A Guide To Lighting by Logan
Seeing The Light
It seems a problem many brickfilmers come across, is with light inconsistency,
or light flicker. This is caused by light changing in the picture from
frame to frame. It can also be caused by the webcam trying to automatically
compensate fro changing light levels, like for example, the shadow your
hand casts as you move your figs between frames , or changes in the
light reflecting onto the set caused by movement of the brickfilmer.
’I've had some serious flicker problems, causing me a lot of grief.
In “light” of that, I decided to create a tutorial, to help
Brickfilmers with light flickering problems.
Settings
Probably the biggest factor in light flicker is the settings on your
camera. Most webcams have a setting called shutter speed, auto exposure,
and/or gain. If you're using a cam with shutter speed, and gain settings,
Make sure your shutter speed is as far up as you can get it, and your
gain is as low as you can get it. This will probably make your picture
a lot brighter, but, by dampening lights ect. You can get the brightness
down to a reasonable amount.
If you have auto settings, turn them off, or lock them, because otherwise
your camera will keep trying to dynamically adjust these settings itself,
which can be handy for live chat etc, but constantly altering picture
settings are not at all desirable when animating, it will cause light
flicker. If you have a white balance setting, find the one that gives
you the best picture quality, or if you have the option, you can choose
“freeze”, or something along those lines. This will keep the
white balance settings from changing from frame to frame.
Lighting Setup
You’ll want to have light coming from at least one desk lamp, and
you should make sure to keep the light focused on the set, and not pointing
just anywhere(unless you are reflecting the light onto the set). Make
sure there is little or no light coming from behind you, we don't want
your shadow falling across the set. eliminate any light coming from
windows, as daylight is constantly changing with the movement of the
sun and clouds etc. Block out as much natural light as possible. If
you can, film at night.
Extra Stuff
You want to make sure to always wear black or dark clothes while animating,
as most other colors will reflect light back on the set. Also, be mindful
of your own body position, and return to the same position for every
frame, this will help eliminate changes in light bouncing off YOU.
Make sure your set isn’t a long ways from the computer, so you don’t have to make any huge movements to capture the frame.
If you have backlighting (Lighting coming from behind the set), I’d recommend for you to have some sort set-up which reflects the light onto the set, this way you get a higher picture quality, and no light can reflect onto you, and back onto the set.
Lastly, if you’re holding a fig up, either use a rig, so you don’t
have to use your hands, or keep your hand very rigid, and pay VERY close
attention to where you're casting shadows, so the light doesn’t
change.
In “The
White Ninja” by Bluntman, you can see a fairly good example
of this, when the Ninja Leaps and blocks Dave’s bullets with his
sword (although, if you’re looking for it, you can see some dancing
shadows).
Also, frame averaging, available in applications like Stop Motion Pro helps to compensate for small amounts of light flicker. As, for every frame taken, the software actually collects a number of frames, and averages them out to a constant, It can also reduce grain in the picture in low light situations.
Try to remember all these things, and you shouldn’t experience any of that bothersome light flicker. If you continue to have problems, clearly explain your problem, and ask for help in the Brickfilms forums. Or Email me at the link below.
