Exercise 5 · Composite the Key

Project 3 · Composite Shot · Week 7 · Compositing / Keying · ~45 min

Practice goal: Build a layered composite (blend modes, pre-comp, adjustment layer, glow), then key a green-screen subject into it and ground it.

Set up: New project. A background clip/photo, one light/texture element, and a free green-screen clip.

Steps

  1. New composition, 1920×1080, 30 fps, 5 s; name it Main; add a background clip/photo.
  2. Add a light/texture element on top (stock light leak, smoke, or a Fractal Noise solid); cycle its Blend Mode (Screen, Add, Overlay) — note how blacks drop with Screen/Add.
  3. Reorder layers to see stacking; lower the top layer's Opacity to taste.
  4. Select the related layers and Pre-compose (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+C); rename the pre-comp.
  5. Add an Adjustment Layer on top with a subtle Lumetri or Curves to unify everything beneath; add a Glow (Effect ▸ Stylize ▸ Glow) on a bright element.
  6. Now key a subject in: add a green-screen clip above the background.
  7. Apply Effect ▸ Keying ▸ Keylight (1.2); use the Screen Colour eyedropper on the green.
  8. Set View to “Screen Matte”; adjust Clip Black / Clip White until the matte is solid (no gray holes or fringe); return to “Final Result.”
  9. Add a garbage mask to crop rig/edges; reduce spill (Keylight despill or Advanced Spill Suppressor).
  10. Scale/position the subject so it sits believably in the plate.
  11. Add a contact shadow: duplicate the subject, fill black, flip/squash beneath the feet, blur, lower opacity.
  12. Add an adjustment layer with Lumetri to color-match subject to background; check the edges, then save & render.

Free tutorials & references

Done when

A layered composite (blend modes, pre-comp, adjustment layer, glow) holds together, and a clean, spill-free key sits in the plate — grounded with a contact shadow and color-matched.

Files

Pittman_Ex05_CompositeTheKey.aep → render Pittman_Ex05_CompositeTheKey.mov · versions Pittman_Ex05_CompositeTheKey_001.aep

This drill is your in-class activity for the week; it ladders directly into the project. Naming: see the course's file-naming convention.