued down. You need to un-glue that Background layer for Primatte to work properly. To do so, in your Photoshop Layers palette, double-click the Background layer. You will get a dialog box; just click OK. Your layer now reads as Layer 0 instead of Background and does not have a Lock icon. Now your Photoshop layer can support the transparency that Primatte needs. NOTE: You do NOT have to go through this process with a Photoshop le if the green screen layer is not a Background layer.
The green girl multiple.psd le.
The green girl single.psd le.
Launch Primatte 3.0 plugin
Ok, now were ready to use Primatte! From Photoshops Filter menu, select Digital Anarchy> Primatte 3.0. Primatte opens up and covers the Photoshop interface. You wont be able to use Photoshops menus and tools until you apply or cancel Primatte. Masking in Primatte is very easy. Your rst approach should be the AutoMask tool, which is new to Primatte 3.0. If that single automated button doesnt create the mask you need, then you will do a simple three-step process using the Select, Clean BG and Clean FG tools. Afterwards, depending upon how much color spill is in your original photo, you will use some of the Spill Removal tools to clean up the masked image.

Approach A: The AutoMask button
By default, the Select tool is active. But the fastest way to generate a mask is clicking on the AutoMask button. You do NOT click inside the image area; just click the AutoMask button. Primatte will immediately mask your image. A settings box will appear. Usually, you dont need to change the default setting, which is a 40% Radius. If youre not getting good results, however, you can make adjustments. Radius controls how much of the background Primatte will get rid of. The usable Radius range is really between 30% and 80%. Setting Radius too low will result in too much green/blue being left around the edges. Setting it too high will cause ne detail, like hair, to be lost. Once youve changed the Radius, Primatte will re-render AutoMask and produce a dierent key.

Primatte rst opens

AutoMask is chosen
If you want to eyeball each image but let AutoMask do most of the work, then checkmark AlwaysOn. If this option is turned on, whenever you load the Primatte interface, AutoMask will automatically be applied to your photo without you doing anything. Primatte does the work and youre just checking to make sure everything looks right.

AutoMask reality check!

Something to keep in mind is that AutoMask does NOT work on all photos. Its designed to work on head/shoulder and length shots, and will not work on full length shots. Also, the images need to be shot with excellent chromakey techniques. One of the ways AutoMask determines the correct color is by analyzing the right, left and top of an image. Its important the green/blue screen covers the entire background. If the wall behind the green screen is showing along the sides or top, youll need to crop the image before AutoMask will function correctly. When AutoMask does work correctly, your photograph will mask immediately without any extra steps. As youll see later in this Quickstart Guide, the most powerful use of AutoMask is tied into Batch processing. Run a Batch Action in Photoshop, select a folder full of images, and end up with a folder full of properly masked images.

Preview in Mask View

Lets look at how our mask has built. By default, Primatte displays in Comp View, which shows a composite of the subject and background. Lets change that preview to Mask View. At top left of the Primatte interface, click on the Mask View button. This opens a grayscale representation of the mask. The results: AutoMask has done an excellent job! Lets look at the breakdown. The green screen area is identied as black. Black shows the pixels that are now transparent.

TRANSPARENT OPAQUE

The subject is identied as white. White shows the pixels that are opaque and fully retained.
There are some gray values along the edges of our model where her hair becomes wispy. Gray show the pixels that will be retained to some degree. Dark gray means the pixels are more transparent (closer to black) and the underlying imagery will be kept to a lesser degree.
Light gray means the pixels are less transparent (closer to white) and will be kept to a greater degree.
Approach B: The AutoMask button
Suppose AutoMask didnt work properly on your photograph? Our sample photo is well shot and therefore pulled a great mask. If the AutoMask button DOESNT work to your satisfaction, or if your green screen photo isnt a candidate for AutoMask (see uAutoMask reality check on previous page), then you will move to the second method of masking in Primatte. This is a simple 3-step process.
Clear mask with Reset button
Before you redo your mask, you will need to clear out the mask settings currently in Primatte. Thats easy to x. Just click the Reset button (along the right side) to forget those mask settings and start from scratch.

