Wednesday 28 November 2012

Guide to setting up your iMac for editing with Final Cut Pro 7


For users new to editing with Final Cut, and especially for those who have only edited on PCs, and also for those of you new to editing in a networked environment, here are a few tips to get you Mac working for you.




Once your Mac is fired up and running your first port of call should be to access Finder/Preferences from the menu.






On the “General” tab, make sure that all of the following are checked; Hard disks, External disks, CDs, DVDs and iPods, and Connected servers. This will ensure that all of these connected devices can be seen on your desktop.



Next click on the “Sidebar” tab and ensure that all the boxes are checked under “Devices”, under “Shared”, under “Places” and under “Search For”. This, again, is so that we can see everything that we need to see and nothing is hidden from view.







Moving along to the “Advanced” tab, check the “show all filename extensions” box which is deselected by default. Apple seem to think that we don't want filename extensions but it can be very useful for us to see what type of files we are dealing with.





Then close the Finder Preferences window and go back to the menu bar. Under the Apple icon, scroll down to System Preferences.

















The System Preferences window is the equivalent of Control Panel in Windows





If you are using an iMac, select the Mouse icon in System Preferences and select the pull down menu for the right-hand button. By default this, and the left-hand button, are each set to “Primary”, but we want our Mac to work like a PC. Changing this to “Secondary” will open up a whole range of right-click options that us old PC users prefer over the “Ctrl-click” Mac method.





While we are here, it is worth turning off the two side buttons to avoid that annoying accidental opening of expose/desktop/dashboard/mission control or other feature that gets in the way of editing. Next, by deselecting the “Move content in the direction of finger movement......” box for the scroll wheel, the scroll wheel will now behave the same way as our old PC scroll wheel, rather than in opposite fashion.



After this click on “Show All” to return to the System Preferences window.


For those of us using a Laptop without a mouse, you'll need to configure the track pad in a similar fashion. Under Trackpad, select :Secondary Click” and choose “Bottom Right Corner” from the pull down menu.




Laptop and iMac users may have noticed that our F keys, (Function keys), have been hi-jacked by the operating system to drive the screen and speakers etc.





To resolve this problem we need to select “Keyboard” from System Preferences.









Of the two tabs, “Keyboard” and “Keyboard Shortcuts”, select “Keyboard” and ensure that the “Use all F1, F2 etc. keys as standard function keys” is selected. This is needed because Final Cut Pro (and other software) needs access to these keys. If you need to tweek your speaker level or screen brightness, you are still able to do this by holding down the Fn key whilst pressing the relevant F key.



Back in System Preferences, click on “Dock” and reduce it's size so that it doesn't eat up quite so much real estate. Compared to “Task Bar” in Windows, the Dock always seems to get in the way wherever you put it, so the choice is yours as to where you put it and whether you choose to use any of the hide or magnify functions.

Then close System Preferences.



In Finder the default folder view on Macs diplays files as icons. Whilst this may look pretty, it's not much use for finding files, nor of much use for ensuring that we save our projects and media in the correct locations. To see our files in a more useful way, open finder from the dock. Amongst the icons along the top and to the right of the Applications icon we have a choice of four alternative views; icon view, list view, column view and cover flow view. Select column view as this is the most useful for navigating through all your folders.

The final step is to prepare a directory with some folders within which we can store all the various parts of our project. This applies equally to Adobe Premiere and Avid users as it does to FCP users. You can set these folders up from within the edit application but by preparing the ground before-hand, you get a better understanding of where all your material is being stored.

In a professional multi-user, server-based working environment, it is essential to follow the house rules that may differ in some way.

One over-riding basic principal is that the project is stored independently of the media and there is a historical reason for this that is still useful today. On a stand-alone edit suite you may usually have an internal hard drive that runs the application, and a second hard drive that stores the media that you capture or import. If you save the project on the sme drive as the media, and that drive fails, you risk losing weeks of work as well as all the media. With the project stored independently, and backed up regularly, it is possible to recapture all the media should the media drive fail. Not only that but you will be able to return to the last edit that you saved before the drive failure. Obviously, this only works if you have kept all your original tapes or cards full of camera-original media. The project file itself can be backed up to a small memory stick as it is only a few kbs in size.

