Something for current VIDLED owners.

MattinSTL

MattinSTL

Sound Modulator
I understand that Vidled is a little back-ordered on some parts right now, but if you already own a Vidled (or a few) then you may be interested in this.

Some days I'm a little reluctant to post because this stuff doesn't seem like anything "special" to me at this point... you put up the lights and turn 'em on. What's the big deal? Then somebody will PM me... or post something that inspires me to post a clip.

There were a couple people expressing suspicions about the last Vidled videos I posted... thinking that I "couldn't get that much light out of them" or something to that effect.

If you're new to lighting and you have a 1/6" single chip camera... you need to realize that ALL lights... are tools... and that my video was shot with a DVX utilizing 1/3" chips and better lux. The other factor to pay attention to is whatever FPS and shutter I say I'm using. If you shoot with the same cam, duplicate the settings, and place the lights as I place them... then your footage will look exactly as mine... plain and simple. Frankly... that's not to say I think my stuff looks great in comparison to what I might do with a 10-ton grip truck... but the point of these lights is that you can produce a respectably lit shoot... with NO power of any kind.

Normally I use the Vidleds as supplemental tools... i.e. on-cam for live events or things like that... but as you can see for yourself... they can be pretty effective... if used properly... even as regular production lighting tools.

The main reason I wanted to put this up... is I'm going to show you Vidled owners a great way to make a softbox for your Vidled! This will cost you LESS then $2... it weighs almost nothing... it takes just 5 minutes to do it... and the result is an on-cam light that you can put right in someone's face! Talent won't shy away from the light... and they'll look great at the same time.

I'm getting bored with regular videos like the ones I've been posting... so what the heck... I decided to cheese it up a bit. :grin:

3-Point setup with 3 Vidleds

The resulting carnage... er... footage.
 
Very cool.

Unfortunately, it just makes me want to buy a VidLed - which I can't do at the moment. They seem really great. I should have purchased while I had the chance.

PS. Thanks for getting all dressed up for us!
 
ProfessorU said:
Well it does look pretty slick. Would be nice if it were possible with the HVX, though.
Click to expand...

If this is sarcasm then your sense of humor is even more dry then mine!

I'll trade you cams if you like :thumbsup:

Otherwise YES, you can get the same results easily. My comments were directed at the people who are buying the sub-$500 camcorders with 1/6" chips... and then they come on these boards... see a clip I posted... and think I cheated because they can't duplicate the lighting effect.

You won't have that problem. For anybody reading this that has a VX2000, VX2100, PD150, PD170... or any of the Canons... XL1, XL1s, etc. etc... it will be even EASIER then it looks. 1/3" chippers will often have EXCESS light with a Vidled... hence the dimmer.

I'm not trying to stoke the fire while we have no wood (meaning you gotta' wait for a Vidled...) but that's why I titled this for CURRENT Vidled owners! This is to address any individuals who bought a Vidled and think they can't get the same result from their Vidled... as I get from mine. :beer:
 
But I thought you said you shot that with a DVX? That's at least a stop faster than the HVX, right? What did you use for your shutter, aperture, and gain settings?
 
0 gain... 24fps advanced... 1/60 shutter... F 1.7... zoom was around 30-40... focus was around 45-50... at the closest point I was about 4 or 5 feet from the camera, and the key light was only about 3 feet away from me. I had the knob on top of the Vidled at about 3 o'clock. The little dot on the dimming knob on the Vidled goes from 7 o'clock at "off / lowest dimming" (which isn't actually OFF even though the light is off... so you must turn the Vidled OFF to save the battery totally)... and the knob ends at "max bright" at about 5 o'clock. So I had a little left in it. Also... the back light that is black-wrapped and gelled is on FULL... because I'm shooting through a dark blue gel... and the Vidled providing hair/rim is on about half bright.

So all but the cookie shooter had a little more punch left in it at the settings I used.

If I switched the DVX into 1/24 shutter then I could have done all this from twice the distance... all the way around... or I could have shot it with over a full stop of light loss for the same result... albeit at 1/24 shutter vs. 1/60 shutter.

I don't mean to repeat myself, but the point of this thread and the videos is to show what you can do with these things. I realize you're not contradicting this, but simply stating a fact about the HVX lux... but that's why I'm going back to the original intent... to show what you might do in a hypothetical situation if you didn't have regular powered lights.

Some people misinterpret my intentions and think "forget the Arri kit and Kinos... I'll just get a few Vidleds and do the same thing!".... BUZZZZZ! Wrong! This is about what the lights are capable of producing under the conditions I'm showing.

If you hand me your HVX and we don't have the ability to use regular lighting tools... because there's ZERO time or ZERO power... then I'll still get a good looking shot anyway. Fortunately in reality shooting you're not often having to deal with literally ZERO light... you usually have a sense of place that is welcome in the shot... like say at a wedding reception... you will want to see the party going on in the background... or at a sporting or news event... you will still want to see what's happening in that place... but for your shot to look GOOD... you need to pull your subject out of the mix by putting them on the top-most layer of light... so all you need is MORE light on them, then on the surroundings... which is why I use the term "supplemental light" with on-cam lighting.

LED lighting is pretty hard... and people tend to squint if they aren't used to being in front of one. What I'm showing Vidled owners is a little trick that will allow them to use a Vidled on-cam... and get beautiful results with anybody that they stick in front of the camera.

The point of the video clips is to show that if you can light a regular interview with a few Vidleds then you shouldn't have any trouble covering some fast setups... or getting good on-cam results... in the situations they were designed for.

I'm going to show some more examples as I get to them... and I'll always state what I'm doing and show what I set up. I've got some local buddies that shoot with an HVX and I'll see if I can get one lined up for one of these videos. :thumbsup:
 
I've been working on some other stuff this week... I'll post a pic for you pretty soon though. (probably tomorrow)

I have some LEE reflective to put inside of the little box. You can use double-stick tape to hold it... and you could even use regular crumpled aluminum foil if you want... nobody will ever see in there... but the LEE gel is #273 if you want to get what I have. It's ultra-reflective and disperses the light really well... magnifying the output of the box by a good margin. The front face of the box looks really white (but with some gradation) even w/o the extra punch... but with that gel inside, the face of the softbox is flawlessly neon white, with no gradation of intensity... just a brick of pure white light. One gel sheet is plenty to do as many boxes as you'd ever want.

I'm going to make a bigger version also... for use with a double-Vidled (2 screwed together)... but I'm trying to decide if I want that on the camera or on a camera bracket that's holding the camera. The nice thing about the small box is that it looks like it belongs... the bigger box isn't bad though... and obviously doubling the Vidled means you have a pretty amazing softlight handy the whole day.

The other point about the box we're using is that it still flips open... so a strip of velcro is all you need to be able to flip the box open and have the full LED blast if you need it for a minute of longer distance shooting.
 
I have one of these as an on-camera light and was thinking of getting at least two more for a very portable setup.

This confirms the idea.
 
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