DIY Light Kit

Looks great and smells great !!!

Seems like a nice guy and all - but it's a little irresponsible for him to say that these lights are just like kinos when they don't have a ballast and he doesn't even mention the difference

Honestly that didn't look so good, the best light I've ever made was one I made from an old light bright toy, took the grid off of it, and mounted it on a drum cymbal stand I found in a dumpster.

Hi, it's nice.
But how do you set up your lights to get good quality and how much licht do you need if film somewhere where's no light what so ever.
Please reacht becuase I wanna byu softbox lichts and I wanna know if I'm dong the right thing or making the right choice.
this is the item i wanna byu.CowboyStudio 2275 Watt Digital Video Continuous Softbox Lighting Kit BOOM Set with Carrying Case - 2 Light stands, 2 Softboxes, 1 Boom Kit

The gag about sandwich taking a beat down for Erik going over his  budget was the funniest part.

That gross, morbidly disgusting flatulence gum! I will never do that!

The light fall off doesn't look anything like Kino's. Not to mention this would not be enough foot candles to adequately be used for a real shoot.

the lighting on the 2 characters sitting on the couch was a little weak....also from a sound stand point - certain mics will pick up the buzzing from the electro magnetic field created by fluorescent bulbs.   thanks for the suggestions. looks like you guys are having fun!

I was talking to Erik about this and he said that he wanted to do this test film since they were in San Fransisco. I guess he never got around to it.

You guys know how to have fun and make interesting stuff.
One note: I built some stuff for my first documentary but I used high frequency ballast (ca 120 bucks) for those. Because the standard ballast gives rather low frequency and can be problem with high shutter speeds (visible blink in the footage)

I couldn't tell from the video itself but do these require to be plugged in because I'm making a zombie movie in the summer with alot of outdoor scenes so I need lights that work without plugs

How come you get beaten to a pulp when you go id="comment_list".50 over budget but you only get your sandwich attacked when you go .00 over?

i own a fixture very similar to that, but i have a normal light stand, could i make it horrizontal like that with some simple pvc joints?

Pretty good lighting. It's light. Little flat, but it's comedy. I'd like to see you guys light for drama. And only issue I saw was there was a glare in your glasses from looks like the fluorescent.

GOOD TUTORIAL.. BUT STOP TRYING TO BE FUNNY.

I watched this, and did it within a few hours. but it cost me 60 dollars! 

where can you find this light fixture at?

ur light were so good i just bough some clamp light and im gonna buy some indyflo floresents next paycheck. 

ps that pay check is 40 bucks

you need to white balance cause it was orangeish! trust me i work for a tv network!!!

that was awsome oh and how to make sound effects

where can I get a clamp light and how much are they

it was a bit too bright in some scenes and looked flat during the fart gum movie. it seems to work well as a key and filler but i would try to add a backlight to make it look more natural

that was cool keep it up indy

Also good lighting for a good green screen and make the lighting cheep.

Hey how about a light gel.

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome - I've been looking into making some cheapo-light fixtures for indoor lighting - however I don't think that this build would be outside-viable (say, nightime?) 
Speaking of night-time lighting, what do you recommend? 
I also might send in a quick-tips about the reflection on your glasses - really all that you need to do is raise the ear-peices (arms) of the glasses above your ears a little, tilting the lens' downward so the reflection isnt seen (its used in passport photos so that the flash isn't seen or as noticeable).

Lastly - dont sweat being overbudget - no need to be exact its good to have just a rough estimate for projects.
PEACE

Kick ass.. but don't you think the mr. budget went a little overboard?

What kind of broad spectrum bulbs would you reccomend for a clamp light? and you guys got any cheap solutions for gels and/or diffusion?

hey how could you make a gel for a soft box???

You can see the reflecions in Eriks specs ^.^

i need u to make a cheap realistic foam sword under 35$

how do you create your own plug??