In a professional server-based working environment, the media is stored on more robust computers using RAID 5 drive arrays. These drive arrays duplicate your media, spread it across several drives and use checksum error correction that allows for faulty drives to be replaced without losing any data.

So, for most practical purposes, when using FCP it is good practice to create a folder called Final Cut Pro Documents on your external drive or on your allocated server space, and next to this create a folder called fcp projects. When you open up FCP to create a new project, save the project in the fcp projects folder and store all your fcp projects here. Whenever you need to find an old project, you then only have one place to look for it. Make a point, also, of ONLY storing fcp project files here and nothing else.

Similarly, when you set up the scratch disks for each project, have fcp use the Final Cut Pro Documents folder for everything else associated with the project – Capture Scratch, Audio Scratch, Render files, Waveform Cache, Thumbnail Cache and Auto-save Vault.

Above all - Be tidy and methodical with your media management.

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Thursday 22 November 2012

In The Pipeline

Lots of stuff in the pipeline, so watch this space.

Coming soon

Working with AVCHD
Working with XDCAM ex
Sow-mo with HDV
Slow- mo on the NX5
Ex 1 and Ex 3 slow-motion
Setting up iMacs for editting
Adobe Premiere CS6 first impressions
FCP/Avid/Pemiere compared
One subject - many views - Picture composition
Boom handling
Audio line-ups
Rigorous Recces
Microphone placement
Shoooting Time-lapse
Balancing tripods


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Tip for the Day - Getting Usable Interviews On Camera

It is not difficult filming interviews that you can edit - You just need to follow a few simple rules.

Most news pieces, documentary interviews or corporate videos these days do not feature a reporter asking questions. We generally only use shots of the interviewee giving statemented answers

To to be able to extract such statemented answers from your interviewee  you have to avoid the use of closed questions, that is to say, any question that can be answered with a single word or short phrase, usually "Yes" or "No". So avoid starting questions with "Can you....., Are you..., Will you..."etc.

The simplest way is to not ask any questions at all, but rather to say something along the lines of..... "Tell me about...."  or "What, in your own words......" or "Describe the......"

The second rule is to LISTEN to what the interview is saying and stop them when they start to answer with......"Yes, I......" or "As I said....." or "As you know.....".

Sometimes your guest may ramble on and on in the most descriptive fashion but you may be wanting to produce a really short finished piece. The solution here is to get them to repeat what they have just said in a more succinct way, explaining to them that you can only use short answers in your film.

Know your subject - Make sure you do some research beforehand so that you know something about the subject and come armed with all the right questions. Use who, what, where, when, why and how as a guide.

Know when to shut up. Don't vocalise your agreement or disagreement when the guest is speaking. Let them finish. You cannot edit out any vocalisations or noises that you are making over the top of the answers.

At the beginning of the interview, whilst you are getting a level check for sound, make sure you are recording and ask the guest to tell you their name and job title, and ask them to spell their name. When you get to the edit suite, you than have all the details you need recorded on camera, rather than on a piece of paper that you mislaid on your way back from the shoot and, you have the correct spellings.


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Sunday 18 November 2012

Working With Tape

Over the last few years the education system has followed industry practice and gravitated towards shooting video on solid state media formats such as Compact Flash or SDHC cards. As a result, there is a proportion of students entering the industry who have never used tape before and who are blissfuly unaware of tape's little idiosyncrasies that tend to get in the way of a successful shoot.

Tape is not dead, and probably never will be as far as historical archives are concerned. All those old masters gathering dust in museum basements are not likely to be destroyed, but it is not the playback of old masters that I am concerned about here. 

As a recording medium, tape is still occasionally being used.

