Lighting for beginners! Tutorials/links collection.

nvaneer said:
that was my first id. but what about things like 500k, 3200k.
i`ve been loking and now i think it are the degrees of the light in kelvin
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K stands for either Kelvin (color temperature in degrees) or THOUSAND, like 1k is 1 thousand.
When talking about lights, the K is usually reference to the wattage of the light, not the temperature of the light bulbs (unless you start talking about kinoflows with daylight/tungsten bulbs, at least the majority of the time).
 
Derrick_SA said:
MatthewC, the K is for Kelvin as in the light temperature of the light, w or Kw is for wattage,

Derrick
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Yeah, I understand this, but when most people talk about them in forums they use 10k and 2k in terms of the power of the light used, as well as using it for the color temperature of the light. Most people don't use the w unless talking about 650s, etc. I'm just telling him theres two things it could mean, so I see why he's confused.
 
Hi

ive been looking through those links that were posted some as far back as 2006. Allot of them are not working anymore and of the ones that are working they seem to be geared more for budget lighting.

Does anyone have a link or maybe can recommend some books from amazon, that i can use to do an in depth study of lighting for video and film. Im not looking for a beginners guide but rather something that can teach me advanced lighting techniques.

My goal is to have a sound knowledge of all the different types of lights and equipment used in the industry and to be confident with using them. If there is maybe a lighting DOP who can share some of his learning resources that would be much appreciated thx.
 
Trying to go through all the stuff about lighting.

No chance of a few of you experts relocating to Europe and giving us links for stores here? lol

Dimmers would be very handy for lighting setups.
What to google for that guys??
 
Thanks Matthew!

I don't have links on this but I went to a great lighting workshop for filmmakers and cinematographers, so I just wanted to let you know about it.

The teacher (Eric Lau) is really enthusiastic and makes it easy to follow. I learned a lot of tricks and techniques that I'll be able to use in my next project.

I'm going to the next one on October 10 and 11 because it is an intensive workshop with a lot of hands-on.

Here is their website if you are interested http://solarnyc.com/lightingworkshop

They also have a Youtube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUGPa_t8700

Hope it helps :happy:
 
Here are some blog posts that I have been doing on various lighting setups:

Interview Lighting: http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/Lighting_Interviews.html
Green Screen: http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/Green_Screen_Lighting.html
Extreme & Beauty: http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/Beauty_and_Extreme_Lighting.html
Exterior: http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/Exterior_Location_Lighting_01.html
Black Line: http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/Black_Line_Lighting.html

And now that I have an iPhone with me on set I thought that I would start filming some of the behind the scenes action and setup and show the final results. The videos will be posted via the blog on my site or you can subscribe via iTunes:

Blog / Site: http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/fi...my_BTS_01.html

iTunes Podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...t?id=340901098
 
Lighting for beginners Tutorials /links collection

Lighting for beginners Tutorials /links collection

A gaffer/rental house owner/operator I work with in Boston by the name of Guy Holt has just compiled for his company news letter what is probably the best information regarding HMIs that I have seen anywhere. In his article, he undertakes a comprehensive survey of the prevalent lighting and portable power generation equipment, describes how he systematically tested how well they work together, and has made the results available online.

To paraphrase what he found, harmonic distortion of set power by HMI electronic ballasts is an increasing problem in HD production. It is becoming an issue because portable generators were not designed for the abundance of non-linear loads, like the electronic HMI and Fluorescent lighting, that make up lighting packages today. The problem is being further compounded by the increasing prevalence on set of sophisticated electronic production equipment like computers, hard drives and HD monitors which require clean power, but are themselves sources of harmonic distortion.

Normally, when you plug an HMI light into a wall outlet you need not be concerned about the current harmonics generated by HMI ballasts producing voltage distortions. The impedance of the electrical path from the power plant is so low, the distortion of the original voltage waveform so small (1-3%), and the plant capacity so large, that inherently noisy loads like HMI ballasts placed upon it will not affect the voltage at the load bus.