Step 1 of 3: Select tool

First, go back to Comp (Composite) View, then click the Select tool. To generate your initial mask in Primatte, click in the green background. Its best to click on a medium tone green. This is Step 1 of 3 in creating a Primatte mask. You will immediately see a color shift. Thats because Primatte now recognizes green as the color range to delete. Primatte probably hasnt designated all of the pixels correctly on the rst pass. We can easily x that.
After Select tool, Comp View
After Select tool, Mask View
Step 2 of 3: CleanBG tool
To improve your mask, click on the Clean BG (Background) button. This button cleans up any pixels in the green screen that should have been designated as transparent, but simply werent on the rst pass. Switch to Mask View. Click and drag along the areas in the green screen that are white or gray. This tells Primatte to make those pixels transparent. You want all of the green background pixels to be transparent. This is Step 2 of 3 in creating our mask.
After Clean BG tool, Mask View
After CleanFG tool, Mask View

Final results

Step 3 of 3: CleanFG tool
Still in Mask View, lets do a similar pass on the foreground subject, our female model. Choose the Clean FG (Foreground) button. Now click and drag along any areas of the foreground object that are not completely white. This is Step 3 of 3 in creating the mask. Be careful to only click/drag in solid areas of your photograph. Do NOT sample along the edges of your subject. For the Clean FG and Clean BG tools, you must sample areas that do not contain a transparency value.

Next clicks

Keep transparency as gray
You want the subject to preview as white in Mask View with one important exception. Any areas that are meant to be fully or partially transparent (like hair, shadows, glass) should remain gray.

First clicks

This is the case whether you are using the AutoMask tool or our 3-tool method. To retain gray, you must be careful where you click/drag the Clean FG and Clean BG tools It is likely that the edges of your subject contain some transparency value. Sampling a transparent area for Primatte to use in building its mask will throw o the color model it is using (which is green vs. all other colors in the image). Therefore, you should always sample from inside or around your subject, NOT along the edges. Similarly, your photograph may contain interior imagery that is semi-transparent. For instance, your model is wearing a sheer blouse or holding a clear object. (In our example at right, the model is holding a see-through glass bottle.) In situations where the green screen shows through the subject, you should not let Clean FG or Clean BG touch the areas that contain transparency.

Dont click here

Dont click here either

Preview in Comp View

Your mask is almost complete! Click on the Comp View button to view a preview of the composite of your masked subject. If your Photoshop le contains other layers, your subject may preview against the bottommost layer. For this to happen, the Composite Against Background Layer popup option needs to be turned on (next to the Back View button). * If your Photoshop le only contains that green screen layer, your subject may preview against a solid color. For this to happen, the Composite Against Color popup option needs to be turned on (next to the Back View button). By default, this is neutral gray. You can change the color of that preview through the popup menus color swatch.

Shows bottommost layer

* If your Photoshop le only contains that green screen layer, your subject may preview against a gray-and-white checkerboard. This checkerboard shows transparency and can be turned on/o in Photoshops Preferences> Transparency & Gamut settings.

Shows solid color

Shows transparent pixels

Evaluate the color spill

Now that the subject is masked, you may see some color spill along her edges. Color spill is generated during your photoshoot, as lighting bounces o the green background screen and onto the model. Spill typically shows up in semi-transparent areas like hair, or shiny areas like patent leather shoes, or along other parts of your subject if the lighting was set up incorrectly. (In our example, the models blonde hair has a greenish tinge.) That spill can be treated with one or more of Primattes Spill Removal tools. The less spill you have, the more easily its xed.

Greenish tinge around wispy hair edges

A variety of Spill tools

There are many Spill Removal tools to choose from in Primatte. Each tool works a little dierently and the correct tool (or tools) for a particular photograph depends upon how much spill is present and where it appears. We will briey cover two of these tools in this Quickstart Guide. For more info about Spill Removal, please watch our Spill Removal tutorial movies at www.digitalanarchy. com/primatte/primatte_tutes.html. You can read detailed descriptions of each tool in the Primatte product manual, also available from that web page.
2007, digital anarchy : f/x tools for revolutionaries | Primatte 3.0: Make masks in minutes.

