There’s a green screen revolution underway in videography. No longer the domain of plaid-coated 1970’s TV weather forecasters, green screen backgrounds and backdrops now fuel major motion pictures like the recent Star Wars trilogy, 300, Sky Captain and Sin City. Hollywood producers are no longer forced to build large, expensive sets. Instead, they can use green screen backdrops and chromakey programs to build top-quality virtual sets on computers, saving millions of dollars in production costs.

But that’s only part of the story. The revolution has spread far beyond the major motion picture studios. Today, using revolutionary virtual sets and other innovations like elastic backgrounds, anyone with a fast computer, decent video camera and an inexpensive, portable green screen backdrop can produce dazzling, professional-level results. What’s more, they can do it on a shoestring budget. As a result, sophisticated solutions using green screen backgrounds and backdrops are showing up all over the place – in corporations, schools, low budget TV productions and a host of other applications.


CG4TV, had led this charge with their dazzling array of downloadable virtual sets and chromakey backdrops. These backgrounds range from news, weather and sports to lecture halls, churches, entertainment venues, talk shows and libraries. CG4TV backdrops offer amazing versatility with multiple camera angles and multi-layering from each angle. For example, news backgrounds may be used with our without anchor desks from various viewing angles. Alpha channels enable insertion of the customer’s own footage for yet more flexibility. If the desired backdrop is not available, CG4TV can customize one to meet customer needs.

Try Before You Buy

Tutorials and Free Test Downloads. As a unique service to customers, CG4TV makes it easy to “try before you buy.”

	Step-by-step green screen video tutorials explain how to get the most from our green screen backdrops and backgrounds using Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro.
	Free chromakey test files: full body virtual background and virtual backdrop with desk are available for download.

Users are amazed by how easy the green screen backgrounds are to use as well as by their high production quality. Even relative novices can produce professional, broadcast-quality videos. Questions not covered in the tutorials can be found on the FAQ page or by contacting CG4TV at info@cg4tv.com.

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Customer Stories

Eyewitness Everett. The format of our program is a news 'magazine style', comparable to 60 Minutes or other in depth, hard hitting news programs. The title is Eyewitness Everett. In the project development we used: Apple Final Cut Studio 2, Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Ultimatte AdvantEdge.

The biggest part of initiating a television program is finding the right aesthetic that fits the brand. Several days were spent doing 'green screen background research', looking at different software and design companies. It was quite clear which company had the best backdrops. CG4TV.com offered high resolution images that were vibrant and crisp to fit the professional, polished image we were looking for. The downloadable files with alpha channels allowed our graphic designer to add elements, depth and realism. Due to budget constraints, our only option was to do all keying in post production. This would allow us to tweak our graphics and fit them into the backgrounds.

Matching camera angles proved to be a challenge; we were looking to do more than just a flat straight angle. It took a good deal of time to set up lighting and get the cameras to match the backdrops, but once this was accomplished, the results were very impressive. Shadows, zooms, and pans were layered in Apple Motion. This added to our post production time, but increased the realism to another level. The green screen background has really added to the production value and feel of the program.

Sincerely, Stephen M. Kessinger, Broadcast Media Producer, Eyewitness Everett


This Week in Space. We needed an instant low-cost solution to make our brand new This Week In Space show look like national television, even if it is actually being produced on a laptop. CG4TV.com's store had the perfect green screen backgrounds and an animated backdrop for us. We now use it in every show for everything from titles to commercials.

In addition to this, animated green screen backdrops were a great solution for our internationally renowned television anchor Miles O'Brien. Due to his busy globetrotting schedule he cannot be at a real physical set at all. Now he simply carries an easy portable green screen with him, shoots his segments on the road, and we put him on the same set for consistency no matter where in the world he is that week.

Our minimal investment in CG4TV green screen backgrounds and backdrop paid off in leaps and bounds. Our show had a meteoric rise to the top place in iTunes, caused Google/YouTube to ask us to partner with them, and attracted multiple established media outlets to embed in our show.

David Waters, Producer and Correspondent, This Week In Space

Some FAQ’s About Green Screen Backgrounds

CG4TV: High Quality 3-D Graphics on a Modest Budget Among CG4TV’s clients are: - PBS - Discovery Channel - NASA - HBO - 20th Century FOX - FOX News - Mitsubishi - Intel - British Petroleum - Gillette - European Commission CG4TV green screen backgrounds are compatible with virtually all professional chromakeying and video editing solutions including Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects.

What color is best for chromakey: blue or green?
It really doesn’t matter. Just be sure to choose a color that is not prominent on your subject. For example, if your subject is wearing blue, then choose a green backdrop, and vice versa. Many green screen software packages allow you to use a screen of almost any color.

What’s the best chromakey background – fabric, paper or paint?
There are advantages to each. Fabric is washable, easy to transport and generally easiest to shoot. Highly transportable fold-up cloth units are available. Paper is initially cheaper, although replacement of torn or dirty sections will drive up cost. Also, it is bulky and hard to transport. Paper works best in the studio, rather than on location. Paint works well if you have a studio with an area that you can designate for green screen backdrop. You can set a constant size in your green screen, and a dirty spot on the wall can quickly be repaired with a can of paint.

What happens if my green screen background gets dirty?
If using cloth, clean it. Remove the soiled portion if using seamless paper. If you’ve got a painted background, get out the paintbrush! You can’t effectively compensate for dirt or stains in the background. Beware of wrinkles, too!

What is color spill?
Color spill occurs when sections of the foreground subject absorb or reflect color from the background screen. It shows up as a colored tinge around the foreground image and must be corrected after the shooting process. Color spill is particularly noticeable with semi-transparent areas such as blonde hair. It is also hardest to remove from these areas.

What about lighting?
Keep the lighting flat and even on the surface. You can do this by using two lights at 45 degree angles. Place them three to four feet in front of the screen. Use a light meter to ensure that the lighting is even. Be careful not to over-illuminate. How far away from the screen should I place my subject? Make sure that your subject is sufficiently far away (four to six feet, or even further) from the screen to prevent shadows and light spillover. Sufficient space also assures that you won’t be plagued with the green or blue halos of color spill.

How to Purchase a CG4TV Green Screen Backgrounds

Purchase is simple. Simply add the desired item to your shopping cart and then check out. It only takes a few mouse clicks, and download is instantaneous. CG4TV accepts all major credit cards.