Cycloramas
A practical hub for choosing the right cyclorama paint for chroma key studios and white infinity walls across film, broadcast, theatre and production environments in Australia.
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What is a cyclorama?
Chroma Key / DigiComp HD
Chroma key flooring options
White cyclorama paint options
FAQs
Get in touch
What is a cyclorama?
A cyclorama (often called a cyc wall or infinity wall) is a seamless background surface — typically with a curved wall-to-floor transition — designed to remove horizon lines and create clean, continuous backgrounds.
In production environments, paint choice matters because lighting and cameras can exaggerate sheen, patchiness and surface defects. The goal is a surface that behaves consistently under studio lighting and on camera.
Where cycloramas are commonly used
- Film / TV studios and broadcast environments
- Virtual production and compositing stages
- Theatre cycloramas (lighting + scenic use)
- Photography studios and product shoots
- Education facilities and rehearsal spaces
What usually goes wrong with “any paint will do”
- Hot spots and glare under lighting
- Uneven sheen that looks patchy on camera
- Touch-up marks that show up under wide, soft light
- In chroma key: reflections and inconsistent colour that make keying harder
Chroma Key / DigiComp HD
Chroma key environments rely on consistent colour behaviour and controlled surface finish. If you’re building a green/blue screen studio (or a virtual production space), the goal is simple: clean capture so the composite is fast and predictable.
Option A: Rosco DigiComp HD (digital compositing / virtual production)
DigiComp HD is used where you want precise, repeatable keying performance. In Rosco’s DigiComp HD stories, teams point to strong key results, ultra-flat finish, even texture, and reduced post-production touch-up when the paint is used as the standard background.
- Used for crisp separation of foreground/background in digital compositing
- Ultra-flat finish and even texture suitable across surfaces
- Built for consistency — which can reduce time spent “fixing the key” in post
Option B: Rosco Chroma Key System (paint + floors + tape + backgrounds)
Rosco’s Chroma Key System is an all-in-one solution for building a floor-to-ceiling chroma key studio using matching components: paint, flooring, backdrops/butterflies, and chroma gaffer tape. The advantage is consistency across surfaces — walls, floors and joins key the same.
- Matching blue/green across the system helps avoid colour mismatch headaches
- Flexible: build permanent studios or fast temporary setups
- Components can be used together or individually depending on the job
Why purpose-made chroma key products matter
Case study takeaway: “once-and-done” green screen durability
In Rosco’s virtual football broadcast case study, the studio was built with an “infinity” green background (walls + floor painted). The team chose DigiComp HD to be confident the keying would be perfect and reported it held up throughout the season with minimal maintenance. They also noted it helped lighting teams achieve more uniform illumination across the green screen.
Chroma key flooring options
Floors are usually the pain point in real studios: traffic, cleaning, dollies, camera rigs and scuffing. If the floor is in shot (or needs to key), you’ll typically choose between painting the floor or covering it with a dedicated chroma floor.
Option 1: Paint the floor (when the floor must key)
Painting the floor can create the cleanest “infinity” transition when the floor is part of the key. The key is controlling reflections and planning for maintenance if the space is high-traffic.
- Best when full-body keying / wide shots include the floor
- Most seamless wall-to-floor transition
- May require planned touch-ups depending on traffic
Option 2: Rosco Chroma Floor (reversible vinyl)
Rosco’s Chroma Floor is a reversible vinyl material with blue on one side and green on the other, designed to roll out quickly, lay flat, and clean easily. In Rosco’s overview, its construction helps resist rippling, and the wide format reduces seams compared with narrower flooring options.
- Reversible (green/blue) so studios can switch quickly
- Fast rollout and pack-down for flexible studios
- Often preferred for durability over painted floors in high-traffic spaces
ChromaGaff Tape (seams + transitions)
Matching chroma gaffer tape is used to join floor seams and create cleaner transitions between the floor and painted wall — and it’s also used to mark positions for talent and props, then remove cleanly when needed.