The post-graduate applying for their first job may end up working for a community project group that is still shooting DV, DVCAM or HDV on tape. 

Foreign students returning to their own countries may find that the broadcasters are still shooting standard definition on BetaSP, DigiBeta, DVCAM or DVCPro cameras. 

Owners of hybrid cameras who have been shooting on solid state media may find that they need to shoot a slow motion sequence that can only be done on tape. This holds true for HDV cameras such as the Sony HVR s270 and the HVR-Z7.

Then there are those hi-end cameras that cost as much as a small house, HDCAM, HDCAM SR and DVCPro100. Equipment that cost so much money to buy new is not going to be consigned to landfill after only a few years of usage.

Most of us were glad to see the back of tape and rejoiced at the advent of solid state media but whilst we hated the drop out issues, the ingest problems and the messing about with time-code, we did at least manage to learn how to tame the beast.

So, for those that have never learned how to tame the tape, here is the idiot's guide to recording with tape.

First, a word about drop-out. Recording tape is made up of a layer of flexible plastic coated with magnetic particles. These magnetic particles orient themselves according to the magnetic field applied to them at the record head when an electronic signal is applied to the head. As the tape passes across the head, a recording of audio, video or timecode is captured onto the tape. Drop-out is missing bits of the video, audio or synch signal due to missing magnetic particles at various points on the tape. Wherever their is missing oxide, there will be drop-out.

With old analogue tape formats such as BetaSP, VHS or U-matic, the symptoms of drop-out showed up as spots or "comet tails" in the picture, brief losses of audio, and in worst cases, loss of time-code and synch signals that resulted in the tv monitor being unable to display a locked picture.

With digital formats such as DV, DVCAM, DVCPro and HDV, the picture would freeze or become heavily pixellated, the audio would mute and time code information would be lost.

In order to avoid the dreaded drop-out problems it was essential to adopt certain rules of thumb. First of all, it was good practice to never re-use your tapes. Always use virgin tape in your camera to reduce the risk of head clogs caused by drop-out. Secondly, it was good practice to use the same brand of tape in the camera. This avoided different types of binding agents used by different manufacturers coming together on the surface of the tape transport mechanism with unknown or unpredictable results. The third point was to avoid using the very beginning or very end of the tape as these were the places where most drop-out occurred.



The first thing to do after loading a tape into the camera was to go into the menu and navigate to the TC/UB section (Time Code & User Bit). Under "Preset", go in and change the Preset value to read 01:00:00:00 which is 1 hour, 0 minutes, 0 seconds and 0 frames. If this was the second tape of the shoot, I would set this to 02:00:00:00 or 03:00:00:00 for the third and so on.


Then press okay and move down to the Rec Run/ Free Run option in the menu. For most shoots we want the counter to start only when we press the record button, so we use "Rec Run". Only rarely do we ever use "Free Run" as the counter will be running all the time resulting in breaks in time code every time we hit the pause button.




The next thing we need to do is navigate to the Preset/Regenerate option and select "Preset".






Next, we need to turn on the colour bars, usually via a switch labelled "Bars" on the outside of the camera, but occasionally this may be found in the menu. Once bars are turned on, we need to record one minutes worth of bars on the front of the tape. If required, we can also record a line up tone from our external sound mixer at the same time.


After recording a minute of bars we need to go back into the menu and change the Preset/Regen option to "Regen", come back out of the menu and turn off the colour bars.





Now we are ready to start recording. Every time we hit record, the tape will now wind back a couple of seconds, read the last bit of time code on the tape, then drop into record mode with the result that the new shot will have time-code that continues from where the last shot left off. Thus we will have a tape full of our shots with time-code running from start to finish  This will help alleviate most of the problems experienced when trying to get the material into the edit suite. After our last shot, it is a good idea to record another 20 seconds or so of bars and tone at the end. Alternatively, put the lens cap on and record 20 seconds of black. I generally record some bars onto tape each time I finish at one location and move on to the next. This helps as a visual identifier when fast forwarding through tapes in the edit suite.

