Barn Doors & Hard Light: Aputure Barn Doors for COB Lights

[@cruzoncamera]

Sir, you are the first light teacher in this KZbin world that I've enjoyed to listen. You go right to the main topic without having to boast about the specs of the light.. you make it a priority to get us to learn how to use it rather than learning about he product. BRAVO

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@geraldundone]

Been watching your videos for a long time now. I've always thought you made very useful and professional content. I don't know why it took me so long to subscribe, but I finally did. Keep up the great work. Look forward to seeing future content, this time in my sub box. 😉

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Gerald, I appreciate the feedback! 👍

[@LAFD54]

Hello! Great videos. Why would one use a 2 door vs 4 door barn doors? Thanks!

[@curtisjudd]

Not sure.

[@OliverJHughes]

Not only was this excellent info on hard light, but I got to see BTS INSIDE the Curtis Judd studio!! Always wondered how you make your great looking and great sounding spaces.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Oliver! 👍

[@pizzomedia7261]

Curtis, do you need to use a heat shield under the gel so it doesn’t burn? The gel holder looks really close to the light itself. Thanks!

[@curtisjudd]

No, use proper gels which are made to work with old-school tungsten lighting and the heat of LEDs are no problem at all.

[@davirosa]

Very nice tutorial - great content to boost up my creativity - thank you. I have a question about using Barn Doors. Do you know if the barn doors can "invert" the light? I mean, like a pinhole. Cause once I was using it kinda restricted (closed) and I was moving the upper door, but the effect in the subject, was more to the ground... And I took some photos with kind of same setup... The strobe was very high 2,5m, little tilt +- 3 degrees to the ground, 4 meters from the subject - in my mind, the hotspot should be more and less at models head, but - for my surprise - when I was editing it - the ground and bottom parts of the image, were very hot - which I corrected with a gradient filter.

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Davi, that seems to depend on the light and the barn doors, especially if the barn doors have a silver interior.

[@davirosa]

@@curtisjudd Thank you - it´s a standard black.

[@brianpimental2948]

High Curtis, I'm looking for some lights to get started with for vlogging and interviews. What would you recommend to get started

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Brian, these Amaran lights from Aputure are worth a look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onyrd5uFg9iUnZY

[@BasicFilmmaker]

Damn, you’re so good at these reviews! AND....did I see a drum set in one shot? :)

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks BFM! Yes, that is my very sad Yamaha Stage Custom kit that gets very little of my attention these days. :( But some day, when I don't have a day job, It'll get daily attention again. :)

[@videotempest7502]

It looks like Aputure really thought about those barn doors! Kudos to them for making another awesome product. And kudos to you for another great video with a lot of helpful info!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@StarWarsJay]

Hey Curtis. So I’m trying to light model space ships for green screen and a slider. I have lit the green screen evenly, but now I need light on one side of the ships with minimal spill. Snoot or barn doors? Thanks mate. J.

[@curtisjudd]

Yes and yes. Both can do the job depending on the size of the ships and the light.

[@StarWarsJay]

@@curtisjudd Thank you. They are pretty small. Six inches or so. I messed around with both in the end. There was some minimal spread with the barn doors, but the snoot was more precise.

[@curtisjudd]

@@StarWarsJay 👍

[@CRMayerCo]

Your videos are always so informative. Really good stuff.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Chris.

[@KorocheKo]

Thanks for the great work and awesome video! I want to ask you if the reflector that comes with the light (the inner part is silver, you talk about it at 1 minute 20 seconds) is suitable for installing a barn door on it? Thanks for your reply!

[@curtisjudd]

You can, but better results with the shorter, all black reflector which comes with the Aputure barn doors.

[@KorocheKo]

@@curtisjudd thank you so much 👍👍👍👍👍

[@RELATECASTS]

That was some great advice, Curtis! We just got the Aputure mini 20 flightkit. Have you seen those? Youget 3 lighs, stands and tons of little things that can get lost... :) But it has barn doors on the lights and the lights look like mini COB120. The light they put out is pretty nice albeit a tad BLUE in daylight mode (but they do provide gels for standard daylight)...

[@curtisjudd]

Hi, yes, I worked with one of the early prototypes. It was a little noisy but useful as an accent light. Like that it can be powered via USB as well. Unfortunately the NP-F battery sled did t work on the copy I had.

[@manoharmgr8235]

வீடியோ மிகவும் பயனுள்ளதாக இருந்தது மிக்க நன்றி 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 இரா.மனோகர் சென்னை . Very useful video sir, I learned lot from it, looking forward more videos like this keep it up good work, thanks a lot sir big thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 R.MANOHAR Chennai.

[@curtisjudd]

Thank you Manohar Mgr.

[@fg1110]

My new favorite channel, thank you for all this great info

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks FG.

[@petewhitcroft500]

Just ordered Aputure barn doors --- what gels will nicely fit the Aputure barn doors?