- Helps hide seams between floor panels
- Useful for wall-to-floor joins and tidy edges
- Commonly used for quick on-set chroma applications
Temporary backgrounds (when you don’t want to paint)
If painting isn’t suitable (location work, short-term installs, multi-use spaces), Rosco highlights using ChromaDrops (hung backdrops) and ChromaFlies (butterflies that attach to grip frames) to create quick chroma key backgrounds.
- ChromaDrop: hang from pipe/truss/track for a quick wall background
- ChromaFly: attach to grip frames (use as a background or insert panel)
- Ideal for temporary or semi-permanent chroma key setups
White
White cycloramas are highly sensitive to lighting and camera. The right choice depends on whether you’re building a space primarily for video/broadcast or a more general theatre / education / mixed-use cyclorama.
Option 1: Rosco TV White
TV White is designed for studio lighting and camera sensors. Rosco explains that regular “bright white” paints can overexpose under typical studio lighting, and that TV White is formulated to align with video white balancing. They also highlight a super-matte finish to help avoid unintended reflections and hot spots, plus quality pigments/binders that can reduce the number of coats required.
- Developed for camera behaviour in studio lighting
- Super-matte finish for more even lighting across the cyc
- Made with high-quality pigments/binders to improve coverage efficiency
- May appear slightly grey to the eye — but reads correctly on camera
Option 2: Rosco Off Broadway “White White”
Off Broadway “White White” is a commonly used flat theatrical white for cyc and stage environments where a clean white finish is needed for general use. It’s often a strong fit for theatre/education/multi-use spaces where the primary driver isn’t “video white balancing”, but rather a practical, flat white cyc finish.
- Flat/matte theatrical white appearance
- Common choice for stage and general-purpose cycloramas
- Practical option for mixed-use spaces
Which white should I choose?
If you’re building a studio primarily for video/broadcast and want predictable camera-friendly behaviour under studio lighting, TV White is usually the better starting point. If your space is more general cyc use (theatre, education, mixed-use) and you want a clean flat white cyc finish, Off Broadway White White is typically the better fit.
FAQs
Do I need a full “infinity” floor-to-wall cyclorama for chroma key?
Not always. If you’re shooting seated interviews or tight frames, a wall background (paint or a drop) can be enough. If you’re doing wide shots, full-body capture, or you need the floor keyed, that’s when a true floor-to-wall “infinity” approach becomes important.
Painted floor vs chroma floor — what’s the simplest rule?
If the floor must key and you need the cleanest wall-to-floor transition, painting can be the best visual result (with maintenance planning). If the space is high traffic, frequently reconfigured, or you want faster installs, dedicated chroma flooring is often the more practical option.
Why do chroma key studios struggle with keying?
The biggest culprits are reflections (sheen/gloss), uneven lighting, and mismatched surfaces (wall vs floor vs tape vs backdrop). A coordinated system helps because the surfaces behave consistently, which makes keying faster and more reliable.
Why can TV White look a bit grey?
TV White is designed for camera sensors and video white balancing. Under studio lighting, it can appear slightly grey to the human eye, but the point is how it reads on camera — where it helps avoid blown-out highlights and uneven exposure.
I don’t have measurements yet — can I still enquire?
Absolutely. You can start with your use-case (white cyc vs chroma key), rough room size and how you plan to shoot (wide vs tight, floor in shot or not). We can guide next steps and what info is worth collecting.
We need a temporary solution (no painting). What should we consider?
Temporary setups are common: use a chroma backdrop (drop) or a butterfly on a frame, and pair it with chroma flooring if the floor is in shot. Matching tape helps tidy seams and transitions. This keeps installs fast and reversible for multi-use spaces.
Looking to build a cyc? Get in touch
Send us a quick note about what you’re planning — we’ll come back with the right advice and product direction.