A further point on the use of tape is to ensure you record soft ins and soft outs. This practice should equally be followed when shooting on solid state but is even more important as tape takes a couple of seconds to get up to speed.  The usual process is for the director to call "Run to Record", the camera operator presses the record button and responds with "Rolling". The director will then call "And, in your own time...". The talent should then take a beat before starting to act. At the end of the action the talent should follow through, giving a second or two for the editor to cut away from the shot in post. The director will pause, then call "Cut' and the camera operator will stop the camera. Recording soft ins and soft outs in this way will help the editor get the best timing for each edit. Hard ins and hard outs are a pain to edit as they restrict the editors creativity, and can also cause problems capturing from tape if there are any breaks in the recorded time-code.

And now you know why we were so joyous when solid state media came along.

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Thursday 15 November 2012

Fail to Prepare - Prepare to Fail

Many years ago, I used to work in the antique restoration business and amongst the varied work I used to do, I had the pleasure of renovating numerous pieces of antique furniture that had seen better days and turning them into desirable pieces of crafted house décor.  Usually the process started with hand stripping layer after layer of paint or varnish by hand with paint stripper or varnish remover. Application followed application, scraping away the layers bit by bit and rubbing away the ingrained muck with wire wool. Once all the layers had been removed the surfaces were cleaned with white spirit and more wire wool. The next stage involved sanding with an orbital sander and coarse gauge garnet paper. This was followed with several passes of the sander fitted with medium gauge garnet paper and then came a few passes with fine gauge paper. The final sanding was done by hand with flour paper. After sanding the piece was tac-ragged with cloths soaked in white spirit and, once stained, the piece was waxed and buffed up to a highly polished lustre. The whole stripping and sanding process was all done in preparation for the staining and took days to accomplish. Any short-cuts taken in the stripping and sanding process would result in a second-rate end product. No amount of polishing would improve the end result as the key to producing a superior piece was in the preparation process - the stripping and the sanding.

Quality video productions are made in much the same way. Preparation is the key, and any lack of preparation will show in the end result, if not directly in the aesthetic quality, it will certainly show in the additional costs incurred due to the lack of foresight used in the preparation process. The time to prepare is well ahead of the shooting day, at a time when you are not paying for a cast and crew to sit around waiting for some minor problem to be resolved. Think of the costs involved for hiring, cast, crew, location and equipment. Any delay during the shoot could be costing you thousands. Proper preparation before the shoot is absolutely imperative.

Efficient production management depends on making lists .....lots of lists.....lists of props, wardrobe requirements,  technical requirements, and on having copies of actors scripts, shooting scripts, camera scripts, location schedules and equipment lists. Everybody needs copies......not just you.

Always have back ups and contingencies for those moments when stuff doesn't go according to plan.

If the shoot involves making something, then make sure you have enough raw materials to make the item over and over again. You are not just going to make it once. For scenes that involve objects being damaged, make sure you have enough undamaged pieces to shoot the scene over and over again.

An old colleague of mine always used to say;

"If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail."

This principle should be adopted by ALL cast and crew members.

Effective communication is key to having everybody know what it is they are doing. Having a schedule for the days shoot helps to avoid wasting time that will ultimately add to the cost of the production.

In the real world, the crew member who turns up late is the first one to get kicked off the set. No production company can afford to employ cast or crew who consistently fail to deliver, especially those that can't be bothered to turn up on time. A call time is a call time, and lateness costs money. There are no second chances.

Working efficiently gives you more time to rehearse the scene, and allows for more retakes for those fluffed lines or shaky camera moves. There is nothing worse than having to rush scenes because you are running out of time due to inefficient production management.

