How to Create Green Screen Videos on Any Computer

Turn on your favorite local news television station and you’re going to find green screen video in action. The most common use is during the weather forecast when the meteorologist appears to be pointing at a map. Creating green screen videos used to be difficult. Today, just about anyone can do it on any modern computer.

Through the use of green screen editing students can virtually appear in front of almost any landmark, appear on stage in front of an audience, or any just about any other place that they have a picture or video of. Creating green screen videos is be a fun way for students to share what they’ve learned through research about a place or event. Making green screen videos is also a great way for kids to make their own weather forecast and newscast videos.

How to Make a Green Screen Video on a Mac

If you have a Mac, it probably has iMovie on it. And if you don’t have iMovie, it’s free to install. iMovie makes it easy to create a green screen video. Watch my video to learn how to create a simple green screen video on a Mac.

Create Green Screen Videos on Chromebooks and Windows Computers

If you have a Chromebook or a Windows computer, my recommendation for making green screen videos is to use WeVideo. WeVideo, like iMovie, makes it easy to create green screen videos. Here’s my video on how to use WeVideo to create green screen videos.

Materials and Tips for Making Green Screen Videos

• Your live action needs to be recorded in front of a green screen. You can purchase screens specifically made for this purpose or do what I do and head down to your local Walmart an purchase a queen size green bed sheet. 
  • If you do choose the green bed sheet option, make sure you stretch the sheet tightly enough to remove any wrinkles.
    
• When it comes to lighting, the goal is to remove any shadows and cast an even light on person(s) in the video and on the screen itself. Again, you can buy lighting kits made specifically for this purpose or use a couple of cheap clamp-on lights like these that I have in my office.
  
• Whenever possible try to have students use images and video clips that are in the public domain as the background for their videos. Pixabay and Pexels offer large collections of public domain videos and pictures.