While mixing your own greenscreen paint is often a popular choice with low-budget filmmakers, there are definite advantages to buying a specially created version from a reputable company like Rosco. As we got prepped for doing the Depleted: Day 419 film, we needed a couple of greenscreen panels for some of the effects work. As such, we chose this time to test both this paint from Rosco and a competing paint from Tube Tape. (You can read that review here.)
We looked at the Rosco Chromakey Green paint in this review, although they make a blue, as well. (We are looking specifically at their entry level chromakey paint, as opposed to the Ultimatte or Digicomp lines. Their Ultimatte paint is more reflective, is specifically designed to work with the Ultimatte keying software, and is quite a bit more expensive. The Digicomp line, which is even more expensive than the Ultimatte line, includes a line of specially calibrated tape and cloth at the exact same colors as their paint.)
Having used both home-made paints and the competing greenscreen paint, the thing that I loved about the Rosco paint was that it was so EASY to prep and use. They include little locks to keep the can sealed properly, but, once you pop those off, the lid is quite easy to remove. Next, the paint stays good, thick, and, due to the single source pigmentation the paint is comprised of, properly mixed, even if it’s been sitting on a shelf for a few months waiting for you to use. It only took a few seconds for me to stir it up and get it to a great painting consistency.
The only downside to ease of use is that, because of the thickness of the paint, it is harder to clean off of brushes and rollers. As such, you’ll probably just want to get rid of your paint roller when you’re done painting.
The fact that this paint adheres as cleanly and as quickly as it does, means that it's pretty easy to paint a variety of things with it. Everything from walls, to foam core panels, to flexible tile backs can be painted to give you different options for greenscreens. It's unfortunate that Rosco doesn't have a line of matching tape and cloth for their entry level paint, because that would be a nice touch for increasing the options for low-budget filmmakers.
