large green screen lighting at DVinfo.net

Jason Sanders · March 19th, 2007, 11:40 PM

Hello

Im trying to figure out how to light a large green screen. The screen is 12feet wide, 8 feet tall and 10 feet on the floor. Some scenes need to have the whole actor standing on the screen and keyed out. I making a starwars fan film and need to match the lighting to the earlier films, like the cool lighting on the death star.

I don’t have any lights yet and maybe you guys can recommend a kit.

Unfortunately I only have a GL2 to film with but I’ve been getting decent results with AE keylight so far.

Thanks
Jason

Richard Andrewski · March 20th, 2007, 06:55 AM

Budget? Fluorescent is pretty efficient for lighting the screen. Use daylight tubes in 4 foot fixtures from Home Depot with electronic ballasts. As for lighting the actor, that could take some experimentation to match whatever look you're going for.

Ralph Keyser · March 20th, 2007, 08:34 AM

Yes, some idea of budget will make sure you get suggestions that will work for you. This is not a huge area to light, so you have lots of options. By "whole actor standing on the screen", I'm assuming you mean that the shot will include their feet.

Jason Sanders · March 20th, 2007, 12:14 PM

I have about $500 to spend on lighting for this project. Should I try some softboxes?

Yes the whole actor needs to be keyed, from head to toe.

Thanks for the help
Jason

Don Bloom · March 20th, 2007, 01:32 PM

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=89380
You might want to read this thread about softboxes (if you haven't already)

I use softboxes a lot and in standard form there is a lot of spill so flags are necessary. I think you might be better off with some Totas OR Lowel Focus lights-you can go up to 1000W (IIRC) with them. Barndoors and a little toughspun will allow you to guide the lighting on the subject and a few 500w homedepot work lights should light the greenscreen butmake sure its even all the way across-watch for shadows around the talents feet.

Don

Heiko Saele · March 21st, 2007, 02:41 PM

Do you have the keylight plugin for AE? It is much more efficient than the built-in AE keying filter. I'm pretty sure it ships with AE pro, but it's not the standard keyer in AE. I'm a total dummy with AE, but I know from a friend that keylight is able to do much better keying than you'd expect, so green screen lighting isn't that much of a problem anymore

*edit* sorry, I should read more closely before posting... you are already using keylight...

But then, I don't think you need softboxes to light your greenscreen, just use two decent open face lamps (600-800W each should be enough). From what I've seen, Keylight seems to be a pretty good keyer, comparable to high-end hardware vision mixers.

If you're limited to 500$, then two worklights (500W) should be good enough to light your green screen. You'll run into more problems lighting your talent with that budget... (you'll need at least 3 open face lamps plus a bunch of gels to come anywhere close to "match the lighting to the earlier films"). But maybe you can do it with worklights, E27 halogen bulbs and a lot of black wrap.

Jason Sanders · March 24th, 2007, 12:37 PM

Thanks for the advise.

I got some fluorescents from homedepot with 6500k bulbs, a double fixture on each side of the screen. I was thinking of using a lowel prolight with a full CTB for the back light on the actors. Do you think a prolight would be enough?

I'll probably look into getting a couple of lowel totas or omni lights for lighting the actors.

Seth Bloombaum · March 24th, 2007, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Sanders

Thanks for the advise.

I got some fluorescents from homedepot with 6500k bulbs, a double fixture on each side of the screen. I was thinking of using a lowel prolight with a full CTB for the back light on the actors. Do you think a prolight would be enough?

I'll probably look into getting a couple of lowel totas or omni lights for lighting the actors.

Conventional fluorescents are what I would use for screen lighting on a budget - quite possible that your 6500k will work out fine. You do want electronic ballasts.

A lowel pro makes a fine backlight in general. CTB is not optimal, if you are looking to blast out any green spill you should be working with Magenta (minus-green). I've had good experience with lots of backlight for screen shots, sometimes using 2 backlights, or two backlights on shoulders/arms plus a hair light.

Totas are useless for lighting people unless in a softbox, behind diffusion, or reflected, in my opinion. The are a big badass light with almost no control.

Omnis, totas, behind diffusion...

Richard Andrewski · March 24th, 2007, 08:15 PM

6500K should be just fine. Color temperature on the screen is not so important as even lighting and just making sure its a good uniform GREEN. Personally I prefer any daylight in the range of 5000K to 5600K but 6500K still qualifies as daylight. Some keying software doesn't need the magenta backlight thanks to the green spill control features.

