I finally took the plunge and ordered a basic lighting kit for 1-2 person interviews and some green screen work: two Photoflex Starlite & Medium Silverdome softboxes (with egg crates and 1000, 500 and CFL bulb choices), a single Lowel Pro light with barn doors, stands, some grip hardware, a 5-way reflector and a wheeled case. I'd welcome advise, tips and/or tricks from anyone using these lights on a regular basis?

I'm a producer/videographer shooting HDV. Over the years, I've worked with Chimera softboxes mounted on Arri lights and Lowel Rifa lights as well. The Photoflex gear seems well-built and the price is right. I'm hoping to get many years of use from this. Thanks!

Sam

Lowel has some great tips at Lowel EDU - a Lighting Resource Center (http://lowel.com/edu/)
Photoflex has their webschool (more geared towards traditional photography)
There are also a couple of DVD's, one is on our DVcreators site. We also used to recommend Ross Lowell's book, but it went out of print and the price jumped 2-10x's! Amazon.com: Matters of Light & Depth (9780966250404): Ross Lowell, Various: Books

My lights arrived on Wednesday, I spent a few hours setting everything up and learning assembly etc. So far so good but I have a question; is it harmful to leave the front baffle (white) in place when you fold and store the softbox? Do you remove and fold it separately?

Thanks!

I do exactly what you do and leave the baffle on, have done so for the past few years, week in, week out with no ill effects. The only change I've noticed is that the ribs have a permanent bend in them now but it doesn't affect the performance, makes it easier in fact.