Plan the Shoot - Then Shoot to the Plan


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Wednesday 14 November 2012

Lighting Health and Safety Primer

 Whilst many aspects of television, video and film production carry risks to the health and safety of those involved, the use of lighting equipment on location creates additional problems that need to be addressed as part of any health and safety risk assessment procedure. It is for these reasons that lighting equipment should ONLY be used by properly trained personnel, and why additional precautions should be taken if working alone with lighting kit on location. Whilst the location manager is responsible for ensuring a safe working environment for the crew, EVERYBODY IS RESPONSIBLE for ensuring safe working practices, and therefore EVERYBODY IS ULTIMATELY LIABLE for the safety of cast, crew and members of the public.

 Access/Obstruction It should be self-evident that lighting cases and other equipment should not obstruct doorways and passageways. In the event of a fire such obstacles can result in people dying as they are prevented from making a quick exit from the building. If the shot requires a lamp to be placed in a doorway, that lamp should not be left un-manned and should not be fixed into position. It is the job of the lighting technician manning that Lumiere to remove it from the exit in the event of an emergency. The lighting technician will not be available for other duties until the obstruction has been removed.

Trip Hazards Using location lighting, by its very nature, results in numerous lengths of cable being strewn across the set. Proximity to mains outlets and the power demands of the lights themselves may require additional cabling running from external power sources, across or through public areas, to the location itself. These cables provide significant hazards to cast, crew and members of the public. Cables running from the power source to the set/location should be laid with due consideration given to the reduction/elimination of trip hazards. Route cables along the base of walls or within gullies or trenches where these are available, or hang the cable from overhead structures. Where cables have to cross a passageway outdoors they should be covered with a rubber cable protector. Indoors, cables should be taped along their length wherever they cross doorways or passageways. It is not acceptable to use small pieces of tape laid across the cable at intervals. The correct tape to use is Yellow Gaffer tape. Where Yellow Gaffa tape is not available, regular black or silver Gaffer may be used but it should be overlaid with black and yellow hazard tape to make it visible. Hazard tape is low tack and therefore not suitable for securing the cable to the floor directly. Within the set itself, it is not practical to tape the cables down. Here it is only necessary to ensure that cast and crew are aware of the presence of such cables.

300 Watt Gulliver 800 Watt Redhead 2000 Watt Blonde

 Stability Lighting fixtures are inherently top heavy and therefore unstable with a tendency to fall over quite easily. On set, where cables are not taped down, lamps falling over pose a significant risk to cast and crew, with the possibility of physical injury, fire and/or electrocution. Outdoors, wind can increase the potential for an accident, as can using large fixtures such as 2.5kWatt HMIs rigged at heights, e.g. on Cherry-pickers. Other problems may arise when working on soft ground, with a tendency for the lighting stand to tilt over. The correct type of lighting stand or clamp should be used for the type of fixture being deployed, and for the environment within which it is being set up. Most lighting stands are only suitable for use on level ground. On steps or on sloping ground a Lazy-leg type of stand should be used and the column should be vertical. Always test each section of the stand fully to ensure that it is held captive. End stops have been known to break off resulting in the stand collapsing as it is extended. Heavy fixtures should be mounted on wind-up stands. Medium weight lamps should be mounted on sprung or damped columns. Most location work involves lightweight lamps such as Blonds, Red-heads or Gullivers mounted on conventional lightweight stands.

  When setting up the stand the correct, and most stable, position for the legs is with the cross braces parallel to the floor.

Correct 

 Incorrect 
 Incorrect 

The cable should pass vertically from the lamp head to the ground and pass under one of the legs on route to the power socket. Failure to do this will result in a hazardous installation and is NOT ACCEPTABLE. If the cable is snagged by a passing crew or cast member, the lamp will not be pulled over but will be dragged along the floor provided that the cable passes under one of the legs of the lighting stand. If there is any risk of a lamp being blown over or knocked over, it should be permanently manned by a technician, or secured with a sandbag and/or safety bonds. Sandbags, if used, should pass through the triangular gap formed between the column, one of the legs and a horizontal strut

