Inexpensive lighting kits

[Brandon Carter]

I am in the market for an inexpensive light kit. These lights will be used studio only, mostly with a chromokey green screen. I am finding some really cheap sets on ebay. These kits are using the spiral flourescents and produce 1000watts of light per light(5 bulbs I believe). Ive also seen a few kits using Halogen quartz and some using tungston. The Flourescent kits are selling for less than $300 with softboxes. Would something like this be acceptable or should I explore the other options? I am a lighting newbe so all help is certainly appreciated. TIA!

PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEO CHROMAKEY STUDIO LIGHT LIGHTING KIT s - eBay (item 330392816353 end time Feb-04-10 21:46:08 PST)

[Perrone Ford]

Inexpensive light kit and chromakey are two terms that rarely mix well.

The magic if greenscreen works best when it gets very even light. This generally means large, soft sources. Fluorescent is a great idea for this, just be sure you have enough. But once you have enough, you are then going to need to light your subject with a completely different set of lights.

Cheap lighting is cheap for a reason. Generally because it's not very good. I am not suggesting that you go buy top end professional lighting, but only that you understand what those lights do and how, so that you can have something to measure these cheap lights by.

Measuring lights by "watt" is a poor choice because it has nothing to do with light output, only by power used. You'll note that room heaters use the same measure, as do electric ranges and drills. How well do they light?

What are you planning to put in front of your green screen? This information will allow us to help you further.

[Brandon Carter]

thanks for the quick reply. I will be conducting interviews with one or two subjects in front of the screen. Perhaps cheap was the wrong term to use....I am looking for the most cost efficient method of lighting. I already have 10 or so "shop light" type fixtures with flourescent bulbs. I was thinking of using these to light my screen and using the soft box kits on my subjects. Am I even close? haha

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Brandon Carter

thanks for the quick reply. I will be conducting interviews with one or two subjects in front of the screen. Perhaps cheap was the wrong term to use....I am looking for the most cost efficient method of lighting. I already have 10 or so "shop light" type fixtures with flourescent bulbs. I was thinking of using these to light my screen and using the soft box kits on my subjects. Am I even close? haha

shop lights will work as long as you have a way to mount them. Usually the problem comes down to having enough space between the subject and background so no shadows are cast on the green screen and that the green of the background doesn't color the subject. It also helps when the lighting for the subject is done in such a way to create separation. Last but not least using a video format that support more robust color than dv/hdv will make keying a lot easier.

In the past, I did a hack setup in an apartment with compact florescent. I was barely able to key it after hours in post. The lighting looks even when shooting but after you import it, it doesn't.

[Brandon Carter]

I went ahead and bought the 4000 watt fluorescent light kit for $288. For that kind of price I figured Id at least give it a try. If it doesn't work out I'll use them for something else and try again! haha I'll update when they arrive. Thanks.