Friggin' Hot Lights! Grrrr....

DPStewart

DPStewart

Veteran
My underwear is drenched.

I am so hot and sweaty from this all hot-light shoot that MY UNDERWEAR IS DRENCHED!

This is cruel and unusual punishment.

It was an indoor shoot that was an "all fresnel extravaganza"... Lots of cookies and spots and other painted-on light.
Don't get me wrong - it looked great! But I can't afford any of the spiffy new LED Fresnels this year so this is what I get.

At least it worked with the talent. They were supposed to be returning home from jogging to discuss the tense topic, so them being sweaty and uncomfortable actually seemed to help.

Maybe I can start a Go Fund Me campaign: "Help end my misery".

Well, thanks for listening. I just wanted to vent.
Heh - yeah, a vent or two would have been nice...

Hahaha! :cheesy:
 
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I have a nice set of LED's(Astra's and Sola's) and Kino's, but when I can completely control the situation/room, I've gone back to mostly tungsten whenever I can. I did a three camera shoot yesterday. We were in a college football team meeting room watching game 'film'. 100% tungsten. All Arri Fresnels(2x 300's, 4x 150's) and one Source Four. My opinion is that out of all the man-made lighting sources, tungsten still renders skin-tones the best. And I'll tolerate the heat and power requirements to get the best image I can, when I can.

And for the underwear problem: Gold Bond and Under Armour Underwear.
 
Cool Lights makes nice small CDM fresnels. Just like small HMIs, but without the hot strike capability (which isn't all that in the first place). Bright, nice color, and they run pretty cool (about the same efficiency as fluorescent), especially compared to a tungsten fresnel. They make two CDMs, a 70 and a 150 (about 300w and 650w tungsten equivalent). I love mine. Of course, YMMV.
 
I went back to tungsten for the current feature. It involved a lot of window gelling but was well worth it. I also own the Cool Lights CDM's, which have a considerable green spike. A 1/8 or 1/4 magenta gel usually solves the problem.
 
mainstreetprod said:
I went back to tungsten for the current feature. It involved a lot of window gelling but was well worth it. I also own the Cool Lights CDM's, which have a considerable green spike. A 1/8 or 1/4 magenta gel usually solves the problem.
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That's a bummer about the green spike in the Cool Lights CDM... I don't mind using permanent gels to correct for a cheap light, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about that at a $500 price point. The minus green gels make the lights 'Better'... but there's often more subtle color issues than just the green.
 
DPStewart said:
That's a bummer about the green spike in the Cool Lights CDM... I don't mind using permanent gels to correct for a cheap light, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about that at a $500 price point. The minus green gels make the lights 'Better'... but there's often more subtle color issues than just the green.
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Two things. First, most modern cameras do a multi-axis manual white balance on command. Problem solved. At least for me. I don't even do any color correction at all (as opposed to color grading, which I still do as needed to reinforce mood and help the story) in post. Get excellent skin tones. Without using gels.

Second, if you don't like the small green spike from a CDM bulb, how do you like them from HMI bulbs? Because it's the same basic technology. Also, what about the small green spikes you get from fluorescent tubes? Even from Kino Flo True Match bulbs. All discharge lamps have discontinuous spectra that have to be corrected some how, either through six or seven phosphors in the tube of a fluorescent, gels, a mix of LED "colors" in a fixture, etc.

The size of the green spikes comes down to a trade off with efficiency. The manufacturer can do it, or you can with gels. But if the manufacturer does it, you're stuck with the lower light output for a given amount of power. If the manufacturer leaves some green in, you get a higher light output for that same amount of power, and you can choose whether or not that last bit of green needs that 1/8 magenta gel, or whether you need those extra lumens. And that's why there's a small green spike still in the Cool Light's bulbs, and HMI bulbs, fluorescents, LEDs (getting better but can be all over the ball park), etc.

If you don't like any of that, you're pretty much stuck with tungsten lights, and 4x the heat because of the 4x power draw. And woe be unto you if you need 5600K, because the CTB gels just kill light output like it's free. Just sayin'.
 
I've shot lots of interviews and entire features with the CDM lights and at first didn't even gel them. The spike is pretty minimal and easily removed in post. Meanwhile, the talent enjoyed almost no heat output and I could plug 3 into a circuit that would handle one tungsten.
 
mainstreetprod said:
I've shot lots of interviews and entire features with the CDM lights and at first didn't even gel them. The spike is pretty minimal and easily removed in post. Meanwhile, the talent enjoyed almost no heat output and I could plug 3 into a circuit that would handle one tungsten.
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Uh...you button-hooked me dere Mainstreet! Ya used the words "considerable green spike" and made me think it was worse than maybe it is.
Nah - I got no problem with a little green spike like HMI's or True Match bulbs. No problema at all!

OK - this is really good then. Yeah, I think this Cool Light 650w equivalent sounds great then. Thanks for tipping me off to these!
 
How do the cool light CDM compare to the tungsten lights they offer in size? Been thinking of letting go of my tungsten fresnel kit due to size of the case, heat, and power (plus I find myself using it less and less). I mean I can always rent for narrative work I need it for but for one man crew corporate and documentary stuff it's a tad on the overkill side sometimes
 
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