Nice DIY work

by the way, you shouldnt ever make concrete withough wearing gloves. its really bad for your skin. but great episode! i am definatly going to make this

i can see the reflection in your glasses so you could maybe not put it directly in the middle maybe a nit more to the side

you should make custom light sabers that would rock i love the show im only 13 so if you would do this it would be awesome

The lights did a decent job, but I thought they had too much of a blue-ish tint to them in some of the shots .. specifically of you two guys sitting on the couch.  Am I wrong?  

good color, but it seems a little more shadowy

Just came back from NAB in Las Vegas and stopped by the Kino Flo Booth and they thought it was very interesting...   

Thanks a lot for this i been lighting "GAFFING" for the last 6 years and i  built a light kit just like this about three years ago and never used them cause i was having issue's with the barn door construction, but thanks to you BFX i'm sure i can use them now. I was wondering if you have any ideas for scrims

t 00:56 you can see the light's reflection in Erik's glasses.

fucking funny :) oh and great episoce..............rotflol

Hi, Erik Beck, over in america is alright but here in england, or more specifically, here in Wales parts are harder to come by and even finding fun shapes and equipment to work with is hard, why don't you come over here and see if its any easier for you. Better yet come to Wrexham, thats where I live, and see if you can make a movie here.

That was the funniest test film ever!

It looked better...

Now if you got a pair of three, you could have a key light, a fill light and a back light and have professional lighting. Then you could have a whole episode on lighting techniques and do low light noir, high contrast etc.

sorry but that was just gay i dont want to know how to have good lighting i want to know how make some ones liver explode out of there body}:(

You probably need to keep reflective things off set when using these lights, you're glasses caught the light

How does the picture look? Quite good. 

I really liked the light behind the couch. 

I first watched the the film Double-mint Dumb on Vimeo and asked myself, "What the hell did they do this week?" I had no idea it was a DIY lighting special. This is a very important episode because great lighting is usually always missing with most independent videos. 

Overall, Erik looked hot and Justin's place looked great underthose lighting conditions.

Hmmm...

What kinds of fluorescents did you use?  Usually florescent lights bleed green...

that was awesome guy's.how did you guys make the gas appear in the shot?

I missing a part for this build were can I get the Indymogul stickers?

Am I the only one that doesn't like the lighting in this episode?

Sorry guys... I LOVE your videos and effects a lot...but this lighting doesn't seem to look good Skin tones and colours are really harsh... thats just my opinion though.

Some scenes looked ok but others were just waay to assaulting to my eyes...

any idea how to make a nice soft box of this?

Thanks Cool site. 

the only difference that i noticed was the reflection in your glasses.

nice use of the HVR-V1 at 01:20, did you shoot the whole episode and test film with it? Anyway Im honoured to use the same camera as you guys. The slowmo kicks ass, but it's nice to see some normal indoor footage from it (if you can call rolling around farting in agony normal). Did you shoot in full HD then down convert in post, or in camera? And was it prog. or interlaced? I've never really used it for web video so I'd appreciate knowing how you guys pulled it off.
Cheers

loved the ep and can i ask why dont u ever do a trip 2 jersey??? i think u should do it soon. i always look at it and think hummmmm wonder wot that ep would b like.

I'm not sure when I would want to use this set up V.S. the clamp lights. A little more explanation on when to use one kind of light set up rather than another would help me to decide if I need to build these or not. Right now my green screen work has improved A LOT due to following your advice. More on this subject would really help me a lot


Thanks!!

I like that going over budget now has legitimate consequences. 

Is there any way to make this portable so that you can use outside on location?  I heard somewhere that its possible through the use of a car battery.

One thing you need to watch out for Erik that you forgot to mention is some fluorescents and lights of the like, will cause a problem to your Camera called the GreenPlauge. Your footage will either Brighten and darken as you film making for BAD looking footage where it seems like your lights are malf., OR it will cause a nasty ugly green glow to everything.. THis is caused by the offset from the CCD RGB spectrum. 

ya, you can see the fluorescent light on the reflection of his glasses towards the end. this was a great video!

hey i know you probably wont read this comment, but i saw an HV20 box behind you in the last shot with the sandwitch. What do you think about it? i have seen full feature films shot with just the hv20 and i wide angle adapter. (Different audio of course)
please reply 
thanks

Chrismagic

Hey, overall it looks good, but at times you can see the light kit in the reflection of your glasses.

the lights r doin good erik. nice job

Freaking awesome!  I use a halogen lights I got for cheap, one has a tripod and the other doesn't.  haha!

