Love it man! I find I am always trying to challenge myself on MOST shoots. Theres always a few where I just hang on and make sure I get the fundamentals but especially on super repeatable setups I love just trying a few new things. Lit my background yesterday for talking heads and product shots with tungsten balance, among a few other things I tried. Super happy I tried it and I feel exactly what you mean when you say "it was enough for us". Get the shot for the client, trying the stuff for you.
Great advice and practical demonstrations! Here are some hard-earned notes from someone who has been on both sides shooting and compositing, in digital and film back to the days of Stewart TMax transmission blue screens and optical printers; 1.) To preview your lighting fly in a large black solid behind the talent. Why? The universal issue with green or blue screen is that the screen color spill can convince you that you have more fill than you actually have, and the colored spill from the screen is in actuality, "negative fill" from the point of view of the compositing software, creating blacker than black areas, and the lack of "real fill" is the cause of excessive grain and noise in the dark areas of your composite. Some degree of extra neutral fill is always needed in these areas where screen spill exists, else the composite will have a ratty, roiling nature to the noise in the dark areas. Isolating the talent against black will let you see immediately the true nature of your lighting ratio and back light choices. 2.) When possible, shoot daylight balanced over tungsten balanced. Why? All camera sensors tend to have a cooler "native" color temperature (unless otherwise filtered toward tungsten) and choosing 5600K will reduce noise compared to choosing 3200K as a general theme. 3.) I find that putting down white sheets or other fabrics under where the talent stands in cowboy to CU framing is an effective method of countering the dreaded "negative fill" coming from the floor and to generally add ambient neutral fill from below. Of course this is off the table when you have green under the talent, but works wonders when you can use it.
Funny thing is I probably would not have considered Nanlux if I had not been asked to check them out for a month. The more I use them, the more I appreciate them and instead of cannibalizing the use of my Skypanels it has freed them up to be used in other ways. It’s hard for a brand to make inroads, so allowing some of us to play with the units for an extended amount of time was a good way to familiarize a group of G&E folks in the Bay Area with the Brand. Hive is doing something similar by allowing people to sign up for demo units. Smart thinking for lesser know brands to get into communities while in-person events are not happening.
Usually over or under rating ISO limits your full dynamic range, and at best shifts your latitude and affects grain. So your aggressive under exposure LUT example in consideration of green screen (in a controlled studio environment) I presume would be for grain control.
I have found the Exalux Control One a great bit of kit with Kinos etc - the ability to store setups is really useful Like the hard soft option for hair / scratch Thanks Luke
We used to DREAM about Green Screens in High School, Luke!! You're like Jango or Boba Fett, Luke.. "Just a simple man, trying to make his way in the universe.." LOL
Right?! With the tools we have readily available now we could have done some pretty fun stuff with all the time and energy we put into props and costuming for super 8 filmmaking😁
As always, your videos are very educational, & I really appreciate your willingness to share your experience & expertise! In a talking-head scenario with green screen, is it common practice to light the talent at 3200K & the green screen at 5600K? In what scenarios might these color temperatures be changed? Is camera white balance always set to the temperature at which the talent is lit? Thanks much!
I’m not familiar with the practice of lighting the talent with tungsten and the green with daylight balanced units. However, we used to light the green with green to give it more saturation. We hardly ever do that anymore. I usually light both subject and green screen with a white of similar color balance.
Hey Luke, I want to ask your opinion on which diffusion should I get as a first timer? I am considering a 6x6 Magic Cloth (as used in this video) or Half Grid cloth for me to purchase. My use case would be light pushing through it directly (Aputure 300d/600d with reflector or fresnel or soft panel such as SkyPanel). I would rarely do a book light as the space I work with tend to lean on the smaller side. I really like the look on magic cloth in this video, but just want to know your opinion as I can only purchase one type at a time. Thank you in advance!
Of course I would say you should have both, but I would start with 1/2 grid because sometimes you’ll want more light! You can always get cheaper, smaller sections of diffusion to put between the unit and the 6x6. Or if you have way too much light you could bounce agains white foam board or white card. You can make really skinny book lights when space is tight, but light output is more than you need.
@@meetthegaffer Thank you for the recommendation. Been eye-ing on the 1/2 grid as well, so I will easily go with it. There is only 1 diffusion type, which is china silk, for me to rent from nearby area, so choice is kind of limited here. Cheers from Indonesia.
Hi Luke. Its been a long time. Hope you are doing good. OMG. I don't know why youtube doesn't show the notifications of your channel. Few Videos to catch up
I’ve heard that from another person too. You have the bell checked, but get no notifications? Beyond that, how are you doing? We hear India has been hard and you’ve had to get through a second wave. Hope there is light at the end of the tunnel!
@@meetthegaffer I am doing fine. Thanks for asking. Kind of hard to control the spread in a heavily populated country. Hope this situation gets over as people's health and their families situation are getting affected. Fingers crossed
@@meetthegaffer Adding a point about notification, may be when we clear notifications from our phone all at once, we might miss some. Google is taking data if people are clicking the notification of the new video. If people clear the notification, youtube stops notifying the new videos for the channel there after for a while Ufff. Sounds in-depth tech
Yes! Every light we used is an LED with an internal dimmer. The units were paired via crmx and controllable through the Blackout app on the iPad. Dimming of LEDs looks a little different than dimming tungsten units because there is no need for external dimmer packs. Does that answer your question?
Love it man! I find I am always trying to challenge myself on MOST shoots. Theres always a few where I just hang on and make sure I get the fundamentals but especially on super repeatable setups I love just trying a few new things. Lit my background yesterday for talking heads and product shots with tungsten balance, among a few other things I tried. Super happy I tried it and I feel exactly what you mean when you say "it was enough for us". Get the shot for the client, trying the stuff for you.