Gabriel Yeager · March 24th, 2007, 08:42 PM

Jason, I am glad to hear that there are more starwars fans here on dvinfo.net! Would you mind to post a pic of the end result? I am planning on doing a full blue/green screen fan film for the DVC 8, and I am trying to find what I should do for lighting. How much did you spend on those lights at home depot?

Best of luck and thanks!
~Gabriel

Jason Sanders · March 24th, 2007, 10:35 PM

Gabriel
I got the 2 of the Redsteel Worklights from homedepot. They hold 2 4-foot T8 bulbs and have electronic ballasts. They cost about $22 each and $7 for a pair of bulbs.

I will definitely post more on my progress. I still need to get the stormtrooper, jedi customes and lightsabers made. I also need to figure out AE, lighting and 3DS max.

Jason

Don Donatello · March 24th, 2007, 10:39 PM

" I only have a GL2 to film with but I’ve been getting decent results with AE keylight so far"

was that with subject/person head to toe ?

Gabriel Yeager · March 25th, 2007, 10:27 AM

Thanks Jason, I will be sure to keep up with your progress.

Have you ever been to TheForce.net? Its an awesome site for SW info.

How do you plan on getting the Storm-Trooper outfit if you do not mind me asking?

Gl2 is a good camera I think... I use a Canon Elura 100, and it is nice, but it only cost 300 bucks.

~Gabriel

Jason Sanders · March 25th, 2007, 08:20 PM

Gabriel
I'll check out theforce.net, thanks. Im not sure where I'll get the stormtrooper costume, still working on it. Maybe some in my area has one.

Jason

Gabriel Yeager · March 25th, 2007, 08:32 PM

:D They have alot of Tutorials for Filmmaking. You can see them here.

One of my favorites is this one.

Me and my brother made a fanfilm once and we did a huge lightsaber scene. It was a blast!

We made our lightsabers out of PVC pipe. But you have to make sure you use schedule 40, otherwise they break! At least, I think it was Schedule 40... I don't know now. lol. But I do know that you have to get the thick ones, 'because we used a thin one, and it broke in one hit. :(

Best of luck! And may the Force be with you (that sounds really dumb I bet... maybe I should not have said that...)!
~Gabriel

March 19th, 2007, 11:40 PM	#1
Jason Sanders New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 14	large green screen lighting Hello Im trying to figure out how to light a large green screen. The screen is 12feet wide, 8 feet tall and 10 feet on the floor. Some scenes need to have the whole actor standing on the screen and keyed out. I making a starwars fan film and need to match the lighting to the earlier films, like the cool lighting on the death star. I don’t have any lights yet and maybe you guys can recommend a kit. Unfortunately I only have a GL2 to film with but I’ve been getting decent results with AE keylight so far. Thanks Jason Attached Thumbnails

March 20th, 2007, 06:55 AM	#2
Richard Andrewski Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shenzhen, China Posts: 781	Budget? Fluorescent is pretty efficient for lighting the screen. Use daylight tubes in 4 foot fixtures from Home Depot with electronic ballasts. As for lighting the actor, that could take some experimentation to match whatever look you're going for. __________________ Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA - RED #114 http://www.coollights.biz

March 24th, 2007, 08:15 PM	#9
Richard Andrewski Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shenzhen, China Posts: 781	6500K should be just fine. Color temperature on the screen is not so important as even lighting and just making sure its a good uniform GREEN. Personally I prefer any daylight in the range of 5000K to 5600K but 6500K still qualifies as daylight. Some keying software doesn't need the magenta backlight thanks to the green spill control features. __________________ Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA - RED #114 http://www.coollights.biz

March 24th, 2007, 08:42 PM	#10
Gabriel Yeager Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Washington, NorthWest USA Posts: 788	Jason, I am glad to hear that there are more starwars fans here on dvinfo.net! Would you mind to post a pic of the end result? I am planning on doing a full blue/green screen fan film for the DVC 8, and I am trying to find what I should do for lighting. How much did you spend on those lights at home depot? Best of luck and thanks! ~Gabriel __________________ Gabriel Photography

March 25th, 2007, 10:27 AM	#13
Gabriel Yeager Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Washington, NorthWest USA Posts: 788	Thanks Jason, I will be sure to keep up with your progress. Have you ever been to TheForce.net? Its an awesome site for SW info. How do you plan on getting the Storm-Trooper outfit if you do not mind me asking? Gl2 is a good camera I think... I use a Canon Elura 100, and it is nice, but it only cost 300 bucks. ~Gabriel __________________ Gabriel Photography

March 20th, 2007, 08:34 AM	#3
Ralph Keyser Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Posts: 287	Yes, some idea of budget will make sure you get suggestions that will work for you. This is not a huge area to light, so you have lots of options. By "whole actor standing on the screen", I'm assuming you mean that the shot will include their feet.

