This Youtube lighting tutorial for beginners is going to show you just about everything that you need to know about lighting. We are going to cover placement, color temperature, and everything in between. These tricks are used by Hollywood so no matter your expertise in lighting when you are done here you will have the basics of lighting locked down. You can then go and play with your scene and environments to find the best lighting for your shot like a PRO.
Three-Point Lighting Tutorial
The most important part of lighting is where to put the lights. The most popular method is the Three-Point method. The first light is called the KEY light, which is the main light source of your video. You will see in the video that your KEY light provides the major light for your shot. And your FILL light (secondary light) is placed on the opposite side of your KEY light. You can see the difference the FILL light makes in the shadowing of your subject. Also, your FILL light must be dimmer than your KEY light. The BACK light is used to bring the subject out from the background so that your viewers will focus on the subject more.
Speaking of lighting, here is a video from the IBC in Amsterdam, where we had the chance to interview Ted from Aputure about the Aputure 300D. A very versatile and popular LED light: Aputure 300D and the world premiere of MX!
What is Light Color Temperature?
Understanding which light and what temperature these lights must be is very important to your video quality. Basically, the temperature of light is how warm or cool the light is, this is not physical heat but light heat. It is measured in Kelvin, the higher the number in Kelvin the cooler the light will be on your video. Natural light (outside light or sunlight) is a very cool light, so to get the “outside” look inside a room you would have a cool light setup. The best light to use for any scene in bi-color LED lights. They give you the most flexibility when it comes to choosing the right color temperature for your shot.
You may also like: Film Look Color Grading in Premiere Pro
Hard Lighting vs. Soft Lighting
One of the most common reasons for your videos not looking so great is the fact that you are using either too hard lighting or too soft lighting for your shot. Even with all the color temperature settings set up perfectly, you will still have to make sure that you have the right hardness or softness in your light source. Hard lighting is when your light source is creating harsh shadows on your subject. Soft lighting is when your light sources blend on your subject to eliminate the shadows. Check out the tips on the video to get simple cheap tricks to get the best out of your lighting sources.
How Pro YouTubers Light their Videos
YouTubers all over the world use very similar light sources (see our Aputure 300D video above). You might think that any of the use expensive rigs that you might never be able to afford but that is not true. Surprisingly, they don’t use LED lighting, they use what is called a COB light. This is a light (Chip On Board lights) with a softbox attached to it. They look like UFOs floating in the studios but they work exceptionally well. These lights are very bright and can light multiple people in one scene. They are simple to set up and you will see awesome tricks and tips in the video for setting up a COB light and softbox.
Of course, this Youtube lighting tutorial for beginners will help you increase the quality of all your videos. Not only for your youtube channel but for many other aspects of video production. Such as interviews, documentaries, etc.
