I have filmed a few shots with a white back drop that doesn't cover the whole screen. Can anyone tell me how to 'fill in' the rest of the background with movie edit pro 2013?
Not a lot of information with your request as to what you plan to do with the white background. If you just want to increase the size of the white background to fill the screen, move your video and audio down to tracks 2 and 3. Then go to Effects, then Design Elements, Colour Swatch, then pick the white colour and move it into track 1. As long as the white background that you used is pure white you should have a white background where you can adjust it using size and position. If you want to use chroma key on the white background, that will be much more involved. When you use a background, it is always better to tell us what effect you are trying to achieve to get a more precise answer. If the white background you used is not the same white as the colour swatch, then you will also need to adjust the colour swatch to match the background that you used by clicking on the colour swatch object, then click video effects, then colour correction, and adjust the colour angle, colour correction, and saturation until they match the original "white" background.
It all depends on what you mean by . . . . white back drop that doesn't cover the whole screen . . . .
1. Is the background, eg room walls, actually in the shot at the left / right edges?
2. Or is the video actually filling the screen vertically but not horizontally ie the aspect ratio is different to the movie project.
Georges reply works for 2.
For 1 follow Georges suggestion re white swatches but place them on tracks below the video and adjust their size, position and colour balance to hide the exposed edges.
Alternatively use Movement, Size / position to increase the size of the video (slightly) and move it so that the exposed background is pushed off the edges of the screen - note this only works if the exposed background at the edges is relatively narrow.
Thanks a lot for your time, you've been a good help so far but I'm not quite there. I wasn't totally clear about what I'm trying to sort.
Yeh, it's basically a figure stood infront of a white paper backdrop which isn't large enough, so there's a gap on each side and above and below.
I've cropped the original so no background (from the room) is shown around the white backdrop and I've put the video in track 3. I am now trying to change the colour of what surrounds the cropped picture.
I don't seem to have a 'colour swatch' option under 'design elements', so I have used 'test images' and picked the white colour from there, and I've put that in track 1.
That seems to have worked but it is now obvious that the 'white' paper backdrop is actually grey and I can't workout how to match up (or get close to) the different shades of white. I have tried the colour correction under 'video effects' but that seems to offer different colours not darker shades of white.
I might have gone about it all wrong, which would be good to know if I have?! Otherwise I'll keep playing around, with what you have said in your replies.
. . . . the 'white' paper backdrop is actually grey . . . .
That would suggest the camera was on Auto exposure and the whole shot is darker then it should be.
In this case select the video and try :-
Using the Gamma adjustment under Brightness and Contrast, select Highs and adjust the slider as shown in the image below
or
Using the White point adjustment under Color correction clicking on the whte (grey) paper background
Then, for either method, adjust Brightness / contrast to get the subject correctly exposed.
It sounds like you are trying to use the Chroma key - white effect to superimpose the figure on a different background.
When shooting video for Chroma key always ensure that you set the camera exposure to manual, or use exposure lock, and meter from the subject.
If you can, evenly illuminate the background screen so that it is slightly overexposed - this will remove an evidence of creases / marks especially if using fabric as the background.
Depending on the colours in the subject, it is best to use a background screen colour which does not appear in the subject.
MEP can do the Chroma key effect on any colour if you use the Color button option which allows you to define a colour area in the preview monitor that should be transparent.
"For 1 follow Georges suggestion re white swatches but place them on tracks below the video and adjust their size, position and colour balance to hide the exposed edges."
You can't put the swatch on the track below the video. Here is a simple JPEG with a white background. With placing the swatch on the track below the main image you get this:
If you place it on the track above the video, you get this: