Final Cut Green Screen Keyer Changes

The items I notice:

• Gatekeeper disabled - Gatekeeper security protection is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.
• Apple security disabled - Apple security software is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.
• No TimeMachine backups
• 3rd party Intego anti-virus is installed
• Google's keystone and autoupdate software is installed

I don't know if Etrecheck is accurately reporting that the built-in security software on Sonoma is not running since there is an XProtect update listed on 10/2. I don't have any experience with Intego, but if you feel the need to run 3rd party anti-malware software, long-time contributors here recommend Malware Bytes that is only run on demand, not installed to run continuously in the background as it appears is the case with Intego.

Google's autoupdating software has caused issues with the Mac's video subsystem, breaking FCP and requiring a reinstall from the AppStore after removing everything Google scatters across your drive. See https://chromeisbad.com for instructions on how to completely remove. Simply trashing Chrome.app is not enough. If a Chrome-like browser is necessary, Edge has been recommended by others here.

If not Time Machine, be sure to use another backup strategy.

If it were me, I'd uninstall Intego and use Malware Bytes instead, then uninstall all Google's cruft, reboot and reinstall FCP from the AppStore.

There is nothing wrong with FCP 10.8.1 per se as for a test I did this on my 2017 iMac and M2 Mac mini.

The key took instantly so either there is something wrong with your computer or modus operandi.

I suspect the latter. Could you post a screen capture video of how you are adding the key?

PS. The only thing that appears to be different is that my Spill Level is only 46% whereas yours is 73%.

Could you also drop your clip in iMovie and see how the green screen behaves there.

Yes, fails completely on the video file. I works if I optimize the media. The effect has to be applied after the media is optimized.

Not sure this will help but it's always an easy thing to try when things behave oddly: reset FCP settings. Hold Option and Command while launching FCP and choose Delete Settings/Preferences. It will open the default Untitled library. Re-open the library you were working on, set the Preferences back to the way you like them (disable background rendering, reset Import to Leave Files in Place, etc.) and see if the issue has been resolved.

The latest FCP version is 10.8.1. Always make a zip backup of FCP before upgrading in case you need to revert. Have you tried creating a new library in 10.7.x to test the green screen behavior?

Over the years with various versions of FCP I have had the occasional glitch with green screen. . . . not keyed properly or transparent image etc.

Deleting the key and trying again has usually cured it.

It's probably caused by peculiarities of my system or modus operandi.

Do follow terryb's advice and let us know how it goes.

FWIW, I downloaded your sample image, applied the keyer and it worked perfectly (I am running 10.8.1 on Sonoma 14.6.1, in case that's relevant).

Just to confirm the project is also vertical and the same size as the media? I can't reproduce the problem in Sonoma and 10.8. I get this

This is a still frame of course not the video itself. Would it be possible to share a clip using Dropbox or WeTransfer. The link you post will appear in email notifications.

I've been getting "mixed results"! ... which is totally weird. [To preface this: I'm still in FCPX 10.4.10].

Apple renamed "Keyer" to "Green Screen Keyer", but from what I can tell, they didn't really change anything — all the parameters are still the same. Well here's the thing: Keyer, at least, is also a Blue Screen Keyer and I think it might check for blues first (in some cases, at least).

This is what happened when I dropped Keyer on your still:

All of the blue check boxes were keyed and *not* the green screen. [BTW, this does not happen every time... like I said... weird. Sometimes it takes the blue, sometimes the green... go figure.]

Is there *any* blue in your clip? At the beginning?

Does the Green Screen Keyer work if you click on Sample Color and draw a box on the green area in your clip? But before you do that: dial down the Color Selection and check what the Chroma looks like — does it look like this (blues):

or like this (greens):

or some other color ? (not likely)

Does the behavior of the Effect change if the clip is a connected clip as opposed to a storyline clip?

It is an iMovie/FCP problem coupled to that particular footage.

I have just dropped it into a DaVinci Resolve timeline and it keys perfectly.

So there is no problem per se with the video. . . . it is iMovie/FCP that can't handle it.

I will drop the built in Green Screen Keyer on a clip and weird parts of the actor on screen (a puppet I've filmed the same way for years) would be weirdly pixelated and not even a little of the background green would be removed.

The green screen keyer worked perfectly and I had no issues at all. I checked every frame one by one.

macOS:Ventura 13.6.6 FCP:10.7.1 Media optimized

Over the years I have had weird effects with the green screen . . . not working properly, image looking transparent etc.

Usually by deleting the key and starting again or relaunching FCP has cured it.

It's not a bug but a glitch that has occurred occasionally with various versions and is probably due to some peculiarity of my setup or modus operandi.