March 20th, 2007, 12:14 PM	#4
Jason Sanders New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 14	I have about $500 to spend on lighting for this project. Should I try some softboxes? Yes the whole actor needs to be keyed, from head to toe. Thanks for the help Jason

March 20th, 2007, 01:32 PM	#5
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=89380 You might want to read this thread about softboxes (if you haven't already) I use softboxes a lot and in standard form there is a lot of spill so flags are necessary. I think you might be better off with some Totas OR Lowel Focus lights-you can go up to 1000W (IIRC) with them. Barndoors and a little toughspun will allow you to guide the lighting on the subject and a few 500w homedepot work lights should light the greenscreen butmake sure its even all the way across-watch for shadows around the talents feet. Don

March 21st, 2007, 02:41 PM	#6
Heiko Saele Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wurzburg, Germany Posts: 316	Do you have the keylight plugin for AE? It is much more efficient than the built-in AE keying filter. I'm pretty sure it ships with AE pro, but it's not the standard keyer in AE. I'm a total dummy with AE, but I know from a friend that keylight is able to do much better keying than you'd expect, so green screen lighting isn't that much of a problem anymore edit sorry, I should read more closely before posting... you are already using keylight... But then, I don't think you need softboxes to light your greenscreen, just use two decent open face lamps (600-800W each should be enough). From what I've seen, Keylight seems to be a pretty good keyer, comparable to high-end hardware vision mixers. If you're limited to 500$, then two worklights (500W) should be good enough to light your green screen. You'll run into more problems lighting your talent with that budget... (you'll need at least 3 open face lamps plus a bunch of gels to come anywhere close to "match the lighting to the earlier films"). But maybe you can do it with worklights, E27 halogen bulbs and a lot of black wrap.

March 24th, 2007, 12:37 PM	#7
Jason Sanders New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 14	Thanks for the advise. I got some fluorescents from homedepot with 6500k bulbs, a double fixture on each side of the screen. I was thinking of using a lowel prolight with a full CTB for the back light on the actors. Do you think a prolight would be enough? I'll probably look into getting a couple of lowel totas or omni lights for lighting the actors.

March 24th, 2007, 10:35 PM	#11
Jason Sanders New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 14	Gabriel I got the 2 of the Redsteel Worklights from homedepot. They hold 2 4-foot T8 bulbs and have electronic ballasts. They cost about $22 each and $7 for a pair of bulbs. I will definitely post more on my progress. I still need to get the stormtrooper, jedi customes and lightsabers made. I also need to figure out AE, lighting and 3DS max. Jason

March 24th, 2007, 10:39 PM	#12
Don Donatello Hawaiian Shirt Mogul Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: northern cailfornia Posts: 1,261	" I only have a GL2 to film with but I’ve been getting decent results with AE keylight so far" was that with subject/person head to toe ?

March 25th, 2007, 08:20 PM	#14
Jason Sanders New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 14	Gabriel I'll check out theforce.net, thanks. Im not sure where I'll get the stormtrooper costume, still working on it. Maybe some in my area has one. Jason

March 25th, 2007, 08:32 PM	#15
Gabriel Yeager Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Washington, NorthWest USA Posts: 788	:D They have alot of Tutorials for Filmmaking. You can see them here. One of my favorites is this one. Me and my brother made a fanfilm once and we did a huge lightsaber scene. It was a blast! We made our lightsabers out of PVC pipe. But you have to make sure you use schedule 40, otherwise they break! At least, I think it was Schedule 40... I don't know now. lol. But I do know that you have to get the thick ones, 'because we used a thin one, and it broke in one hit. :( Best of luck! And may the Force be with you (that sounds really dumb I bet... maybe I should not have said that...)! ~Gabriel __________________ Gabriel Photography