"Everyday Light" for a studio ceiling - any ideas?

Spartacus

Spartacus

Veteran
EDIT: I have put this here because there is no dedicated lighting section and the light should be able to be used in a shoot.

I have yet to install a "work light" for our studio. The standard probably is bare fluorescent tubes at the ceiling but I was thinking of creating an artificial "overcast sky" lighting, that besides providing illumination when moping the floor, could act as basic ambient fill or even large toplight if needed.
Has anyone done sth like this and can post some pics for inspiration?

I was also thinking of installing a grid of smaller Chinese lanterns, but they "reduce" ceiling height and might interfere with rigging for certain shots.
And are re there any high output and high CRI LED bulbs out yet?

On REDuser some time ago, there was some group buy of high CRI LED strip lights as they were hard to come by - anyone has a link to a product like that?
And - of course - I don't want to spend a fortune, since most of the time it will only be used when rigging preparing the real lighting setup, so Falcon Eyes or more expansive brands
of flexible LEDs are out of the equation, although, basically that's what I'm talking about I guess;)
 
Our studio has halogen (now LED) gu12 spots.. they are terrible with multishadows.. you are correct to be using a softlight.

Of course you could fire some lights at the ceiling and use it as a big bounce board.

I cant offer a cheap solution - I guess that would be four 120ds for a 5.5m space to get going.
 
Bouncing one of our Rayzr7s off the ceiling is the way we brighten the space right now, because well, there are no overhead lights so far as said.
As said, using expensive film lights for this isn't a longterm option, but of course having an array of Quasar tubes up there would be great :)
 
You muddy the waters with a desire to incorporate them to shoots. In that case I think 4 (6?) Apture 120s are the thing.

For non shoot Id probably use something of this format pointing up (my guess is 8) . That is what I have in my engineering booth.

I found one in white enamel finish which makes it more aesthetic than black.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Onforu-FloodLight-Waterproof-Security-Playground/dp/B07VXVZ5CT

Id have them at least .5m down a side wall pointing up.

Its worth thinking about what you will see if you have to photo/film a chrome ball! Keeping the whole space minimal is always good.

These work for video in terms of colour renering, 4 down each wall pointing up could work. But they are not too bright, stick them on max and run from 1 or two switches at ground level.

I have and like these - they are metal and solid so much better than many amazon $100 lights.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neewer-Dim...881536&sprefix=led+video+,lighting,191&sr=8-8
 
This is the company that spawned out of the reduser GB you were talking about: https://koraled.com/collections/ultra-high-cri-led-lights I would NOT order from them (they're having massive issues with actually shipping product that continue to this day), but you can look at the products for reference.

This is a company that offers similar strips: https://store.yujiintl.com/collections/high-cri-white-led-strips

I've used the high wattage Yuji LED Cobs in the past and they worked well. A few high wattage cobs and a layer of diffusion underneath could get you something massively bright, adjustable, and relatively low profile depending on how the diffusion works out.
 
At my last place I didn't have the height to use space lights, so I used Chinese lanterns lamped with large CFL lights.

They proved to be a good any use light.

If I had it to do again in 2020/21 I would likely use COB LED Lights along the lines of a 120 or 150 fitted with something like an Aputure Bowens mount Lantern to do double duty as well, depending on budget.
 
Publimix said:
What about this one?

View attachment 140568

A bunch of these panels will brighten your studio. (and not lower the ceiling)

View attachment 140569
Click to expand...

Looks similar to what I have in my kitchen, but a little lower profile. It has some pretty good punch. I bought mine at Lowe's last year, but they don't carry it anymore.

This is the company, though:

http://www.goodearthlighting.com/browse-products/by-room/home-office/ceiling-lighting/linear-decorative/28-tacoma-led-linear-decorative.html

im_lf1089-pew-28lf4-g_tacoma_1000.jpg
 
As I use my studio more - I like the ceiling less (ceiling being a grid of lights and white tile) - I want a smooth white ceiling.

Id leave the shooting 1/2 of the room free of anything if possible. So firing cobs in from the camera half of the room would be good.
 
Thanks for all your ideas! I'm really hesitant to go with "Home Depot" LED solutions because of pulsing from cheap LED fixtures. Quasar T8 tubes aren't available where I live, so just like the high CRI LED strips from china, I would have to import - also sth I'm not to fond of.
I guess I'll just skip the idea of having production quality lights as my everyday illumination.
Or maybe I'll use ask Roger Deakins to build me one of his huge rings out of Arri 300s and use it as a heating in winter...
 
T8 fluorescent fixtures with modern solid state ballasts don't flicker at normal frame rates. The ballasts run at very high frequencies.
 
Spartacus said:
I guess I'll just skip the idea of having production quality lights as my everyday illumination.
Click to expand...

This is an important point of clarity you need to reach (Im not saying which way) - shoot happy lights are 5x more epensive!

My advice again
-go for diffuse/bounce not spots - shadows when you work under the house lights (rig the stage/build the cameras are highly distracting)
-try and keep the ceiling free of physical objects above the shooting stage this will be wonderful when you go to photo/film something reflective

Razz mention flouro. Im concerned about long term availability but you can see in the this video that flouro (not domestic LED) is photo ready and currently cheaper lumen per $ then photo ready LED

 
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