Why do I keep a cardboard cutout of King Charles in my green screen studio?
Well, no offense to Chuck, but I shopped around and he was the cheapest life-sized cardboard cutout I could find.
And why do I want a cardboard cutout in my studio?
When I give virtual presentations, my camera runs through a Black Magic Design camera switcher.
That allows me to switch cameras with the touch of a button, and it also chromakeys my video stream. In English, that means it makes everything green transparent so my slides can show behind me.
One advantage of this is that my computer—the one I broadcast from—sees this whole setup as a webcam. If a client wants me to present on ZOOM or TEAMS or Google MEET or WEBEX, I don't have to worry about whether a particular platform supports virtual backgrounds. My video gets superimposed on top of my slides before the signal ever hits the videoconferencing software.
So back to King Charles…
When I adjust the chromakey settings in the switcher control panel—and they're a bit more complex and versatile than the automatic “virtual backgrounds” you may be used to in ZOOM—I have to make sure the logo on my shirt isn't transparent and that I don't get “green snow” where the machine can't distinguish between the foreground and the background.
That used to mean walking up to the green screen and making sometimes-dozens of adjustments before I was happy with the image.
Now I just put King Charles in front of the green screen. He models for me while I dial my settings in and I no longer have to struggle to be in front of the computer and on the stage at the same time.
If you give virtual presentations beyond “plug and play,” a cardboard stand-in can save you time and hassle.
Long live the king!
