Lighting bill plumets using EPIC.

[J Davis]

No... just the straight R3D graded in resolve.

thanks mark. love what u r doing btw

 

[Eric Haase]

All that latitude or speed doesn't really help much when you have to recreate daylight after the sun has gone down. If you need to create sunlight falling through a big window, you are still going to need a big lamp, it just might be a 6K HMI instead of a 12K HMI. The reasons you use big lights are not necessarily due to the speed of the camera or the latitude, you use them to substitute for big sources in real life, like a big sky or the sun, where a tiny light isn't going to create the same feeling. Sure, if I can rate a camera at 1000 ASA instead of 500 ASA, I can either use a lamp half as bright or I can stop down the lens by one-stop, and that's convenient. But the need for large units to recreate sunlight on a large scale, or light a large area at night (let's say a field in the middle of the country lit for moonlight) doesn't go away just because the speed of the camera has improved or the latitude.

I would say that the decrease in the amount of lighting being used is just as much due to stylistic trends (greater interest in available light photography), and/or budgetary concerns, as is due to technology.

The Epic is fast, and so is the Alexa, and that's great, but let's not exaggerate what another stop of sensitivity gains you in terms of the need for lighting a scene.

Couldn't agree more. When the F900 came on the scene, producers said you don't need to light anymore. Horrendous. Increased sensitivity and dynamic range open up a lot of new creative possibilities but they don't- and never will eliminate the need for lighting a scene. I have found that 12Ks can become 6Ks in some instances but more often than not I'd rather take advantage by taking the luxury of being able to soften the light even more. Also, I don't consider the need to light a scene a "problem."

 

[Billy Summers]

My bet is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle... you need to light, but you can light with less with EPIC. EPIC does not solve every problem, it just makes life a bit easier.

Jim

INDEED.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

CG cameras have infinite sensitivity and dynamic range. Still gotta break out the lights. Lots of artifacts in power windows and localized tone-mapping. Then again if it's an artifact or $5k in lights, sometimes the choice is easy. But since it ultimately comes down to ratios a power window isn't going to do anything if you want a highlight that matches the sun. You can only work existing lighting so far before the image breaks down and starts looking over processed.