Also, the carport is white, so we're thinking about buying some easy to hang curtains behind us. I suspect white would make our faces too dark. What is a good color for the cameras to react to? Neutral gray? Beige? Pink?
Thanks again, Bob
Darker colors will give you better contrast as long as you have adequate front lighting. We have used a deep blue quite successfully. Think about a curtain on a stage or television studio where the curtain sits behind the presenter. Usually they are made from a darker color material.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
For lighting I went to Home Depot and bought 2 aluminum "deep dish" painter's lights and put LED bulbs in them, with nothing more than pieces of paper for diffusers. They work just fine. Whatever light you use, I highly suggest LED rather than incandescent bulbs.
I might try without lights first. The carport faces west, so if done in the early afternoon, a lot of reflected but not direct light should come in.
If that doesn't work, I'll add lights.
I'm going to try to do this as inexpensively as I can and still get decent results.
We've been out of work since March, the governor is still not allowing live music, our winter tourist season which is usually booked solid by now is empty, and as long as COVID-19 rages, it looks like any work at all will be sparse.
We're not destitute but believe in times like this we should be frugal.
Another possible 'budget' idea for a back drop instead of curtains. Consider multiple overlapped drops of colored paper roll. Just use thumb tacks (or perhaps tape) to secure the top of each drop in place, tape together at the bottom.
36" wide x 200' rolls are available. Lots of colors. Definitely a cheap way to get an acceptable result.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
We're not destitute but believe in times like this we should be frugal.
Times like THIS? Frugal has been my life for 69+ years now! I keep shoes for 6-7 years!! I recently threw away a t-shift from when I went to the Fiesta Bowl. That was when Alex Smith played for Utah. His NFL career has pretty much come and gone. That game was in 2005!
My friend Melissa visited me from Oklahoma in 2010. She drinks coffee. I do not. I bought a small coffee pot for her visit and a can of Maxwell House coffee. That can of coffee is STILL in my freezer.
I keep things like broken shoelaces, because you never know when you need a short piece of string to tie something up.
You want frugal? I got frugal!
Time to stream with a tip jar, Notes. And maybe record a CD.
You should not need additional lighting if as stated you have good natural light, even for green screen. But if you are going to use green screen at night you will need additional lighting. I know you want to keep the price down but this is what I will be using for my green screen lighting for my night shows from now on.
Along with a Home Depot light(as per Eddie's description) above for subject lighting.
I should also add that I diffuse those lights only because they are 2 feet from my face and they are too harsh without the diffusion. If you set them 6 feet away from you they will be fine. With your plan for time of day you may not need supplemental lighting. You may want to light your backdrop to eliminate shadows, but again, you won't know until you test if that natural light will cause enough shadows to worry about.
I have a Zoom Q8 and I think it's pretty special. Words as a webcam/compressor mics. Has 2 xlr inputs for 2 extra mics. 120 degree zoom. Horses for courses, but check out Zoom (https://zoomcorp.com/en/jp/) It's also an audio interface.
Last edited by lambada; 09/03/2010:51 PM.
Windows 10 Home 20H2 Build 19042.487 BIAB 2021 (Build 818) Intel(R) Core(TM), i3-4160, CPU @3.60 GHz RAM 16 GB, 64 Bit X64-based processor Zoom UAC-2 (USB 3 interface-built in midi) VoiceLive 3 Extreme, Sputnik Valve Condenser Mic
Eddie, I loved the frugal. We are normally thrifty, and lucky because we have always lived below our means. Our house and cars are paid in full, and we have zero debt and a savings account.
But since our last gig was March 17, and this year's tourist season which is usually booked solid by now is empty, we have go from thrifty to tightwads
But sooner or later, COVID will come under some kind of control, and we'll get back to being thrifty again.
I think we we set up in the early afternoon, we might not need any additional lighting. We'll try that and see. The house faces west.
We might try one in the morning first, it's much cooler then.
I have a lot to learn. But I like learning new things, but with all my other projects, I'm hoping the learning curve isn't too steep
Eddie, I loved the frugal. We are normally thrifty, and lucky because we have always lived below our means. Our house and cars are paid in full, and we have zero debt and a savings account.
Ha Ha, Notes, I'd pass on the coffee offer (YMMV )
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I forgot to mention, I think, that the original purpose for which I bought the Zoom camera was as a webcam. I think every inexpensive webcam in North America was bought out in March by kids going to school virtually, and this is what I found to do the job. The fact it is an excellent video recorder was secondary at the time but is now coming in handy.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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