Lighting newbie requiring help at DVinfo.net

James Collins · June 3rd, 2009, 03:30 PM

I recently shot some chromokey video, the results are here: UK Based PO Box and Mail Forwarding Services, UK Online Postal Boxes

Some people are complaining of the picture being very dark with a green tint etc. It is showing up fine on my monitor, but I appreciate that every machine is different.

I will be re-shooting the footage tomorrow, and would like some advice on the lighting. I have the chromokey screen and 3 lights. Two are soft lights and one is a sharp light.

Currently I have just been standing 2 or so feet from the green screen and have put all 3 lights in front of me, with the main room lights switched off. I now know that just placing your lights anywhere isn't good enough!!

What is the best way for me to use my three lights to best effect?

Many thanks,
James.

Richard Andrewski · June 3rd, 2009, 05:01 PM

I'm not sure the lighting placement is the issue. "Darkness" of the video can be fixed with exposure on the camera. Green tint can be fixed later in post. Not sure why you got that but its probably an overcorrection thing that came about by the settings you used in your keying software perhaps (what are you using for keying? -- Ultra?). I guess it could also come from if you're too softlights are fluorescents and the "sharp" (maybe you mean hard) is a tungsten and the mixture of the 3 is turning out badly because of color temperature or CRI issues. If thats the case, I'd gel the "sharp" till it matches the other two, or in general get all three to the same color temperature through gelling of some sort.

One other thing that you didn't ask about but thought I'd give feedback on is trying to tone down the room noise you're recording in by deadening the room somehow (or maybe you're mic is placed out in front of you or on the camera). The speech would sound better and more pro if the room noise is neutral. That could be accomplished in a number of ways but it sounds mostly like a tile type room so putting something down on a large part of the floor could solve the issue. If the mic is not on you, you could also possibly fix it by just wearing a lavalier. Proximity of the mic to you can definitely affect how much room noise is recorded.

June 3rd, 2009, 03:30 PM	#1
James Collins Regular Crew Join Date: May 2009 Location: UK Posts: 59	Lighting newbie requiring help I recently shot some chromokey video, the results are here: UK Based PO Box and Mail Forwarding Services, UK Online Postal Boxes Some people are complaining of the picture being very dark with a green tint etc. It is showing up fine on my monitor, but I appreciate that every machine is different. I will be re-shooting the footage tomorrow, and would like some advice on the lighting. I have the chromokey screen and 3 lights. Two are soft lights and one is a sharp light. Currently I have just been standing 2 or so feet from the green screen and have put all 3 lights in front of me, with the main room lights switched off. I now know that just placing your lights anywhere isn't good enough!! What is the best way for me to use my three lights to best effect? Many thanks, James.

June 3rd, 2009, 05:01 PM	#2
Richard Andrewski Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shenzhen, China Posts: 781	I'm not sure the lighting placement is the issue. "Darkness" of the video can be fixed with exposure on the camera. Green tint can be fixed later in post. Not sure why you got that but its probably an overcorrection thing that came about by the settings you used in your keying software perhaps (what are you using for keying? -- Ultra?). I guess it could also come from if you're too softlights are fluorescents and the "sharp" (maybe you mean hard) is a tungsten and the mixture of the 3 is turning out badly because of color temperature or CRI issues. If thats the case, I'd gel the "sharp" till it matches the other two, or in general get all three to the same color temperature through gelling of some sort. One other thing that you didn't ask about but thought I'd give feedback on is trying to tone down the room noise you're recording in by deadening the room somehow (or maybe you're mic is placed out in front of you or on the camera). The speech would sound better and more pro if the room noise is neutral. That could be accomplished in a number of ways but it sounds mostly like a tile type room so putting something down on a large part of the floor could solve the issue. If the mic is not on you, you could also possibly fix it by just wearing a lavalier. Proximity of the mic to you can definitely affect how much room noise is recorded. __________________ Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA - RED #114 http://www.coollights.biz