However, it is an all together different situation when plugging HMIs into conventional portable generators. Given the large sub-transient impedance of conventional portable generators, even a small degree of harmonic noise being fed back into the power stream will result in a large amount of distortion in its’ voltage. Add to that, the likely hood that the percentage of the generator’s capacity taken up by electronic HMI & Kino ballasts will to be very high given its small size relative to typical lighting packages, and given the increasing prevalence of these types of light sources in production. Finally, add that the original supply voltage waveform of a conventional generator is appreciably distorted to begin with, and you have a situation where the return of any harmonic currents by an HMI ballast will result in significant waveform distortion of the voltage at the power bus.

The power waveform below left is from his article and is typical of what results from the operation of a couple of 1200W HMIs with non-power factor corrected ballasts on a conventional portable generator. The adverse effects of the harmonic noise exhibited here, can take the form of overheating and failing equipment, circuit breaker trips, excessive current on the neutral wire, and instability of the generator’s voltage and frequency. It is for these reasons, he argues, that it has never been possible to reliably operate more than a couple of 1200W HMIs with electronic ballasts on a conventional 6500W portable gas generator. Harmonic noise of this magnitude can also damage HD digital cinema production equipment, create ground loops, and possibly create radio frequency (RF) interference.

waveform_AVR-Inv_Pkg.jpg

In the past, attention was given to generator features such as automatic voltage regulation and crystal speed regulation. But, given the rise in production problems associated with harmonic noise, an increasingly more important feature today is the quality of the generated power waveform and how well it interacts with the lighting units predominantly used today. For that reason, he did a series of tests that he summarizes in the article.

His tests have resulted in some rather startling conclusions. They show that when your lighting package consists predominantly of non-linear light sources, like HMI and Fluorescent lights, it is essential to have PFC circuitry in the ballasts and to operate them on an inverter generator. The combination of improved power factor and the nearly pure power waveform of the inverter generator creates clean stable set power (like that in the power waveform above right) that is capable of reliably operating larger lights (HMIs up to 6kw or Quartz lights up to 5kw), or more smaller lights, off of portable gas generators than has ever been possible before. For example, as I mentioned in a previous post, I used one of their modified Honda EU6500is Generators on a Red shoot to power a lighting package that consisted of a 2.5kw, 1200, & 800 HMI Pars, a couple of Kino Flo ParaBeam 400s, a couple of ParaBeam 200s, and a Flat Head 80. Given the light sensitivity of the Red Camera, this was all the light we needed to light a large night exterior.

The second startling result of the tests was that If you don’t have access to the newest PFC electronic ballasts, you are better served by using the older magnetic ballasts on an inverter generator like the Honda EU 6500is over non-PFC electronic ballasts (more on this in my next post below.)

I highly recommend that anyone using HMIs on a set read his article. While the HMI lighting package he has developed as a result of his tests is new (introduced Jan 09), the set power issues caused by HMI ballasts have been vexing electricians for years. The article explains the electrical engineering principles behind these issues, and how his lighting package resolves them, in a way I have not seen elsewhere. In fact his tests will be cited in the upcoming 4th edition of the “Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook.” The article is posted on their website at:
http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html

Eileen Ryan, Gaffer, Boston
 
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Nice thread & Exam production

Nice thread & Exam production

I´m workin on my exam essay/production at the moment and i find alot of useful links and stuff here ! Appreciate it alot.

And also im wondering if anyone here is interested to participate in a shorter interview for my exam essay, Its just a few questions around lighting and greenscreen.


Thanks !
 
LED Question

LED Question

NextWaveG said:
I've been working on a series I'm calling "Cinematography Tips for Video Lighting". I'm in the process of putting together several training videos on techniques for lighting video. Right now we're up to 4, but I plan on continuing the series for awhile.
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Tony thanks for making these, I found it very useful.

Does anyone have any recommendation for Affordable LED lighting that includes a Dimmer? The intended use will be for lighting interviews of a single person, aka "talking heads"

I found this on B&H - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/684264-REG/Bescor_LED90CK_Portable_LED_Video_2_Light.html

There are no dimmers on these so I'd have to bounce it somewhere like on a white foam board requiring another stand to be part of the kit or physically move the light farther away to make it less bright?

Anyone know of better lighting solutions that are affordable or is there a price point of say, $1500 that is a must to get anything of good quality and versatility?
 
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