Electricity  It goes without saying that electricity can kill, and it is important to minimise the risks involved by adopting safe practices. Location lighting takes quite a beating and is subject to all kinds of abuse. All lighting equipment is tested periodically and should carry a PAT test label. Portable Appliance Testing is usually carried out a 12 monthly intervals, but an up-to-date PAT test label does not guarantee your safety. It is up to you, the user, to physically examine every lamp before you use it! First check the plug for any damage, then the whole length of cable, followed by the lamp housing and any in-line switches or dimmers. Pay particular attention to the cable grommets where the cable enters the lamp housing, and the condition of the cable insulation. Also check for missing wing nuts that secure the lamp to its stand, and cracked or missing safety glass. Check Cable Glands for Damage Check for Damaged Safety Glass Check for Missing/Damaged Bolts If you spot any defect, no matter how small, DO NOT USE THE LAMP! Wrap the plug in Gaffer or hazard tape to warn others and report the problem to the hire company/tech support.
Inspect Cable Glands
Inspect Wing Nuts
Inspect Safety Glass
 All mains outlets on location need to be tested with a Martindale before plugging in any lamp (or other appliance).



These devices plug into any 13 Amp wall or extension sockets and have 3 neon bulbs that should all illuminate. If any one of the neons fails to light up, DO NOT USE THAT MAINS OUTLET! Cover the socket with Hazard tape to prevent others using it, and inform the owner of the property that “There seems to be a problem with your socket”. Although the indicators on the Martindale will indicate the nature of the problem, you are not a qualified electrician and should NOT therefore give any further advice to the owner. 


UNSAFE 
 SAFE  
Power = Current x Supply Voltage or (P=IV) or Watts = Amps x Volts 

Red heads usually come in 3 lamp kits and are 800Watts each. 3 lamps of 800Watts use 2,400 Watts of power in total. Throughout Europe the mains supply is 230 Volts RMS. As Power (Watts) = Volts x Amps, we can see that 3 redheads will be drawing 10.43 Amps from our domestic 13 Amp wall socket. Add another lamp and we would need 3,200 Watts which would pull 13.9 Amps, causing the fuses to blow in the mains extension/4 way block. A set up using 2 blonds will be using 4kWatts of power and therefore draws 17.4 Amps Whilst it is possible to spread the load across several sockets, it is important to realise that the ring mains will only support 30 Amps in total before tripping the circuit breakers or blowing fuses in the consumer unit. This equates to a maximum of 6,900 Watts. Allowance should also be made for peaks of current when switching lamps on and for people using kettles, hair dryers, curling tongues, toasters or heaters etc. 

DO NOT OVERLOAD ELECTRICAL SOCKETS, CABLES OR CIRCUITS! 

Fire  Additional care should be taken when using cable reel extensions. Whilst a fully unwound cable reel can supply over 3kW and therefore safely run 3 red-heads, a fully wound 50 metre reel can only supply 720 Watts of power. This is because a wound cable acts like an electro-magnet when passing alternating current. The magnetic field that is generated causes an induced current to flow against the direction of the applied current. The conductors therefore get hot and cause the insulation to melt or catch fire. Many extension cables are now fitted with thermal cut-outs to prevent this happening, but it is still necessary to uncoil the cable fully before submitting the cable to any heavy load. As uncoiling the cable could create a further trip hazard, it is wise to choose extension cables of appropriate lengths for the job in hand 
1 Meter Minimum Safe Distance

A further fire hazard is provided by the lamp housing itself. On the back of the lamp housing there is often a diagram, or some information, about the safe working distance of the lamp. This, however, is not always present. Common sense need to be used when positioning lamps close to wallpaper, curtains, low ceilings etc., and the lamp should be turned off when not required. Beware of curtains near open windows as they could be blown onto the lamp and catch fire. 

