Hi everyone,
I really want to improve my video quality.
The darkness and lack of light is very frustrating and I don't know what to do to improve.

I record during the daylight with all windows opened and all lights on.
I have tried some heavy duty work lights bought at the home depot, but it didn't help at all.

I don't know what to do. I am so frustrated.

Any help? I am willing to invest into some lights (not too expensive). Do you guys have ideas?
Could the background be an issue? I use black because it looks professional..

Any suggestions would be welcome!

Great topic David!

In this lesson you had pretty good quality:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...r-style-lesson/

Do you remember what your settings were?

Day light is greatest for sure.
However sometimes I record during evening and here's my light setup add.
-2x70watts lamps from ceiling
-50watts smooth lamp pointing at the neck(headstock)
-50watts heavy lamp pointing at body
-light neon lamp(maybe 20watts) aiming at fingerboard

It's kind a party,I know

Hmmm.. I can't remember, I think I've been using the same settings all the time.
The lighting isn't as bright here as opposed to this one:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...e-lesson2-lead/

I think I'm gonna go shop for lightings today...
Does anyone know what kind of light I need?
Soft? Fluorescant?

Haha!
Party on!
Yeah, I'm definitally missing ceiling lights.
I don't have any at all here...

I use mostly "table" lamps,smaller and easier to arrange.

Hi David,
I started to use a 500w halogen lamp like this one

Click to view attachment

in my last lesson, without the grid.
I've paid around 9 euro for it.

I will experiment adding some other lights to avoid shadows.

Wow,that IS lot of power,nice price tho.
Is it hot too much around it?

I've purchased this lamp in a big store, discount price.
It's quite hot... yes.
Right now it's not a problem. I record my lesson in my private rehearsal room/studio and during the winter it's quite cold here.
I will tell you something different in the next months

Summer in the city,I use a towel during hot months,there's a hint

Thanks Jerry,
That's exactly the lamp I bought too a while back.. But I had to return it.. It didn't make much difference...

I use a lamp like this as well!

and what about an air fan? You can add some "Steve-Vai-hairs-effect" to your lessons



Sounds strange...

I tried a construction lamp but didn't have much success (except I managed to heat the apartment).

I came to the conlcusion that the light that gave me good quality was "white" light (produced by desktop/office halogen lamp, not so expensive either) as opposed to the "yellow" one produced by the construction lamp.

But somewhere I got the advise to place something in front of the construction lamp as a light filter - the kind of paper used for bakery in the oven (don't know the word). I haven't tried it though - and be careful to not start a fire though!

Yeah,halogen lamps are quite good,I must get more of them.
And I don't like the tune "There's a fire in the house" btw

Ok, I just got back from a photograph here.
We talked quite a while and he gave me a good adress to get pro lights.
I went there and they were very nice.
They told me to call this other guy next week.
He's a photograph and he happens to be a guitarist too. Perfect combination!
I'll talk to him next week and get what I need.
I'm expecting major improvement sometime next week! :-)

Sounds great David,fingers crossed!!!

What camera do you use David ? Try playing with exposure values on it o get the more light in?

Let's Dace Muris

I use that 500W as well. Walli if you don't have money for a pro light difuser, just buy this cheap 500W halogen can, and you can point it in the wall and let the wall difuse the light. Two of this pointed in oposite walls will make your room shine.

The most important is that you don't mix daylight and lamps, so if the daylight is not enough you should darken the room as much as possible and then adding lights

I agree, the natural and artificial lights have different frequency, and the result is not very good, especially if the daylight is too dark. But darkening the windows has side effects too, not only that the outside light cannot enter, but inside light does not disipate out the windows - it stays in the room and disperse.

Actually I have quite good experience with mixing daylight and lamps!
However I haven't done this in a while,winter day time and stuff.

I did some lessons with winter light, and it didn't came out that nice to be honest. With the summer sun it is a whole another story.

That's what I'm saying,waiting for the summer

Summer has its disadvantages too, the Sun can be too bright, and different camera settings are needed. If you have a small window like me, it is the best to record drapes closed. Too much Sun, even in the summer is not a good thing.

Somehow my room isn't exposed to the sun directly so I remove drapes fully.
It comes inside just enough to get nice light and not to "burn" the image.
And of course,you have to set different settings.

Over the summer in my room is this big heat, because the room is on the sunny side of the building, so I don't know what to do. I know - must get air conditioner from my next salary

I empathise with you Ivan - no air con here either and in Summer it gets really hot - often over 45 outside and so hot electronics starts to overheat and shut down (I do as well). Personally, air con isn't a solution as it does my throat and chest no good. All I can do is to try and work late in the evening and early in the morning before the sun cooks us.

Oh man you just reminded me how hot it gets to be in my room here where I record..I guess for me it will be impossible to work (all the lights will add up to heat)...
I'll have to get air con installed here by then..I know its not good (have it in other room) but I'll have no other choice

That's the exact problem that I have too, specially now when summers are warmer adn warmer each year. I've recorded a few lessons while the temperature was around 30 degrees inside, and MAN it is hot with a 500W halogen lamp on! Now, in the winter, I keep my 500Watter on all the time when shooting and it warmes up my room pretty nicely, even with the windows halfopen! Waiting for the summer....

I always have a looong shower after recoding during summer,you'll get the idea!

And spot on air condition Tony,it's non natural cooling/heating system and
might lead to very bad health problems,
I know my dad has got many,specially when driving car with AC.

Btw,good to see you back and well Tony,
I was missing your posts a lot!!

During hot days in summer I tend to stay under AC all day and not get much out..Also I'm addicted to AC in a car..
I love AC hehehehe And I know its a bad thing

Being an addict is usually related with wrong things

Stay off the AC Bogdan, Muris is right, you could really get health problems that way in the long run.

In the summer my preparations for lessons will be: towel, camera, towel, light, towel, guitar,

Yeah, I'm with you...say no to Air conditioning, during my last visit to L.A. (American people use it a Looooooooooooooot) people look at me like martian when I asked, "can you please shut off the air conditioning" and they "Why, the desert is Hot and Sunny"

Kind of,yeah

Just wanted to give you an update.
I'm getting some lights today. :-)
Can't wait!

That's great Walli-man Tell us what you bought when you come home!

Thanks for everyones' help guys!
I bought some new lights yesterday. I invested but thought it would really help to get a better pro look.
This is what I got: new light kit

I filmed my 1st video yesterday and it looks SOOOO much better!
I need to edit but will post a sample here soon.

Congratulations Walli! This kit looks awesome man. Can't wait to see the lesson!

Looks like a cool setup Dave - can't wait to see the results!

Those lights look awesome,I'm sure improvement will be huge,congrats!

Great kit you got there David !! I'm sure they are well worth the money!! They look great...I would like to buy something similar if I could find it here.. Can't wait for the sample video!

Here's a sample!
Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions to improve this even more. :-)

Click to view attachment

Thanks for sample !! I can see that this is a definitive improvement !

Sounds really great David!!
Have you checked the quality/image after you upload it?

This looks great And you have only one light? And where is it positioned?

Only one remark, in one moment in second part there the neck was too shiny, nothing else

Thanks guys!
Dejan, the kit came with 3 lights. :-)
You're right about the shiny neck. I'll try to fix that.
I checked quality Muris, it doesn't loose a little of the quality after uploading, but not too much..
Muris, since you're using Vegas to, what settings do you covert to?

I use regular 150W standing light bought at Home Depot.
I just sit closer to the light.
The distance makes a huge difference.