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Introduction to lighting ratios

Introduction to lighting ratios

From the course: Pro Video Tips

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Introduction to lighting ratios

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This week on Pro Video Tips, I'm going to explain the basics of lighting ratios. I think the best way to learn about lighting is to just experiment with different tools and techniques, add a color gel to your backlight, try a different white balance, play with types and differences until you find just the right look to convey your story. Well, once you find a look you like you can always take a picture or a screen grab of the footage but that won't necessarily mean that you can easily repeat or communicate that look to your crew unless, of course, you use lighting ratios which are a simple numerical way of describing and communicating a lighting scenario. A lighting ratio describes a difference between the brightness of the key light and the fill light on your subject. The ratio itself refers to how bright the key light is versus the fill light. So a lighting ratio of two-to-one means the key light is twice as bright as the fill light and a lighting ratio of four-to-one would mean…

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