Guillaume Cottin

I am not sure if there even is a perfect trick to do this. The lower the light levels, the harder it is to create an eye light that will not have an effect on the rest of the lighting.

Assuming you like a round eye light, my go-to tool is obviously the Rosco Dash and Dot diffuser mounted on the camera or close to it. It’s fast to set up and looks great even on a medium. But for wider shots, i would use something like a 3ft lantern in which I would probably put a 60w COB (60c) dimmed way down, or even just a NYX bulb if you want to go even lower (adapting the bulb socket to a Bowens softbox).

I would put it on the key side and at the most reflective angle possible and as far away as possible.

In your case of under-exposure it’s just a matter of getting it very dim, as we are not illuminating the subject but using the reflection of the source in the eyes.

You can ask your local expendable store for a gel and diffusion swatch.

It’s not hard to run stuff up to 300W on battery but beyond that it’s a bit of a head scratcher unless you can put a hand on 28.8V  high load V-mount batteries, but they’re hard to source at a rental house.
The few times I had a 600d on battery I used 14.4V regular camera batteries, I think they were 180Wh. The bigger the better. I had two batteries on each side with shark fins, so four in total in order to spread the load and not damage the batts. Still, it only lasted around 30mn it will shut down above 50%. It works for a quick shot (which is what we needed) but is not a perfect solution and as you can see the math and real world don’t always match.
I recommend to only use this setup for 300w lights. Same for a VCLX, even at 28V you’re limited to roughly 300W (12A) of load.

For a 600d currently I’d recommend using a good power bank such as the ecoflow River Pro which will run it for roughly 50mn at ≈90% power. They make a higher end model too, the Delta. Not really elegant, since you’re converting DC to AC and back to DC, but currently the most plug-and-play reliable option IMO.

You can still compare light outputs by taking the measurement at the periphery of the beam not the hot spot. I agree the reason for this hot spot can probably be found in the marketing department.

The hot spot will create uneven spread. While not ideal, you can easily fix it with a piece of gel, maybe an opal or a ½ diffusion. Maybe this is also a good use case scenario for the new fancy Rosco Opti-sculpt gels. I personally am using a third party Bowens reflector I found that is more even than the OEM one.

For this task I would probably consider the Chroma-Q Color force 72

https://chroma-q.com/products/color-force-ii-72

I agree that thinking of it in terms of “layers” is maybe not the best way to conceptualize lighting.

Here are some other roads to explore:

Additive or subtractive: do you add lights or take away light from a bigger source?

Ambient vs.directional? What’s the ambient lighting in the space, and then what are the different directions from which light can come from? How do they bounce around to create the ambient?

Lighting space vs lighting objects? Do you create pools of light for actors to evolve in and then shoot freely, or do you create very precise lighting for specific positions?

That’s an… interesting situation! 

How about blue-tinted muslin as the diffusion material, under a clear plastic roof? Muslin will eat up to 2 stops of light. It’s available in large quantities. It would give a colder color temp as in a blue sky
Or else maybe a sort of white plexi. Better look into construction building materials and which can work. Roof clearance for boom lifts might be an issue. Also rain noise on the roof.

Also I think maybe that’s a perfect use case for a Softsun! Either direct or as bounce. 
 

good luck!

Hello,

I have a shoot by the end of the month on a Red Ranger with the Monstro sensor. I’ve never worked on that camera and and am wondering if there are any tips on this camera, the kind you only learn from (painful?) experience. 
 

What are your preferences regarding which OLPF to use? Standard, skin tone? We’re not shooting low light. 

Thank you team forum

Hi

I’ve noticed a green tint on my Aputure 300X. The warmer the color temperature, the greener it gets, which leads me to think it might be an issue with the warm white LEDs. Does anybody else have this issue? How green are your 300Xs?

Following up on Brian’s idea, I once shot a monochromatic blue night scene using ungelled tungsten lights. In Resolve instead of using the color wheels i used the color mixer tool to remap all luminance info to the blue channel. This induced no noise contrary to other methods. The key for this to work is was that the scene has got to be monochrome.

Yes and the reason why we perceive moonlight as softer and bluer is because of our eyes. Human night time vision is less sharp because of the rods and therefore we interpret moonlight as softer. Also blue cones in the retina are slightly more sensitive to darkness which explains why we perceive blue better in low light and nights look blue. But cameras that are very sensitive show the color temperature of the moon is actually roughly daylight.

As a DP you can have two valid approaches: simulate nature as it is, or simulate nature as it is perceived by human eyes and brain.

Hello

I am doing research for a future project and am wondering what would be the option to have something similar to a Trinity on a low budget. I'm not an operator ―just trying to see what options would be possible. That's to fly an Alexa Mini probably or something that size. Are there other versions of that kind of rig? Does it work to put a Ronin 2 on a steadicam?

Thanks

Oh, he must be talking about the Rosco acrylic panels. Expensive! However, you don't necessarily need acrylic panels to do that. The concept stays the same: heavy ND. I did it twice, once as a gaffer and once as a DP on a short. I messed it up as a DP because I used ND and CTB filters, so now I can tell you the trick is to just use straight NDs and not color gels because underexposing saturates the colors, and the outside is already blue enough. Also, the gels need to somehow be mattified, otherwise they reflect all the lighting indoors like a mirror. Thats probably the superiority of the acrylic panel (or any scrim material). On the other shoot as a gaffer we used ND9, but a heavier ND like 1.2 or more would have been better. The DP then put a bunch of 4K HMIs outside shooting through the ND for moonlight.

