For a basic lighting setup to start with, I recently purchased some worklights, the ones that're 500 watts and create a lot of wide yellow light. I don't have the money for a big setup with professional lights and all, so are there any tips for using the worklights, getting rid of the yellowness of it, and using them effectively?
Those big ass worklights
- Thread starter ToTheBack
- Start date
Manually white balancing will get rid of the yellow color, but may screw you over when there are other light sources in the same scene. The key is to control light spill. Cool Lights sells a barndoor kit for these work light that you can check out, or try using blackwraps or cardboard as flags to shape the lights (don't let it get too hot!). Bouncing light off the ceiling or a reflector will work better than just shining them at the talent.
Derrick_SA
Veteran
he he he, just be extremely careful those lights become VERY VERY HOT! so what ever you add to 'em must be able to take 300 degrees heat.
I've seen some awesome work with those work lights, it's all about how you use and control 'em!
- Derrick
I've seen some awesome work with those work lights, it's all about how you use and control 'em!
- Derrick
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
If you purchase those barndoors, or just keep the protective cage overtop the work lights, you can still purchase film gels and color correct the light. This way when you use other tungsten lights around normal range they will all match to the same whitebalance. Although this excludes daylight sources.
The key is knowing which gel will correctly compensate. To figure this out you will need a color meter and know the mirid system. Not an easy feat for beginners. Best of luck!
The key is knowing which gel will correctly compensate. To figure this out you will need a color meter and know the mirid system. Not an easy feat for beginners. Best of luck!
What's the web address for that barn door by Cool Lights? I couldn't find them in a search, just found some odd offshoot sites
The cage you mention is the black wire cage that hooks in under the frame, right? Just asking since I know how hot the lights can get but wasn't sure how the cage would be able to ensure gels could be applied. I had seen people I know use'em without the cage on (and use paper as a gel since they lacked regular gels) and the paper would burn out quickly
S
SeanEmer
Guest
http://www.leefilters.com/lighting/products/mired/
once you know your worklight's temp, convert to 3200K for standard tungsten and use the mired shift value to find the gel you need!
once you know your worklight's temp, convert to 3200K for standard tungsten and use the mired shift value to find the gel you need!
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Trust me, always gel lights with caution, but cinema lights get just as, or even more, hot than those work lights.
Make sure there is something, like barndoors, that cage, or something rigged-up that can simply hold the gel away from directly touching the glass. If you do so, they should not melt. Always keep an eye on your gels for safety and buy them from professional manufacturers. (Lee, Rosco, etc)
The cage I was referring to is this:
All gels cut lighting intensity more or less (depending on the gel). There is one gel that only does that and nothing else: ND (Neutral Density) gel. It comes in 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 strengths usually and cuts one, two or three f-stops of light without changing color temperature (unlike dimmers). For professional lights you can also get scrims (metal wiremesh) that do the same.