THE ARENA (Version 2)

 

Now, we’re getting somewhere.

When we last left off on The Arena, background removal was a nightmare because of the shiny reflective walsls of the photo tent, and one of my ringposts had irrevocably broken. Both oft hese hafve been remedied. Did it create new problems? YES. Did I solve these problems using a variety of new toolds and techniques I’ll be discussing in forthcoming posts? ALSO YES.

First up was two yards of neon green craft felt. Neon green was the only color of craft felt the store had by the yard, so it’s good that I was looking for something very much like that. It was cut (by a semi-professional, most of you know who) into 32” x 32” squares, and mounted on the walls using some stick-on Velcro chunks. So, some pretty solid greenscreening.

Next up, a second AEW Authentic Scale Ring. I know, I know. I bought a second ring to replace one ringpost. But I did the value calculation and the ONLY part of the whole thing that isn’t either a spare part or an alternate look is the actual ring base. Ringposts, ropes, and ring supports? All spare parts. The mat, apron, and turnbuckle pads? Alternate looks. All ultimately useful, so ultimately it was worth a purchase even though the need for it was irksome as fuck.

Now, does AI-based background removal software still not recognize everything except the green as foreground? Yes it does. So I still have to do a lot of picky background removal. But it’s a lot LESS picky and a lot less sloppy than it was with the side reflections. And the new pictures you’ll be seeing soon bear that out.