[Rick Wise]

You asked which light meter? I suggest the Sekonic L-308DC, which today is branded, L-308X-U. It’s rugged and holds its setting well. After a gazillion years with my much more expensive Spectra, I’ve switched over completely to this small Sekonic that fits easily in a shirt pocket. A couple of caveats: the instructions are lousy and for accurate work you need to set it up correctly; the lumidisc globe is tiny and hard to place accurately; in reflective mode it sprays over 30 degrees and you can’t aim it correctly.

Todd and most shooters today hardly ever use a meter. As Mark said, you don’t need it for exposure any more. But if you are lighting a set it’s very helpful. And, if you are lucky enough to shoot film as we still do at the Academy of Art University, you must have one for lighting control and also for exposure.

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

So it is the instructor who looks at the monitor? How about putting it slightly below the camera and tilted up, or slightly above and titled down? What is on the monitor that the instructor needs to see?

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

I’m confused. Students look directly at the Lightboard and behind them is a monitor? Perhaps you could sketch out the layout?

Any pola will cut light intensity. If the monitor has to face the lightboard, the only solutions I see are either tilt the monitor enough so it doesn’t glare, or, as already suggested, move it to the side.

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

Thank you for your replies. I discovered that the reason the DVD player that’s attached to my TV didn’t show the movie correctly is this old player doesn’t automatically adjust to the 4:3 format. I have to manually change over to 4:3 and then all is fine. By contrast, my computer’s DVD player/burner does automatically adjust.

Bottom line: what I did works fine. I just didn’t realize what an old DVD player I had and how limited it is…..

Thank you again for your replies.

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

Thank you for replying to my inquiry, and my apologies for being so slow to respond! It looks like that even though I get that error message, DVD Architect burns the disc anyway. So I don’t think we need to dig down any deeper on this topic.

Again, thank you!

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

And here it is, many years later, and this same problem pops up: “VOB file too large for its type.” I’m using Vegas Pro 14 to render an 18-minute movie to Quicktime 7; size: 3.07 GB. In DVD Architect 6, when I click on burn/ optimize, fit to disc, I get the message: The estimated total size of all menus is above the maximum of 1 GB and will probably fail while being prepared.” Yet when I click on optimize/fit to disc, I get: “There is enough space available for this project. The bit rate does not need to be adjusted.” When I try to continue, after a while, the message above, “VOB file too large for its type” pops up and the burn is aborted.

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

Mark’s suggestion of a small splash some sort of warm light in a blue-night scene helps address this phenomenon: if a scene is lit entirely by only one color, in a short while the viewer’s eyes see that color as “white.” But, if there’s something in the scene that is another color, the eye retains the dominant sense/connection to that one color. Look at submarine “dive” sequences when the sub is under attack: most of the light will be red and flashing red, but there’s always some white or blue in the shot as well to keep the redness fresh to the eye.

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

And a might good chest it is, Todd.

(Sent from my new home in tiny Amador City, Ca, where two cars on the road at the same time is a traffic jam, and we count up to 186 good souls, excluding dogs, cats, chickens, wild turkeys, and deer.)

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

So try and find out! You own the panels. Put them up and see….. There’s no better way to learn than by doing.

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Rick Wise]

Make them soft! Either use soft units, or add diffusion in front of hard. If the latter, the farther away from the lamp you place the diffusion, the softer the shadows will be.

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com