Luke, I just love your channel! Glad to see you always reinventing yourself and doing things differently. That’s what keeps us sharp!
Great advice and practical demonstrations! Here are some hard-earned notes from someone who has been on both sides shooting and compositing, in digital and film back to the days of Stewart TMax transmission blue screens and optical printers;
1.) To preview your lighting fly in a large black solid behind the talent. Why? The universal issue with green or blue screen is that the screen color spill can convince you that you have more fill than you actually have, and the colored spill from the screen is in actuality, "negative fill" from the point of view of the compositing software, creating blacker than black areas, and the lack of "real fill" is the cause of excessive grain and noise in the dark areas of your composite. Some degree of extra neutral fill is always needed in these areas where screen spill exists, else the composite will have a ratty, roiling nature to the noise in the dark areas. Isolating the talent against black will let you see immediately the true nature of your lighting ratio and back light choices.
2.) When possible, shoot daylight balanced over tungsten balanced. Why? All camera sensors tend to have a cooler "native" color temperature (unless otherwise filtered toward tungsten) and choosing 5600K will reduce noise compared to choosing 3200K as a general theme.
3.) I find that putting down white sheets or other fabrics under where the talent stands in cowboy to CU framing is an effective method of countering the dreaded "negative fill" coming from the floor and to generally add ambient neutral fill from below. Of course this is off the table when you have green under the talent, but works wonders when you can use it.
Thank you for the thoughtful notes!
Thanks Luke I so look forward to your uploads.
I am excited about the full Nanlux line and also their future products, Jeremy mention that you really took a liking to the new panels ;)
Funny thing is I probably would not have considered Nanlux if I had not been asked to check them out for a month. The more I use them, the more I appreciate them and instead of cannibalizing the use of my Skypanels it has freed them up to be used in other ways. It’s hard for a brand to make inroads, so allowing some of us to play with the units for an extended amount of time was a good way to familiarize a group of G&E folks in the Bay Area with the Brand. Hive is doing something similar by allowing people to sign up for demo units. Smart thinking for lesser know brands to get into communities while in-person events are not happening.
@@meetthegaffer 100% the future is Bright for our Gear ....;)
Usually over or under rating ISO limits your full dynamic range, and at best shifts your latitude and affects grain. So your aggressive under exposure LUT example in consideration of green screen (in a controlled studio environment) I presume would be for grain control.
I have found the Exalux Control One a great bit of kit with Kinos etc - the ability to store setups is really useful
Like the hard soft option for hair / scratch
Thanks Luke
We used to DREAM about Green Screens in High School, Luke!! You're like Jango or Boba Fett, Luke.. "Just a simple man, trying to make his way in the universe.." LOL
Right?! With the tools we have readily available now we could have done some pretty fun stuff with all the time and energy we put into props and costuming for super 8 filmmaking😁
As always, your videos are very educational, & I really appreciate your willingness to share your experience & expertise!
In a talking-head scenario with green screen, is it common practice to light the talent at 3200K & the green screen at 5600K?
In what scenarios might these color temperatures be changed? Is camera white balance always set to the temperature at which the talent is lit?
Thanks much!
I’m not familiar with the practice of lighting the talent with tungsten and the green with daylight balanced units. However, we used to light the green with green to give it more saturation. We hardly ever do that anymore. I usually light both subject and green screen with a white of similar color balance.
Hey Luke, I want to ask your opinion on which diffusion should I get as a first timer? I am considering a 6x6 Magic Cloth (as used in this video) or Half Grid cloth for me to purchase. My use case would be light pushing through it directly (Aputure 300d/600d with reflector or fresnel or soft panel such as SkyPanel). I would rarely do a book light as the space I work with tend to lean on the smaller side. I really like the look on magic cloth in this video, but just want to know your opinion as I can only purchase one type at a time. Thank you in advance!
Of course I would say you should have both, but I would start with 1/2 grid because sometimes you’ll want more light! You can always get cheaper, smaller sections of diffusion to put between the unit and the 6x6. Or if you have way too much light you could bounce agains white foam board or white card. You can make really skinny book lights when space is tight, but light output is more than you need.
@@meetthegaffer Thank you for the recommendation. Been eye-ing on the 1/2 grid as well, so I will easily go with it. There is only 1 diffusion type, which is china silk, for me to rent from nearby area, so choice is kind of limited here. Cheers from Indonesia.
Even a painter pole with a shower curtain would get you another layer of diff once in a while🙂
@@meetthegaffer yes. that's what I will do if I feel the light is still too harsh. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Luke. Its been a long time. Hope you are doing good. OMG. I don't know why youtube doesn't show the notifications of your channel. Few Videos to catch up
I’ve heard that from another person too. You have the bell checked, but get no notifications? Beyond that, how are you doing? We hear India has been hard and you’ve had to get through a second wave. Hope there is light at the end of the tunnel!
@@meetthegaffer I am doing fine. Thanks for asking. Kind of hard to control the spread in a heavily populated country. Hope this situation gets over as people's health and their families situation are getting affected. Fingers crossed
@@meetthegaffer Adding a point about notification, may be when we clear notifications from our phone all at once, we might miss some. Google is taking data if people are clicking the notification of the new video. If people clear the notification, youtube stops notifying the new videos for the channel there after for a while
Ufff. Sounds in-depth tech
did u use any dimmers?
Yes! Every light we used is an LED with an internal dimmer. The units were paired via crmx and controllable through the Blackout app on the iPad. Dimming of LEDs looks a little different than dimming tungsten units because there is no need for external dimmer packs. Does that answer your question?
obstreperous :-)
Ha, ha! A little Easter Egg for those who get to the end😁
Green screens matter
Ha, ha!