Explosion Most tungsten lamps as used in TV/Film production use Quartz bulbs that have the potential to explode. Lamps should never be operated without a safety glass or gauze If changing a bulb the lamp should be unplugged and the plug placed in a trouser/coat pocket to prevent somebody accidentally plugging it in. Safety goggles should be worn and the new bulb held between folded card, paper or plastic. Switch off before repositioning the lamp. Many lamps can fail if moved whilst switched on. Other risks of explosion relate to the environment where the filming is taking place. Hot tungsten lighting should not be used in mines, petrochemical plants and areas where volatile explosive chemicals are present. Not so well known is the fact that flour dust is also explosive.

 Lamps at Height When rigging lamps at height, in addition to carrying out a “working at height” risk assessment and method statement, the Light fitting should be secured with the correct grips/clamps/spigots for the job and secured with lighting security bonds of the correct rating.


 Lighting H&S Quick Reference 

 1- Ensure a full and proper risk assessment and method statement have been done for the planned location/shoot.

 2- Check and inspect all cables plugs fittings and stands for damage. Tape up plugs of faulty lamps/cables and DO NOT USE.

 3- Test all mains outlets, including extensions, with a Martindale. Tape up any faulty sockets. Do not use faulty extensions.

 4- Rig lamps away from combustible materials.

 5- Ensure stand is correctly and securely set up. Use sandbags if leaving un-manned.

 6- Ensure lamp cable is routed under lighting stand leg.

 7- Tape down cables crossing passageways with yellow gaffer tape.

 8- Ensure extension cables are of the correct length and fully unwound.

 RETRACE 

R isk Assessment should be performed for each set-up.

E xamine and inspect all equipment for damage.

T est all mains sockets with a Martindale mains tester.

R ig all stands securely and safely and away from combustible materials.

A ccess routes should be kept clear at all times.

C ables should be routed under legs and taped down in passageways.

E xtension cables should be unwound whilst avoiding causing trip hazards.

Stay Safe!

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Saturday 10 November 2012

Have you seen the light?

I've been lighting with tungsten (and HMIs) for decades and although it never fails to offer the control and subtlety that other light sources cannot reach, it is a real power hungry beast that will at some point be laid to rest. That time may be some time soon, and I have been using alternative light sources quite a lot over the last twelve months or so. We're not quite there yet, and I have yet to find a low energy alternative to my redheads, and Fresnel spots.

HMI with Reflector

A couple of years ago I tried lighting a chroma-key set with Kino cold fluorescents,  and inter cutting this with soft and hard sets lit with tungsten in a magazine/news studio setting. Although it was successful  the difference in light levels meant that the vision ops needed to be on the ball with the racking.

With the closure of the studio at the National Media Museum, the building of our replacement studio came with some added stipulations. Namely, it had to have a green footprint, which meant it had to be very energy efficient and had to be built within a fairly tight budget. Not having been involved with the build meant that I inherited a lighting rig specified by an estates department to suit their energy requirements and budget, but has been a bit off-the-wall from the point of view of making TV programmes. The salesman must have seen them coming and off-loaded all his surplus soft-lights. Totally impractical for a dynamic TV studio set-up.

The cyclorama is lit by Ianiro cold fluorescent cyc lights which I cannot really comment on as we currently have a Chroma panel light wall filling the studio, which means I haven't seen how evenly they are able to light the cloth. Many manufactures are now selling LED cyc lights that can produce lots of nice coloured patterns but cannot produce an even illumination to a cyclorama cloth which is the most important thing to look for in a cyc light. In addition, many LED lamps produce multiple shadows, making them useless for most TV and film work. Nice idea, but no banana! I'm so glad the estates department didn't buy LED cycs, and I'm hoping that the cold fluorescents will live up to the quality that I was getting from my old Desisti tungstens.

Unfortunately, the rest of the grid has been filled with Ianiro ICE 4 softs which spray light all over the place. They are all fitted with mirrored hoods so trying to cut and flag the light is an absolute bloody nightmare. All four sides of the hood are screwed together so they don't  quite work like barn doors. As a result, I have had to be a bit creative with the hoods in order to use them as back-lights. Not ideal, but they have done the job. Apparently, there are honeycombs available for these lights which will help contain the spillage and direct the light forwards which will make the light more controllable for use as soft fills.

