Video lighting

[SkinnyPupp]

Hi, I am planning on doing Youtube videos, showing me from the waist up or so, with a platform in front of me showing various products (computer hardware)

I have my camera, microphone, and green screen figured out already. Now I Just need to work on the lighting.

I have plenty of choices going to Sham Sui Po... So far, these LED arrays look like the best bet



They vary in price and size, with the cheaper ones going for around $400-500 HKD ($50 CAD or so). They use 7.2v, some are battery only (camcorder battery, some take AAs even) while others have a DC input. These have obscure Mandarin sounding names, and only come with a 1 week warranty though

They seem pretty bright, but I am wondering how much will be enough. I will be doing this in my living room, so if it's not bright out (like most of this month has been) I will have house lighting.

I want to keep the budget low, so I would just like to hear some feedback.. I am hoping 1 will be enough I have some halogen desk lamps I can use for a small bit of extra lighting, such as illuminating the green screen (I hope)

I will definitely have to get one that allows me to change colour temp, because all my lighting is warm. If anyone has other thoughts, please let me know! What other things must I keep in mind? I imagine I should get one with a diffuser? Or is that not necessary for video?

[SkinnyPupp]

I guess nobody cares but I ended up getting this one for $850 ($109). It cost about $250 more ($30) than the cheaper ones, but it actually comes with a standard warranty rather than just one week. Also I don't have to go buy a power adapter for $130 or batteries for $150. I thought it was worth the extra expense

This thing is bright as hell too, and has adjustable colour temp which is important since I may shoot in the day and at night, and all my lighting is warm.

[77civic1200]

Whoa that thing is huge, same size as an Ipad?

Ive been looking for a cheap led array to put into a softbox for lightpainting, but something smaller than that. Ran into another RS member up cypress that was using one, looked fun

[SkinnyPupp]

Yeah it's too big to mount on the camera, they had some smaller ones with hotshoe mounts that still look really bright

Just bought a cheap lighting tripod for $80 ($10 CAD)

[Lomac]

Sorry, didn't see this earlier, otherwise I would have answered.

Stay away from the cheap ebay models. Even though it's actually quite cheap and easy to make, experience has shown that most of these knock offs are actually very cheap and are only worth the one week warranty because they tend to break soon after.

Just a single light on your face is going to give a very flat picture, and will cast shadows behind you (obviously). I'd get at least one more light to use as a fill light either right behind you or at a rear 3/4 angle. If you're doing a green screen, you need to make sure your lighting is done very well... so no shadows from camera mounted lights and the screen itself needs to be evenly lit. It will still work with just a single light source but the end result will show the lack of prep work ahead of time. Using another light behind you will help pop you out from the green screen and make chroma keying a little easier.

[SkinnyPupp]

Yeah I have some halogen lamps I plan on using as backlights for the screen. Just need to make sure to get rid of shadows.