What doesn't Primatte do?

We have highlighted three questions that are often asked about Primatte. This information will help you decide if Primatte is the tool you need. If you are still unclear about what Primatte does (or, doesn't) do, feel free to contact us.

Not a general masking tool.

Primatte Chromakey is not a general masking plugin. There are many third-party tools that are sold for non-specific masking situations.

Typically, these plugins concentrate on finding the edges around your foreground subject, which allows you to delete out the background imagery. In contrast, Primatte examines a photograph's color space. This allows Primatte to expertly define a narrow range of tones to extract.

TOP: NOT a Primatte job! The background of this scene do consist of mostly solid colors. However, Primatte removes a SINGLE color. The single color can have tonal variation, but the tones need the same base color.		TOP: NOT a Primatte job! This model is photographed against a busy color palette. She also wears a color that's in the scene behind her. Primatte extracts only one color, and that color should be unique from original background.

Doesn't create backgrounds.

Primatte is great for situations in which you want to substitute one background for another. It does NOT, however, create those new backgrounds. Instead, Primatte is the tool that creates a sophisticated mask to delete the background you want to get rid of.

By the way, there are many software packages that will create new digital backgrounds for you. One is our newest Photoshop plugin, Backdrop Designer. This tool ships with beautiful resolution-indpendent textures that look like muslin drapes and are customizable. [more] Otherwise, arm yourself with a camera, a scanner, and a little ingenuity to create your own custom backgrounds.   RIGHT: In the steps shown at right, Primatte is only responsible for Step #2. That is the extraction of a single color background. Primatte leaves a transparent area around your model, and it's up to you to generate a new background.

May not fix lighting issues.

Like all areas of photography, chromakey work needs good lighting and good props. If the photograph is too dark or bright, if your subject is not well-lit or the lighting is uneven, then Primatte will have difficulty creating a mask.

Primatte WILL create a mask, but that mask may be less than perfect. You will most likely need to do a little manual work (like garbage mattes and Photoshop retouching) before or after the keying process. [more]

LEFT: This photo was poorly lit and is too dark overall. The photo also has two bright hot spots. Primatte does not have good digital material to work with. The plugin will compensate, but probably not perfectly.

May not fix shadow issues.

After your photoshoot, you may notice a deep shadow cast along the backing screen. This shadow generally happens from the subject being placed too close to the chromakey screen. Primatte will do its best, but the plugin can't always properly define the shadow's tonal range (which you want to extract) as different from the dark tones that you want to retain in your subject.

LEFT: This is a good photo artistically, but it's not so great for chromakey work. The heavy shadow that is behind the girl's arms comes from her sitting too close to the screen. Our 'princess' is sitting only 1-2 feet away from the green screen. Ideally, your model will be positioned at least 4-6 feet away from the screen, and preferably up to 10 feet.

May not fix screen issues.

It is also possible that the backing screen you used was not ideal. For instance, the screen may have an uneven tone or deep wrinkles. This causes Primatte some difficulty in defining the range of color that it needs to remove.

LEFT: In this closeup, the green screen shows a texture that's quite varied in varied in tone. Unfortunately, this uneven tone hides the target color from Primatte.