Streaming Learning Center

Without question, lighting is the single most important determinant of streaming quality. Shoot a well lit scene with a consumer camcorder, or a poorly lit scene with the latest HD wonder with 2/3” CCDs, and the consumer camcorder will win every time. Fortunately, it’s just not that hard to get lighting right, which is what I describe in this article.

I’ll start with a brief look at the history of lighting, then describe the optimal procedures for lighting for streaming. I’ll conclude with a look at how to use your camcorder to determine when you’ve got sufficient lighting.

The dramatic shadows created by three-point lighting have been a staple of movies and television production since their inception, and three-point lighting remains highly touted in most tutorials, articles, and books on video lighting. However, a quick survey of news sites such as ESPN and CNN, both online and on TV, confirm that most newsrooms eschewed three-point lighting in favor of flat lighting years ago. Perhaps not surprisingly, business-oriented, online-only sites such as BusinessWeek and Forbes.com also use flat lighting.

With two very different shoots coming up — one a physician seeking to go online with some pre- and post-procedure advice, and the other a local band wanting interviews for a promotional DVD and YouTube and MySpace videos — I had some decisions to make. What's the best lighting technique for streaming videos: flat or three point? If flat, what's the best technique to achieve it?

As the title suggests, a review of the Lowel DV Creator 44 Light Kit. If you just want to know how the story ended, here's the conclusion. "As a portable system, the DV Creator 44 is tough to beat. Fluorescent kits run cooler, but are generally bigger and much more expensive. When I actually buy a Lowel kit, which I certainly will, I may consider buying the Rifa Pro 44 kit, which includes the Rifa-44 softbox and a single Pro-light for around $850 retail. This will let me produce both a flat and shadowed look, though I'll miss the flexibility of the Tota-light and Omni-lights."