Is there a way to chroma-key in real time in Final Cut Express?

Question

My friends and i have been doing some chroma-keying on our iMacs (mine is Dual Core 2.4GHz w/ 1GB of RAM), and we wanted to see if there was a way to chroma-key in real time like the people on the news do. If there is, will our computers have enough power to do it, and will Final Cut Express let us? Thanks in advance!!!

Answer 1

FCP won't handle it.  Not what it's made to do.

Your iMac certainly has the raw horsepower, but I doubt you'll find an application that lets you use it the way you want.  

You would need a system that lets you process 2 simultaneous video streams.  There are video cards that will od it, but you can't put them in an iMac.

Answer 2

Computer software is designed to work with files. If you have a live video stream, it has to be "captured" or converted to a file for use.

TV people use hardware, for example a Panasonic WJ MX50 mixer which can handle 4 simultaneous  live streams plus a live camera key input. Live mixing pre-dates computer editing by at least 30 years, sorry you are just discovering it. Besides doing keys the SEG (special effects generator) can wipe, put a compressed video in a box, dissolve, and overlay the character generator text. It is the mainstay of television production work.