Freemask

I was wondering if anyone here has used or heard of a technique I understand is known as freemasking. To do it you need Pocketwizard Multimax's and a camera that can shoot at least 3 fps. Or Hensel gear... I guess one of their photog's developed this way of masking and Hensel triggers will also do this.

What you are supposed to do is set up two groups of lights. One to normally light the subject. The second group you use to backlight the subject to get a detailed silhouette. You then use the Speed Cycler function on the PWMax's to rapidly cycle the two shots. Next you import both shots to PS... clean up the
silhouette and use it as a mask to separate the subject from the background.

This is supposed to be a very fast and accurate way to extract a model from a background. I was thinking of getting another Multimax at some point to give this a try. As someone also noted in another forum you could do this with product/still photography without the need for the Max's. So.... anyone here ever give this a try?

I see the ChromaKey thread.... I did not want to side track it, but this sounds in theory to be a great alternative.

Here is a link that explains how the mask would work

J Kacey wrote in post #8629030
I was wondering if anyone here has used or heard of a technique I understand is known as freemasking. To do it you need Pocketwizard Multimax's and a camera that can shoot at least 3 fps. Or Hensel gear... I guess one of their photog's developed this way of masking and Hensel triggers will also do this.

What you are supposed to do is set up two groups of lights. One to normally light the subject. The second group you use to backlight the subject to get a detailed silhouette. You then use the Speed Cycler function on the PWMax's to rapidly cycle the two shots. Next you import both shots to PS... clean up the
silhouette and use it as a mask to separate the subject from the background.

This is supposed to be a very fast and accurate way to extract a model from a background. I was thinking of getting another Multimax at some point to give this a try. As someone also noted in another forum you could do this with product/still photography without the need for the Max's. So.... anyone here ever give this a try?

I see the ChromaKey thread.... I did not want to side track it, but this sounds in theory to be a great alternative.

Here is a link that explains how the mask would work

Thanks for pointing this out, Jerry. I had never heard of "Freemask". What a clever idea.

Google does a pretty good job of translating the www.schoepe.de/freemas​k site.

Dave F.

Glad someone is interested, Dave.
I really think this is cool. The detail is really amazing!
(Like this) Now I need another PW MultiMax to give it a whirl

When I get some time I think I'll will try some still objects with this technique till I get another Max. I don't see giving up my Pocketwizards now....

lifetouch school photographers are using this method. Their cameras will automatically take two shots and merge them.
Pretty slick process. I personally can't see using it. but if you are a school photographer its golden.

I've tried some similar techniques with my skyports & usb software which can do the same job.

Graphic designers tend to take care of the extraction side of things and they can work with white seamless easily enough. I can only see the masking technique being useful if you're shooting models against a detailed background that they'll later need to be extracted from - but if you're in that situation it's probably because you're short on time & working space, and it's unlikely you're going to be able to set up the 2-3 extra lights it takes to edge-light someone properly.

Hermes wrote in post #8638029
I've tried some similar techniques with my skyports & usb software which can do the same job.

Graphic designers tend to take care of the extraction side of things and they can work with white seamless easily enough. I can only see the masking technique being useful if you're shooting models against a detailed background that they'll later need to be extracted from - but if you're in that situation it's probably because you're short on time & working space, and it's unlikely you're going to be able to set up the 2-3 extra lights it takes to edge-light someone properly.

I was thinking I would just evenly light my Thunder Gray seamless to white with no light on the model for the second silhouette shot. You think I would need to edge light the model with 2 or three lights to get the silhouette needed to do this?

J Kacey wrote in post #8634337
Glad someone is interested, Dave.
I really think this is cool. The detail is really amazing!
(Like this) Now I need another PW MultiMax to give it a whirl

When I get some time I think I'll will try some still objects with this technique till I get another Max. I don't see giving up my Pocketwizards now....

Yes, that dandelion picture is the one that really caught my attention. Also the way the translucence of diaphanous (great word, huh?) materials like lace is preserved.

I look forward to your experiments with the technique.

Dave F.

J Kacey wrote in post #8638362
I was thinking I would just evenly light my Thunder Gray seamless to white with no light on the model for the second silhouette shot. You think I would need to edge light the model with 2 or three lights to get the silhouette needed to do this?

If you have a flat, even background that you can light to get a silhouette then that can be done with one light. Then again, extraction from a seamless background is usually simple enough anyway.

The other way of masking which can be done outside of controlled environments like a studio, even outdoors, is to blast the edges of the model with light so you end up with a bright white outline of them which you then use to make the mask. That takes 2-3 lights to do properly but it can make extraction simple in circumstances where it would otherwise be very time-consuming.

Hermes wrote in post #8638502
If you have a flat, even background that you can light to get a silhouette then that can be done with one light. Then again, extraction from a seamless background is usually simple enough anyway.

The other way of masking which can be done outside of controlled environments like a studio, even outdoors, is to blast the edges of the model with light so you end up with a bright white outline of them which you then use to make the mask. That takes 2-3 lights to do properly but it can make extraction simple in circumstances where it would otherwise be very time-consuming.

Thanks for the input Hermes....
When ever I do extractions it takes me a while. Especially to get any detail like fine hair. What I think is cool about this is it simple and takes seconds.

J Kacey wrote in post #8638551
Thanks for the input Hermes....
When ever I do extractions it takes me a while. Especially to get any detail like fine hair. What I think is cool about this is it simple and takes seconds.

No problem. If you give it a try I'd be interested to hear how practical you find it.

If you're having trouble extracting from standard seamless shots then try duplicating the image, using a curves adjustment to turn the image into a silhouette and then using that as a mask for the extraction (a tiny amount of gaussian blur on the mask may help the edges). That technique will give you essentially the same result as taking a separate silhouetted exposure for the mask on most seamless backgrounds.