Greenscreen (aka chroma key) effect with a webcam?

This is not the blue screen of death I am speaking of, but the process called bluescreening (also known as green screen, or Chroma Key).

It removes a particular colored background from an image so that it can be superimposed on some other video/still picture. If you have ever seen the weatherman stand in front of the map, then you have seen someone doing a blue screen technique.

I would like to be able to

1. capture video from my webcam
2. send that video to a bluescreen / greenscreen / chroma key program
3. have that program replace the color in the background with a background of my own choosing
4. Once the image is superimposed, pipe it into Skype for video conferencing.

Anyone have a good way to do this?

I can get a greenscreen effect with Adobe Visual Communicator 3 most reliably -- it has pro level chroma keying that actually works, unlike the other toy software out there. I tried 3 or 4, none of them even really worked.

However, I cannot figure out any way to pipe this excellent greenscreen in real time through Skype.

The ManyCam suggested by tgbarnett does work through Skype (and is free!), but it's primitive. I can barely get the chroma keying to work, even with a real green screen, and there are no settings at all to tweak to make it better. Darn!

This is a standard feature on the PhotoBooth application in OSX Leopard your using a Mac. You can create your own static color background and then record the video or change it on the fly.

I am not sure of Windows application thought. I never use a Webcam in Windows.

Many Cam allows you to add backgrounds / borders / overlays to the feed from your web camera - and it runs under windows. There is a free version too. The free version does NOT include the green screen functionality.

NOTE: You will need to change your Skype (or whatever other application) settings and select ManyCam as the webcam for Skype (or whatever other application)

BoinxTV can do this (and other handy compositing things) in real time (Mac only)

from their product information page:

Virtual Studio

One of the things that used to cost an arm and a leg and comes included with BoinxTV is the chroma keying. With it, you can remove a uniform colored background and replace it with a picture of a studio. In Broadcasting, this is called a "virtual studio" and saves you lots of money building a set. It is also very easy to set up and take down again.

There is:

• a stripped down "Home" version for ~50$
• and the full version for ~500$

Both seem to feature greenscreening and are available in the Mac AppStore.