[@curtisjudd]

It comes with a gel holder frame so you can cut any gel to fit.

[@valbou1089]

Hi, Thanks for this nice explanation! The Aputure 120t is discontinued now. How can you get warm skin tones from a 120dii (or a 300dii) which are only 5500K ? With gels? Can we get the 120t result with gels put on a 120dii ? Thanks

[@curtisjudd]

You can set the white balance on your camera to 6000+ Kelvin to simulate tungsten.

[@valbou1089]

@@curtisjudd Thanks :)

[@frosti7]

Can barndoors be used to flood-light a green screen? (maybe 2 of theses)

[@curtisjudd]

No need for barn doors when you’re trying to flood a green screen. They’re really for cutting light.

[@Jay-oe2od]

Can you use barn doors to create a circular spotlight on subject?

[@curtisjudd]

No, it will be more angular. If you want a spotlight, you'd want to use a fresnel lens or a leko style spotlight attachment. Aputure makes both: Fresnel 2x: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5WnhJupiZlroJo Spotlight Mount: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nl6olaSCpcylpKc

[@Jay-oe2od]

@@curtisjudd great what about the light mount that I attach it too? Do they have that aswell? I’m sorry I’m new to this I’ve used nothing but Ailen bees lights

[@curtisjudd]

@@Jay-oe2od Oh, we cover that in the spotlight video - you'll need one of the Aputure lights like the COB120. Details in the description of the Spotlight Mount Video.

[@sburgos9621]

I own th aputure 120d with the original aputure fresnel lens which has barn door on the front but I cant get the shadow from the edge of the barn door as sharp as yours in this video. I have tried focusing the fresnel and using it without focusing it but the result is always the same.

[@curtisjudd]

Try the barn door without the fresnel.

[@sburgos9621]

@@curtisjudd I will give it a shot.

[@TopGarageTV]

Always great content CJ!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks!

[@fangshizhu9383]

Hi Curtis, very nice lighting techniques and look! One question: when using tungsten key light, how do you white balance your camera? Do you till do a customize white balance at where the face is? Or you customize the camera to daylight so the face looks a bit more orange? It looks like your face is a bit warmer so I guess you white balanced to daylight but use the tungsten key?

[@curtisjudd]

For a look like this, a few hundred Kelvin higher than tungsten - this was probably 3400 to 3800.

[@fangshizhu9383]

@@curtisjudd Awesome! Going to test it out.

[@mindcave]

@4:43 that contrast is sharp on that wall! No idea why, but my barndoors will NOT produce a solid line like that. It's just mushy and non distinctive. The only way it does is if I get maybe 3 inches from the wall, which is useless.

[@curtisjudd]

Which light, reflector, and barn doors are you using?

[@UpHillCinema]

Great job like always!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Levi!

[@FamilyofTech]

Do you have a video on how to make a white background into a different color?

[@curtisjudd]

No, I usually just use a different color light or put a gel on the light. But that's a good idea for a future episode. Or are you looking for info on how to change the color in post?

[@FamilyofTech]

Curtis Judd I was thinking in changing the white background to different colors. Getting the most of the background that I have. I just made a video on my channel with a white background and I see your video showing on my feed, and I say to myself: that looks so cool and professional!!!

[@curtisjudd]

That makes sense. You bet, I'll add it to the list of future episodes. Thanks!

[@VideosProva]

Hi Curtis, any news on the broken FalconEyes COB light? Is it repaired?

[@curtisjudd]

Yes, I hired a electronics technician to replace the PCB board sent to me and it still did not work so we abandoned the light. It was a bit sad as I really liked that light when it worked.

[@VideosProva]

Sad. At this point I'm doubtful if buying this brand... Thank you for the feedback.

[@curtisjudd]

I'm quite happy with the flexible panel that I also included in that same video by Falcon Eyes. So I haven't lost all faith in the brand, I'm just could not recommend that particular model.

[@VideosProva]

Yes, but I was searching a cheap cob light, I think I will go with a Pixapro (Godox).

[@AGS-8785-D1R]

Hey Curtis, hope you're doing well. Thanks for another helpful video. I couldn't help but catch your throwaway statement about the 120T being nicer for skin tones than the 120D. That's a somewhat new concept to me. I'd love to learn about that. Would gelling a 120D with a full CTO give the same or similar results? Thanks!

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Andrew, I have a new color meter - the Sekonic C-800 - which measures color quality with a new metric called Spectral Similarity Index. This was recently developed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and has some serious advantages over CRI and TLCI when it comes to assessing the color quality of light sources. Interestingly, I'm finding that many tungsten colored LEDs score higher SSI scores - meaning they are very similar to good old-fashioned tungsten lights and seem to render colors more accurately than daylight colored LEDs when they are measured with SSI against actual daylight. This seems particularly true for skin tones which have a lot of reds and oranges. I'm not sure whether using a CTO gel on a daylight colored LED will have the same effect, but I'll certainly add it to my list of things to measure with the new color meter. Thanks!

