Building an LED lighting kit
Reflector fixtures, panels, tubes or flexible mats: LEDs now cover most of the needs of a lighter shoot. A few pointers for building a consistent kit.
Bi-colour or colour
A bi-colour fixture adjusts its colour temperature, from warm to cool, like a tungsten or daylight source. A colour fixture (RGB, RGBW, RGBWW) also adjusts hue and saturation: it can match a gel, correct a green or magenta cast and create effects.
For practical or effect lighting, the battery-powered Astera Titan and Helios tubes hide easily in the set.
Hard or soft source
Reflector fixtures such as the Aputure Storm or the Nanlux Evoke give hard, powerful light. They are shaped with accessories: softbox, Fresnel or projection attachment.
Panels and flexible mats such as the ARRI SkyPanel or Aladdin give soft, broad light straight away. Louvers (honeycomb grids) limit their spill.
Fresnels, spot attachments and accessoriesSoftboxes and louversARRI
Power
High-power fixtures run on mains: count the circuits available at the location, or plan cable runs, distribution boxes and a generator. Lighter fixtures also run on V-Lock batteries, useful outdoors or on a set without an accessible socket.
Controlling the lights
As soon as the kit has several sources, a DMX desk or tablet, wired or wireless, lets you set intensity and colour without climbing a ladder and recall a state from one shot to the next.
The grip that goes with it
A light is nothing without its grip: stands suited to its weight and height, diffusion frames and fabrics, flags and blackout to cut the light, sandbags. Think about them at the same time as the fixtures: the list will be more accurate and the quote faster.