Try the Spill Sponge

To remove the extra green in our models hair, lets try out the Spill Sponge tool. This is typically the Spill Removal tool that we try rst. The Spill Sponge is very powerful because it has a high threshold; that is, it looks for a wide range of green tones to remove. Select the tool, then click on the primary area tinged with green. By clicking once or twice with the Spill Sponge, the green spill should be removed. However, if you only have a slight amount of spill, then the Spill Sponge may remove TOO MUCH color. Its possible that the Sponge will overcorrect for green and remove other tones from the rest of your photo. If too much color is removed, hit the Undo button to go back to your original image. Then try another tool with a lower threshold, like the Spill Minus button.
After Spill Sponge, Comp View, Comp Shows Layer After Spill Sponge, Comp View, Comp Shows Color
Over-correction with Spill Sponge. The hair is too bright and a little pixelated because color values have shifted. Skin tones have also shifted a little, since they look a little too shiny.
Use Undo button to remove the over-correction.
How can you tell if the tonal values have shifted too much during spill correction? One trick is to use the Front View button. If you toggle between the Front and Comp views, you will be able to detect a dierence in color between the masked and original images.

Use the Spill Minus

Lets try out the Spill Minus tool for this green spill. The Spill Minus tool is a great option when the color spill is too light for Spill Sponge to work eectively. This tool will remove a smaller range of the green. In fact, the way to use the Spill Minus tool is to click/drag multiple times along an area until you see a noticeable shift. If you go too far with Spill Minus, you can undo in one of two ways. Either click the Undo button or click the Spill Plus button. Both methods will back up as many steps as needed.
A good way of checking whether your spill is corrected is make use of the Comp Views options. Toggle between Comp Shows Layer and dierent color choices for Comp Shows Color. The visual shift in background will help you detect the success of spill removal.

Render your mask

Your mask is nished! Just click the Apply button (which looks like a checkmark) at top right of the Primatte screen. This will render the mask into your Photoshop le, deleting the green and leaving your subject surrounded by transparent pixels. Now you can add new layers and composite in a new custom image. Primatte will remember the last mask that you created. When you reopen Primatte to work on your next photograph, the settings for the previous mask will apply. Either this will be a convenient, fast x for your next photograph OR the settings will be completely wrong. Thats easy to x. Just click the Reset button to forget those mask settings and start from scratch.
Use AutoMask for Action/Batch
Now that youve quickly and successfully created a mask, you can tie Primatte 3.0 into something even more powerful. Primatte fully supports Actions and Batch processes in Photoshop. The real power of the AutoMask tool is its ability to work with group of photographs that were taken under similar lighting and environmental conditions.
This group of photos is perfect for Batching
For use with Actions, you want to checkmark AlwaysOn. When AlwaysOn is turned on, Primatte analyzes each image separately, pulling the best mask for that image. The settings for the previous image are discarded as soon as the new image is loaded. Once youve rendered your Primatte mask, the Primatte interface closes and youre back in Photoshop. In Photoshops Action palette, tie Primattes mask settings into an Action by running AutoMask on one photo in the group. Next, tie that Action into a Batch process. Select a folder full of images, run your Batch Action, and end up with a folder full of properly masked images. This is an extremely powerful workow and wonderful for people who work with a large volume of photos, like school portraits. For more info about automating Primatte and photo groups, please check out our tutorials at www.digitalanarchy. com/primatte/primatte_tutes.html. You can also check the Photoshop Help menu to learn more about Actions and Batch processing.

Have questions?

We hope youve enjoyed this Quickstart Guide, or at least learned something useful. Have questions? Just email sales@digitalanarchy.com or call us during regular business hours at (415) 586-8434. Thanks! -The Anarchists