Bodged ICE 4 used as backlight
I have taken many of the ICE 4s out of the grid, and will re-deploy them on location, or in another chroma-key/photo studio at a later date. They should make for good soft lamps for portrait and fashion work.

Apparently there are some LED Fresnels on order but as far as I can tell, none have yet managed to get out of the Ianiro factory. The lack of low energy spots materialising from Italy has resulted in me digging out some Desisti 1kW tungstens and becoming creative with the low power feed coming into the studio. After tripping the breakers several times, I eventually sussed out which sockets were on each breaker and managed to spread the load accordingly

Because the softs were already fitted with 3200 Kelvin tubes, mixing in the old tungstens was quite easy. For fills, I have again had to find alternatives to the spray-light-all-over-the-place Ianiros, and I resorted to digging out two Parabeams that I have been using for location work. Like the Ianiros, they use 4 x 55Watt folded fluorescent tubes, but have egg crates on the front which prevents light spilling all over the place. I hope I can get some honeycombs for the Ianiros at a later date, so that I can use the Parabeams for location work again.

Kino Parabeams providing soft fills and 1kW Desisti tungsten Fresnels as key lights

The other issue I have with this new rig is that they chose DMX fixtures rather than using supply sockets on dimmers..It is not as straight forward moving lamps around in the grid because of all the additional daisy-chained DMX cables. That 5 minute job now takes hours!. If I had designed the rig I would have put DMX break-out points all along the bars next to the power sockets.....but hey, remember that tight budget? The riggers even tie-wrapped all the cables to the rig and none of the yolks are pole-adjustable. Thanks guys!

Incidentally, the Chroma Panels were originally used on BBC Look North, and the set has a rear projection screen that I backlit with a gelled up 1kW Desisti and slashed with a Martin to produce a colour-changing pattern.



Earlier this year, I used the Parabeams on location for the first time, and they produce a nice, soft, even light but were a bit lacking in power to compete with bright sunlight streaming through the glass-fronted, South-facing offices that we were shooting in. Lighting wasn't the only issue with the location but, hey.....it cost us nowt.

The problem of God's big light in the sky, was resolved with judicious use of Rosco scrim and ND on the windows, all neatly cut to size by yours truly, but we soon found out that you can't get away with Rosco on HD shoots in the way you could with good old standard definition. It's really noticeable when the action is close to the glass.
Rosco Scrim to cut daylight
Moire patterning visible on windows


Even with the windows gelled up, we still had to get the Parabeams close in to the action. The effect was very subtle, natural and fairly flat looking, which was what was required. For harder, more dramatic stuff, it was back to Redheads and Blondes. Good old tungsten. And for moody low-key stuff, sometimes a bedside lamp is all you need.

Meanwhile, on the LED front...............I picked up a Lite Panels LP Micro camera top light a few years ago and have used it successfully as a fill for talking heads. It lifts the eye shadows just enough without being too obtrusive. It's no replacement for a Sungun though.                                                                                        

LED Ring Light
Lite Panela LP Micro
 I've also used it for macro work filming caterpillars in the studio, and night-flying moths on location. It worked fine for the studio shoot, but for the location work, I switched to an LED ring-light that I got off eBay.....one of those cheap unbranded ones from Hong Kong. 

It actually out-performed the far more expensive Lite Panels lamp.

The downside of most LED lamps is that the shear number of LEDs required causes horrible, un-natural multiple shadows, especially if trying to use them as an alternative to a point source spot light such as a Red-head or a Fresnel.

Ugly multiple shadows


LED technology is certainly getting brighter and more pokey. I have recently bought some new torches that use the new breed of CREE LED chips. One I bought as a much brighter replacement for the ubiquitous Maglite for about £8. The other is a £40 divers torch. Impressive little lights. Very bright and running off rechargeable LiIon batteries. Now I'm just waiting for Ianiro to send us their new LED key-lights.


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