Color spectrometers are important for testing the color quality of lights used in your video and film projects. Many common color indices — such as CRI and TLCI — only tell a small fraction of a very large picture. Without fully looking at the color quality of your lights you may find out in post that you used a low quality light for your scenes, which ended up destroying the color in your image.
This article discusses how to use the average color spectrometer, what color characteristics to look out for, how to understand all the data and graphs, and how to take the spectrometer to the next level such as comparing light from a fixture before and after adding gels like CTO, minus green, and others.
In future articles we will look at specific spectrometers — such as Sekonic C700, UPRTek CV600, Asensetek Lighting Passport Essence Pro, and Asensetek Lighting Passport Standard Pro — along with their specific features and some of their limitations.
Oof! Very strange and unfortunate that Sekonic discontinued...May 31, 2023 - 4:00 pm by Tim
Since Sekonic NO LONGER makes the chart you need for creating...May 2, 2023 - 12:49 am by Quinton
Thanks for helping me understand that bright lights are...September 17, 2022 - 12:55 am by Millie Hue
Budget Location Scouting: Finding A Place To Film Your Video
in All, Locations, New, Production/by TimCreating films and videos can be expensive. Here are some tips to location scout on a budget. Learn how to search more efficiently to find and secure the perfect locations for less.
Color Spectrometer Review: Asensetek Lighting Passport
in All, Education & Tech, Lighting, New, Reviews/by TimColor spectrometers are a valuable tool to confirm the quality of the lights you use on your video and film sets. In this continuation of our Color Spectrometer series, we review the Asensetek Lighting Passport spectrometers, looking at its functionality, features, and how well it takes various measurements of light.
Understanding Color Spectrometers
in All, Education & Tech, Gear, Lighting, New/by TimColor spectrometers are important for testing the color quality of lights used in your video and film projects. Many common color indices — such as CRI and TLCI — only tell a small fraction of a very large picture. Without fully looking at the color quality of your lights you may find out in post that you used a low quality light for your scenes, which ended up destroying the color in your image.
This article discusses how to use the average color spectrometer, what color characteristics to look out for, how to understand all the data and graphs, and how to take the spectrometer to the next level such as comparing light from a fixture before and after adding gels like CTO, minus green, and others.
In future articles we will look at specific spectrometers — such as Sekonic C700, UPRTek CV600, Asensetek Lighting Passport Essence Pro, and Asensetek Lighting Passport Standard Pro — along with their specific features and some of their limitations.
“Save the Cat!” Screenwriting Book: Chapter Four Summary
in All, Education & Tech, New, Storytelling/by TimStructure is the single most important aspect of a screenplay. It is the bones of your story. It will also help you pitch/sell your screenplay as well as make sure that you retain writing credit for it no matter how much other writers change dialog, characters, and scene order.
We continue our “Cliffs Notes” summaries of “Save the Cat!” by Blake Snyder, with this article covering Chapter 4 where he covers the various beats that make up the structure of a screenplay.
Aputure C300d LED is Finally Here!
in All, Education & Tech, Lighting, New/by TimBack in April Aputure released an LED fixture so impressive it won Best Lighting Product at NAB 2017. The LED fixture overcomes many shortcomings of most other LEDs on the market: it casts a hard light, yet can easily accept common light modifiers to make it soft. It is so compact and lightweight that you can use it in even the most remote locations. Since it can be battery powered, line power and generators are no longer part of the conversation. These are just some of the amazing features of this light. Read more to see all it can do!
ZERO Follow Focus Lens Gear
in All, Education & Tech, Gear, New/by TimThe ZERO follow focus lens gear ring by Broken Anchor Design overcomes all of the problems other lens rings have: it centers itself, is seamless, fits many lenses, and attaches in seconds. No other lens gear ring can do this, which is why we’re so excited to see that Broken Anchor Design has finally made it happen.
Cool-Lux SHIFT Baseplate Review
in All, Camera, Gear, Reviews/by TimWe got chance to review the Cool-Lux Classic Cool-Rig, which has the innovative SHIFT Baseplate at its center. What’s impressive about this baseplate is the built-in shoulder mount /chest support that flips down, making the transition from tripod to shoulder quick and easy.
Also part of the rig (and review) are the Cool-Lux walnut grip, universal cheese plate, and three prong battery mount, and well as their carbon fiber iris rods.
Complexities of Bicolor LED Lights: An Extensive Color Analysis
in All, Education & Tech, Latest Insider Articles, Lighting, Reviews/by TimBicolor LED lights sound like a great idea. However does mixing dissimilar lights result in high quality color across the entire range of color temperatures? Or will the entire range of light be sub-par from the manufacturer compromising the LED diode in order to make the two emitters mix?
We extensively tested a bicolor LED from a very well respected LED manufacturer to better understand the issues. We measured the CRI (Ra), CRI (Re), TLCI, CQS, TM-30-15, and color temperature to determine how the color quality stacked up across all levels of brightness (dimming) for the entire color temperature range.
The results are very … illuminating!
Understanding the Complete LED Database: Testing Procedures
in All, Education & Tech, Grading, Latest Insider Articles, Lighting/by TimTo get the most of our LED database of 165 LED lights, we explain how to read the color spectra and understand CRI (Ra), CRI (Re), TLCI, CQS, and TM-30-15.
New Aputure LEDs: Review of the COB120T and M9 [Video]
in All, Education & Tech, Gear, Lighting/by TimAputure has done it again with two amazing lights: the tungsten balanced 1.5kW point source Light Storm COB 120t and the daylight balanced “camera mounted LED” Amaran M9. Both have VERY high CRI (Ra)/ CRI (Re) / TLCI / CQS / TM30-15 results, with some of the best R9 (saturated red) values of 160 different LEDs that we’ve tested.
LED Ribbon Lights: Flexibility In Creating Your Own Light
in All, Experimental, Gear, Lighting, Reviews/by TimLED ribbon lights are thin, flexible and have limitless possibilities on-set to light your video projects. They now allow you to place light anywhere, including in the palm of an actor’s hand, a prop, or taped to a wall or railing. We cover how to work with ribbon LEDs, review three common brands along with their CRI values, and then suggest useful LED ribbon accessories.
Aputure LED Light Review: High Quality & Affordable? [VIDEO]
in All, Gear, Lighting, Reviews/by Ryan E. WaltersWhen it comes to LEDs the majority of affordable options on the market do not produce great results. So we were a bit skeptical when we first heard of Aputure’s low cost LED lights. Our results: wow! In this video, we’ll share with you our real world experience with them and how they actually perform on-set.