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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Avoid Bad Lighting In Your Vids!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 24 2013, 12:21 AM
The age old question. "Why do vids sometimes seem to dark"? Usually it's from not enough lights 
So here is a quick and dirty list of some inexpensive L.E.D. (no heat produced, very low power consumption, etc.) iights you can add to your home studio setup. I"m using some of each
I"m using LED mini spot lights in my home studio since they have spiff colors and they don't put out any extra heat They are quite cheap on ebay @ about U.S. $5 each and sometimes free shipping too! And they come with a remote control to turn them on and off and change color to whatever. I tried the white light from them and it just looks bland so I picked blue and red Here is a link to an example of a 6 pack of these with remote for U.S. $37.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6pcs-GU10-3W-LED-RGB-Colour-Changing-Spotlight-Light-Bulb-Controller-/271262351223?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item3f287eff77
I also ordered some of these lights and some stands. They are maybe not bright enough for stage though They work well for home studio lights though and run about U.S. 60 each. I've got two so far.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290930381144?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
I have one of these bigger ones. These can run on their internal battery! So you can put them anywhere about U.S. $ 100 each.
http://www.americandj.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ItemNumber=2063&MainId=2&Category=L.E.D.
So there ya go. Cheap lights!! Adding a few lights and experimenting with lighting can take your youtube vids / rec vids/ any vids to the next level!! And one more thing.
!!!!! Always try very very very hard to keep your BED out of the shot!!!!! I know it's a pain and you will have to rearrange your entire room to do it, but vids with gear in the shot look more pro and more like a home studio. Vids with beds/laundry/etc. just don't come off looking as good or pro.
Todd
Posted by: SixStringSamurai Aug 24 2013, 01:41 AM
Great stuff, thanks Todd! As I start getting into making more videos this will surely help a lot I'm glad you experienced Youtubers are here to offer advice!
Posted by: Blue Willy Aug 24 2013, 02:53 AM
Todd,
Great post here! Thank you!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 24 2013, 04:48 AM
Happy to help I looked in to my Crystal Ball and I see a Video Podcast series (youtube and through the iTunes store) in your near future. It's going to help drive traffic to your blog, which will in turn drive traffic to and serve as the backbone of your social media efforts. Good things are coming
I'm glad you experienced Youtubers are here to offer advice!Any time!
I own examples of each of these lights and I can safely say they are each worth having and mercifully inexpensive Great post here! Thank you!
Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 24 2013, 11:35 PM
Very helpful post Todd!
LED is the way of the future as there is so much less heat and power needed for these units. Also, it is very good for outdoor shooting as LED lights can work on batteries very nicely.
Thing to look out for is the temperature of the light. Standard color temperature of the lights for TV and video recording is 3,200 K. Of course, you can always do some color correction on your footage in post production, it is good to shoot the best possible footage at the source. I heard that some LED video lights can even vary the color temperature which is awesome.
Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 25 2013, 07:01 PM
Well said!! The power consumption is very low on these and they don't heat up the room they live in.
Light temp is a very important issue, for those new to lighting, the "temperature" of the lights can be thought of as either "daylight balanced" (blue/cool) or "Tungsten Balanced" (yellowish/warm)
The good news is that LED lights are not limited to one or the other. They can provide a wide range of color options unlike a regular lamp/bulb which has to be "gelled" (You put a see through color gel on the light itself). But honestly the precise details are probably more than you need to worry about for home vids.
Suffice to say, for CHEAP you can buy some LED bulbs that come with remote control to change color/dimmer settings and and point a few at your recording position and bingo You can start having better light in your vids.
Here is a handy color chart to give a bit more insight 
Todd
LED is the way of the future as there is so much less heat and power needed for these units. Also, it is very good for outdoor shooting as LED lights can work on batteries very nicely.
Thing to look out for is the temperature of the light. Standard color temperature of the lights for TV and video recording is 3,200 K. Of course, you can always do some color correction on your footage in post production, it is good to shoot the best possible footage at the source. I heard that some LED video lights can even vary the color temperature which is awesome.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 26 2013, 08:13 AM
LED is the way of the future as there is so much less heat and power needed for these units. Also, it is very good for outdoor shooting as LED lights can work on batteries very nicely.
Thing to look out for is the temperature of the light. Standard color temperature of the lights for TV and video recording is 3,200 K. Of course, you can always do some color correction on your footage in post production, it is good to shoot the best possible footage at the source. I heard that some LED video lights can even vary the color temperature which is awesome.
My lights produce a great amount of heat and in the summer, it's a bit tense when using them
if you know what I mean - so cool to know that there are other options as well! But the question is @Todd - how many of these lights would be necessary to create a well lit environment, suitable for GMC video lessons, for instance? If it's based on experimenting and the size of the room, I can understand, but I was asking thinking that might be you already know a bit more Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 27 2013, 06:34 PM
Special thanks to our own WIKI MASTER FRAN!!! For adding the post I made about adding lights to your home studio to our spiff Wiki. There are TONS of resources in our wiki and it's growing every day Here is the link!!
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Getting_Good_Cheap_Lights_For_Your_Home_Studio
Posted by: Headbanger Aug 27 2013, 06:44 PM
Great post Todd...very helpful!...If people still got hot...an electric fan always helps! 
Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 27 2013, 07:02 PM
I hear ya!! I used to HATE my studio getting all hot because of the lights. LED lights are the way to go
As for how many lights it would take for a typical instructor vid, I'd suggest going for the more pro level LED fixtures like the one on the bottom of my list. I've got one and it's quite bright. If you had three of them, you could do standard 3 point lighting and be fine You can gel them if you like just using gels and a bit of tape.
The MEGA PAR run about $100 U.S. each and have an internal battery so you can use them anywhere and they run for several hours after a charge. Also, they have a "sound" function where they change automatically based on sound/music (little mic built in) so you can use them live and get lighting changes witthout a lighting person
Here is a vid from the vendor with details.
if you know what I mean - so cool to know that there are other options as well! But the question is @Todd - how many of these lights would be necessary to create a well lit environment, suitable for GMC video lessons, for instance? If it's based on experimenting and the size of the room, I can understand, but I was asking thinking that might be you already know a bit more Posted by: Rammikin Aug 28 2013, 11:03 PM
They are quite cheap on ebay @ about U.S. $5 each and sometimes free shipping too! And they come with a remote control to turn them on and off and change color to whatever. I tried the white light from them and it just looks bland so I picked blue and red Here is a link to an example of a 6 pack of these with remote for U.S. $37.http://www.ebay.com/itm/6pcs-GU10-3W-LED-RGB-Colour-Changing-Spotlight-Light-Bulb-Controller-/271262351223?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item3f287eff77
Those are just the bulbs, right? What kind of a fixture are you using with them?
Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 30 2013, 05:42 PM
The ones at the top of the post are just bulbs yes They work an ANY standard light fixture which is part of what's so handy about them. I have 5 of them in a multi head lamp which is very handy for home studio use. Each one is on a flex/goose neck and the fixture itself is only about $20.
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