Help me set up my Lighting

Pete Cofrancesco · August 30th, 2019, 05:15 AM

FCPX comes with the ability to sync and it does an excellent job so no need to simultaneously record. The remote is so you don’t need to get up every time to start and stop recording.

Eduard Manvelyan · August 30th, 2019, 09:49 AM

Oh I had no idea such a feature existed in FCPX. I will definitely give it a try.

Eduard Manvelyan · September 2nd, 2019, 10:08 AM

Here is a new video I shot with a new light positioned on top of the iPhone. I also shot and edited in 4k and exported in 1080.

Paul R Johnson · September 3rd, 2019, 05:33 AM

Subjectively, it looks nice - objectively there are some small issues - which for a guitarist can be important.

Look at 47 seconds - you have an E-A-D but the other three strings have vanished. This is the kind of thing phones do badly. They don't have the lens acuity to be able to see small details against an over exposed background. The exposure is an average - and is just a tad over, which has wiped out details in the highlights. It could be there, in the data, but not been brought out, but I suspect it's simply gone, or was never even recorded. Phones have no real exposure controls - the zebra highlights cameras often use to point you to the over-exposed portions of the picture.

To be honest - the common shoot in 4K then you can pan and scan a bit in the edit rarely work when despite the label, phones are pretty poor generators of 4k because of the small and less than optimum tiny bit of glass in front of the sensor. I think what you have is pretty much as good as the camera gets, and it's perhaps unwise to start to spend money on lighting, without spending money on the most important thing - the image.

Eduard Manvelyan · September 4th, 2019, 12:00 AM

Thank you for your input. I will get a new camera in the next 3 or 4 months. I think having a better lens, plus the information the camera provides about whether the shot under/over exposed etc will help me a lot. After I get a new camera I will see what steps in terms of lighting I will need to take. If any.

I would be curious to try a proper 3 point lighting without my regular house lights ( the ones on my ceiling). Probably will have much more depth in the image that way. But one step at a time. A good camera that shoots without crop in 4k next.

In about 3-4 months (before purchasing the camera) I will make another thread here to gain insights. As for now I will shoot as much content as possible and make sure I have a new video every week.

Big thanks to everyone!!!

Paul R Johnson · September 4th, 2019, 12:11 AM

Don't forget that it's already streets better than many music videos on YouTube, so we really are talking about small improvements, and my experience of YouTube is that content is more important than the ultimate quality. My own poor attempts got me comments that I was talking rubbish, had terrible shirts, had reflections in my glasses and had a fat stomach. It's rather nice to get positive comments about what you said, and even disagreement with comments and content from people who clearly know their stuff. Nobody every comments on my lighting, the sound, the picture quality etc etc. Good luck with it.

For what it's worth, my pet hate are jump cuts where people make a mistake and restart editing the two together with a jump. I hate it! I spend time making sure on restarts I never get a jump by changing things a little so the jumps look more like camera cuts, not restarts.

August 30th, 2019, 05:15 AM	#16
Pete Cofrancesco Inner Circle Join Date: May 2004 Location: USA Posts: 2,995	Re: Help me set up my Lighting FCPX comes with the ability to sync and it does an excellent job so no need to simultaneously record. The remote is so you don’t need to get up every time to start and stop recording.

August 30th, 2019, 09:49 AM	#17
Eduard Manvelyan New Boot Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: NY USA Posts: 8	Re: Help me set up my Lighting Oh I had no idea such a feature existed in FCPX. I will definitely give it a try.

September 2nd, 2019, 10:08 AM	#18
Eduard Manvelyan New Boot Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: NY USA Posts: 8	Re: Help me set up my Lighting Studio Diaries - Burned Bridges - YouTube Here is a new video I shot with a new light positioned on top of the iPhone. I also shot and edited in 4k and exported in 1080.

September 3rd, 2019, 05:33 AM	#19
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,015	Re: Help me set up my Lighting Subjectively, it looks nice - objectively there are some small issues - which for a guitarist can be important. Look at 47 seconds - you have an E-A-D but the other three strings have vanished. This is the kind of thing phones do badly. They don't have the lens acuity to be able to see small details against an over exposed background. The exposure is an average - and is just a tad over, which has wiped out details in the highlights. It could be there, in the data, but not been brought out, but I suspect it's simply gone, or was never even recorded. Phones have no real exposure controls - the zebra highlights cameras often use to point you to the over-exposed portions of the picture. To be honest - the common shoot in 4K then you can pan and scan a bit in the edit rarely work when despite the label, phones are pretty poor generators of 4k because of the small and less than optimum tiny bit of glass in front of the sensor. I think what you have is pretty much as good as the camera gets, and it's perhaps unwise to start to spend money on lighting, without spending money on the most important thing - the image.

September 4th, 2019, 12:00 AM	#20
Eduard Manvelyan New Boot Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: NY USA Posts: 8	Re: Help me set up my Lighting Thank you for your input. I will get a new camera in the next 3 or 4 months. I think having a better lens, plus the information the camera provides about whether the shot under/over exposed etc will help me a lot. After I get a new camera I will see what steps in terms of lighting I will need to take. If any. I would be curious to try a proper 3 point lighting without my regular house lights ( the ones on my ceiling). Probably will have much more depth in the image that way. But one step at a time. A good camera that shoots without crop in 4k next. In about 3-4 months (before purchasing the camera) I will make another thread here to gain insights. As for now I will shoot as much content as possible and make sure I have a new video every week. Big thanks to everyone!!!

September 4th, 2019, 12:11 AM	#21
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,015	Re: Help me set up my Lighting Don't forget that it's already streets better than many music videos on YouTube, so we really are talking about small improvements, and my experience of YouTube is that content is more important than the ultimate quality. My own poor attempts got me comments that I was talking rubbish, had terrible shirts, had reflections in my glasses and had a fat stomach. It's rather nice to get positive comments about what you said, and even disagreement with comments and content from people who clearly know their stuff. Nobody every comments on my lighting, the sound, the picture quality etc etc. Good luck with it. For what it's worth, my pet hate are jump cuts where people make a mistake and restart editing the two together with a jump. I hate it! I spend time making sure on restarts I never get a jump by changing things a little so the jumps look more like camera cuts, not restarts.