[@AGS-8785-D1R]

@@curtisjudd Thanks so much for always being generous with your time and knowledge! Super, super appreciated. I'll look out for if/when you find time to do that test!

[@pictures4urears]

Thank you!

[@curtisjudd]

You’re welcome!

[@CommiePinko101]

When I first received my 120D I e-mailed Aputure to discuss the idea of them making barndoors. Seems they listened.

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@fg1110]

Can you make a video on creating ambient light in a room? Thanks!

[@curtisjudd]

Hi F G, sure. Just a question: Do you mean ambient light that you'd use so that the shadows aren't so deep? Maybe something like a space light that isn't too directional?

[@fg1110]

Curtis Judd hi! Yes, so I have been in a few situation where I had to create ambient light in a room. I bounced lights in to ceilings hoping it would create soft Ambient. It didn't come out so well. Should I have used China balls, or space lights. Thanks!!!

[@curtisjudd]

Ok, that makes sense, thanks! Yes, added it to the list.

[@fg1110]

Curtis Judd thanks! I appreciate all the great knowledge!!

[@electronicfellows2113]

will it work on amaran 100d?

[@curtisjudd]

Yes

[@electronicfellows2113]

@@curtisjudd perfect!

[@odie1123]

I’m looking for a ceiling mounted barn door light for fine art . Some help please. Thanks Denis

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Denis, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with fine art lighting. Perhaps a web search for fine art lighting would help? Best wishes!

[@jimkoral3824]

Curtis, I see in other vids that you also use an Arri 650 fresnel. How does the Aputure compare to light output, color, ease of use? A new Arri 650 from B&H is priced lower than the 120T and used units can be had for $250.

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Jim, the COB120d puts out a fair bit more - I would say a stop and change. I find the Arri 650 hard to use as a key light when shooting it through a scrim or silk unless I push the ISOs into the 1600 range. That's a legitimate way to work, but I found it hard back in the days when I was shooting with all tungsten lights when I had to shoot in offices and was never quite sure how much capacity we had on each circuit or even how many of the outlets in a single room were on the same circuit. In those circumstances, powering more than three of them was always a little dicey. All that said, I love tungsten lighting. The color rendition is my favorite. And there are companies that make LED replacement "bulbs" for the Arris - visionsmith.com/relamp-system/?v=7516fd43adaa

[@jimkoral3824]

Thanks, Curtis! The low wattage and heat output of LEDS is so tempting (as well as the dimming without color shift). However, for my use and budget, I think I might pick up some used tungsten units and eventually get a daylight LED fixture.

[@curtisjudd]

Good call. It's hard to be the color quality of the good old Arri 650.

[@Jay-oe2od]

How do you create a spot light

[@curtisjudd]

With a Leko-style light or focusing spotlight.

[@cuisined]

Hey Curtis, what drums are they? Are you a fellow drummer? :-)

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Cuisined, that's just a Yamaha Stage Custom kit. I aspire to be a drummer, but truthfully, they'd gotten very little of my attention over the last 5 years. Some day I'm hoping to get back to drumming.

[@cuisined]

Sounds Great, do get back to it! you'll thank yourself later btw, if you'd like this is my drumming channel :) kzbin.info

[@curtisjudd]

Wow, nice job on the Neal Peart Subdivisions spot! That brings back so many good memories from my younger days. :) And nice job recording it as well.

[@cuisined]

Ty! Looking forward to your's :) - You've got an amazing channel here too!

[@Gumikrukon]

Thank you! :)

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks!

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Great video and great new accessory! Soft light is easy, but it’s so boring. (Honestly, I’ve been getting lazy. I cut my teeth on tungsten and hmi fresnels. I’m capable of better work.) Barndoors are also really useful for controlling spill when you’re punching the light through a frame of diffusion (or a cucaloris or a gobo as shown in the video). The next step beyond doors is a grip package with flags, silks, nets, and the c-stands to hold them, although at this point you might want to hire a guy like me to set them. 😉 You get a ton more control with flags, nets, and silks. If you do product videography, you’ll want a set of dots and fingers, too.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Marcos! Good points you make here. We'll look to cover some of the other tools you mention here as well.

[@StuartChignell]

I've got a whole world of learning to do if I'm going to keep making videos

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Stuart. Not to worry, we all do! 👍

[@alexandrealmeida4360]

Not related to the video content but I was watching a couple of my subscription videos and when I started viewing yours I immediately noticed a huge improvement on the sound quality. Did I mentioned huge? 👌

[@curtisjudd]

Haha, thanks Alexandre!

[@FamilyofTech]

But no, not in the post. During the actual filming

[@curtisjudd]

Can do!