VP Foundation
- Lesson4 of 6
- Time70 min
Colour and light on LED
Outcome
Plan the lighting for a volume scene: what the wall does, what extra lamps do, and how wall and set are matched in colour.
Mapped to 3 ScreenSkills checklist lines
- ScreenSkills virtual production competencies: lighting roles · Prepare and use equipment to modify and manipulate lighting: "ensure there is no spill light from conventional fixtures hitting the LED screen as this causes contrast issues"
- ScreenSkills virtual production competencies: camera roles · Setting up camera and related equipment for virtual production: "daily check of colour drift and colour balance"
- ScreenSkills virtual production competencies: lighting roles · Position and secure fixtures while applying safety considerations: "accurately calculate the weight and load capacity of all the equipment specified"
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Watch
4 films · about 146 minutes
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What the wall does, and doesn't
- The wall gives soft, coloured light and real reflections from the world. It's great for ambient light and reflections in glass, metal and eyes.
- It can't give hard, bright key light like the sun. Extra lamps do that, matched to the world.
- LED walls have a narrower colour spectrum than daylight or good film lamps, so skin can look off under wall light alone. Full-spectrum lamps help.
Keep spill off the wall
- Light from lamps hitting the wall washes out its blacks and lowers contrast. Flag lamps off the wall.
- The wall is itself a light source. Its brightness is set from the brain bar, not with a dimmer on the floor.
Matching colour
- Wall, camera and lamps are calibrated to one colour pipeline, often with OCIO or ACES. VP colour runs this.
- Check colour drift and balance daily. Panels change as they warm up and age.
- Lighting changes in the world and on the floor are made together: if the sun moves in the world, the key lamp moves too.
- Rigging lamps on a volume follows normal safety: weights, loads and working at height are for trained crew.
Check
3 questions drawn from 8 · pass mark 80% · safety-critical questions must be right · 3 attempts in 24 hours · new questions each time
Watch the films to open the check.
Do
Lighting plan for a volume scene · 25 minutes
Write a short lighting plan for set-up 2 of the car scene (singles through the side windows, sea beyond, dusk).
How it's marked
- Uses the wall for ambient dusk light and window reflections
- Adds a soft, warm key matched to the low sun in the plate
- Flags lamps off the wall
- Mentions colour matching and a daily check
- Rigging by trained crew
Met or Not yet, with a comment from a trained reviewer. Until accounts open, open the model answer after you submit and mark your own work against it.
Model answer (open after you submit)
Wall: dusk plate for ambient light and reflections in the windows. Add a soft, warm key from the sea side, low, matched to the sun in the plate; a little fill from the land side; skin checked under full-spectrum lamps. Flag every lamp off the wall. Colour: wall and lamps calibrated to the camera's pipeline, checked at pre-call. Any lamp on the truss rigged by trained crew.
Reflect
Record
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