Hi

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.

HTH

John

Hi George and John,

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.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Rob

Hi

. . . . 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 :-

1. Using the Gamma adjustment under Brightness and Contrast, select Highs and adjust the slider as shown in the image below
   
   
   
   or
    
2. 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.

HTH

John