With the car window screen, I’d be wary of color problems. I would splurge on real ND gel, you can put it on the windows using Windex then remove bubbles with a squeegee. It will hold for a few hours. And it’s reusable!

Honestly, I wouldn't touch that Amazon light with a 12ft pipe! For the same budget, same form factor, double the power, I would get this instead: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1342001-REG/godox_sl150w_5600k_150w_led.html

That light will take any Bowens mount softbox.

Generally it is not desired for the ambient light outside to participate to the exposure too much because of continuity. That's why a classic way to do it would be indeed a combination of ND or nets on the windows and raising interior exposure by carrying the window light, either by bouncing an HMI into the ceiling near the windows, or using Kinos or now LEDs (SL1s are great for that use), or Joker soft tubes. However it's a challenge to keep things subtle and not ruin the beauty of light coming from the exterior and side, as said earlier. It's important to keep any light sources inside very controlled and have an eye on the sky to match your ambient level. Hopefully it will just have to be for the wide and medium shots and you can do whatever to match what you had in the master in the close-ups and coverage, where you can bounce lights directly into windows that are not in shot.

But I find a modern approach would lean towards keeping the sources that are supposed to be outside, outside, as much as possible. That's also made possible by the wide dynamic range of the cameras. First, if the budget and location allow, you can put what is visible outside in the shade using a flyswatter or another rig. Then I agree that the best way is to bounce large HMIs (as big as possible, in fact) into a white fabric above the windows, at the lowest correct angle for camera. I've seen that technique used by a few people now, so I think it's trending! It doesn't raise the light level inside as efficiently as setting an HMI inside, but the quality is better because it is shaped by the actual windows, and the falloff is also more realistic if people move closer to the windows.

Hard to find for obvious safety reasons but:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/550502536/e26e27-medium-edison-screw-to-e39e40

On 3/17/2020 at 12:38 PM, Taylor Russ said:

Litemats have a few effects built in like flashbulb, fire, etc. though I believe not as many as the Kinos. 

Heres my assessment 

Kinoflo Diva 21 will have more throw and output but will look harder. They're different tools and if had both you'd use them both. Litemats do not have any pre-built effects or DMX or color, that's why as a first light purchase I'd suggest the Kinoflo by a narrow margin.

If you go for a Litemat however, unless you have a good discount, try avoiding the S2 because you'll be disappointed by its output in any situation other than interior nights. Do get the dop choice snapgrid with it, because the plastic grid on Litemats is heavy and not the best optically.

There is a bi-color 85w version of the bulb you are referencing. Maybe that's enough. 

Brute force but "passable" CRI:

100W: https://ledmyplace.ca/products/led-corn-bulb-100w?variant=36001232011

300W: https://www.ebay.ca/i/254384949174

Luke, You’re pretty much describing my own struggles especially the “opening and closing a lot of apps” part. Great item on paper, but sometimes unreliable. Mine works most of the time now, to be fair, and when it does the signal is good, but would I trust it in a demanding situation? I don’t know.

The moonlite won’t output wired DMX and CRMX at the same time. In my opinion that’s a big limitation.

No progress on my side, like I said, it kinda works but it is clunky. Hoping for software updates!

21 hours ago, Alex Sprenger said:

Could you describe the problems you are having a bit more?

Sure. The moonlite almost always successfully connects to the CRMX app but not always to Luminair. I was told I have to disconnect from CRMX app in order to connect to Luminair. While annoying in itself (when you have to pair more lights in the middle of a shoot) this solution helped, but I still have issues connecting to Luminair. Sometimes the Moonlite doesn’t show up in the Bluetooth list in Luminair. Sometimes it shows up but does not output DMX. Also it shows up a signal strength of roughly 60% even when I am close to the unit.

One time, my Moonlite got bricked (static red LED, unit won’t turn off) and the support told me to remove the battery...

I am wondering basically if I have a defective unit or if that’s the same with all Moonlites.

Hello,

have any of you used the Moonlite by Lumenradio. It seems very glitchy (won’t connect, etc...). Was wondering if you someone had the same experience.
 

g.

Also worth mentioning Chris Fraser

http://www.chrisfraserstudio.com/

3 hours ago, Mei Lewis said:

a tungsten source low down just the other side of the figures and a small amount of practical light from their lamps. 

That is correct! We had a 800w redhead on a boom bounced on the ground. It was on a magic gadgets flicker box.

3 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

Those look like real flames in the lamps, so kerosene lanterns, maybe.

Light at the far end could be natural or artificial.

Tough to tell on a fairly low-key frame like that but I don't think it's Alexa. 

The practical lights are real flames indeed, but they weren’t giving enough exposure. 

The light at the end of the tunnel is an HMI, probably a 1200 PAR, the stand is hidden behind a 6x6 or 8x8 silk or something. Half the bean on the silk and the other half hitting the tunnel. That tunnel was so long, and the shadows from this HMI were so long as well, that moving the light at the other end of the tunnel even very slightly would produce a really disorienting effect

21 minutes ago, Jan Tore Soerensen said:

I'm gonna say natural light at the end of the tunnel, and just the handheld lamps for the warm light.

I’m proud to say, everything was fake. The lamps art department found were so dim that the light wouldn’t actually light much at all. The effect on the hands and faces and wall is all the redhead.

Mei Lewis is the closest!

Nothing will melt, but the optical quality is inferior on the zoom lenses. You will get more chromatic aberration and a little less output. If the beam is supposed to be visible on camera (for example to simulate a sun beam) not just used as a bounce for example, it is better choose the fixed lenses. By default, I would choose the fixed lenses.