Awesome episode guys.. PS I maybe a terrible speller but I didn't notice any spelling errors in the Quickly scrolling titles ;)

The lighting was awesome!

It was a good lighting set up, but I could easily tell that you were already using it because it was reflecting in Eric's glasses. It looks nice though, other than that.

That was an awesome build.

I saw no real difference in the lighting. 
Erik must be trippin' that's 3 episodes now that he's gone over budget

Very Nice tip, I was always needing some serious light source

No one else seemed to notice -- Battletoads!

your lghts are perfect altough i dont need one yet

the lighting kicks, IO was really surprised.

haha, in your face, Erik.  no sandwich for you.  good eps.  the light actually looked kinda weird to me.  but at least you were lighted WELL, right?  RIGHT!?!

Next weeks episodes test film should be in 3D

Just wondering if anyone here knows a good place to get clamp lights in Australia (Perth to be specific). I've looked at bunnings and they have nothing suitable.

nice testfilm, hilarious

Great build, Simple yet judging by the episode very effective.

The lights look great. 

And congratz Peter!

YOU DON'T KILL A MANS FOOD!
Also I didnt have the additions you made but I have two Lights like that I got out of my old Gerage Before My house was sold.
It looked good and the fact that it's so bright makes it great, I may have to make those additions to mine.
Also would it have been better to run the zipties in an x pattern through the T pipe?  rather then useing the stopper.

Sorry about your sandwhich Erik it looked super delicious too. Great episode the lighting was great for the price.

I've gotta start lighting my videos.... 

Really awesome episode, guys. This will be really useful. Could you maybe show us how you had the indy-flo set up with the rest of your lights? Thanks!

For everyone making comments about the glare on Erik's glasses: You might also want to look into making a soft box for your lighting fixture. It won't make the glare go away completely but it will help cut it down dramatically. adding a light with a soft box directly above will almost cut out glares on shiny surfaces, but you have to worry about odd shadows and such. This is where reflectors come to play!

I'd say the lights were good enough - the episode and the test film didn't look any worse or any better than previous episodes and test films. :)

You Suck! I was getting ready to show how to do the same thing and post it on here. :( good video tho :)

hey guys,

Love the look of the rig but the only thing is if you are only using the mic built in your camera you will have a back buzzing/ringing sound in the background from the florescent lights

very nice. careful the reflection in you glasses, tho, eric

The only real flaw I can see is that the reflection of the fluorescent tubes is pretty clearly visible in your glasses, Erik. I don't know exactly what you might do about that, though. Other than that, this is a very clever idea, and one I'll likely use.

Hey great Job on the lighting thing. We've been using a fixture very similar to that for over a year now. Some people may be interested in what we found out. Attempting green screen with those lights will be Very difficult without some kind of color correction. Its doable but it won't look 'news room professional'. Also your stand was extremely heavy, it is possible to build one from wood that weighs less than a quarter of the cement but is almost as stable.

brilliant!!!!!

lovin the test film and the tutorial!

Kool

Hey Erik! Nice job. Really need a good lighting solution.

Who killed the sub?  I think I may have to send someone to discuss hoagie abuse with him!  That was wrong!

The lighting look really good, I didn't see any shadows or bright spots.

Just don't abuse hoagies anymore!

Sorry guys for saying this but... 
you go over budget a lot.
Hey AWESOME episonde though.
That video was glowing with color and uhh... Light.

The test film was hilarious, good episode.

With God as My Witness, I'll never rent an Arri Kit again!

Great episode!

hell yeah everyone needs see this