New(eer) Lights
I haven’t been able to finish another YT video this week - but I’ve got an extra one just for Patrons about studio lights.
Oh and my merch chap on Etsy has created a new TM mug design if anyone is interested. Although if you’re anything like me you’ll probably have way more than enough mugs already https://tinyurl.com/5n9adm9p
Comments (85)
Hi Matt, I'm rather worried about your health and am hoping for some good news soon. Gra
Your improvement is really positive to see. From your voice getting better, to the blood situation and also the weight! I wish you all the best!
Hey Mat. Just wanted to send a message, for what such a thing from someone on the internet that you don't actually know is worth, of continuing best wishes for your health. Basic human empathy means I hope by default that any fellow human is well, but you've given me, and others, so much over the years that I hope for that particularly strongly for you. I truly wish positive thoughts and well-wishes were really convertible into healing energies or some other sort of medical therapy (come on, boffins!), but I'll just say that I hope your biopsy shows nothing nasty, that you're recovering quickly from that procedure and that you're still enjoying your regained sense of taste. Otherwise, I'll thank you for the video, which I've just watched again, because, unaccountably, my stupid brain has decided I really want some of these lights, despite having no good reason to have them.
Let's hope there's not significant 'CMOS wobble' in the capsule endoscopy footage. 😖🤞
[my indirect way of asking if all is okay]
Matt, I hope you understand (well..based on other posts, I know you do) how much we all care for you. The relationship is quite parasocial, but you are my favorite Englishman. Thank you for the years of fantastic content. I do hope you're ok. Don't push yourself too hard. We need you alive and healthy more than we need a new video.
Very nice - it's so much better now you don't have to use those scary bulbs!
I noticed in the final shot, there's what I assume is a lightswitch behind you on the wall, way up close to the ceiling. When I traveled to london a few years ago I remember seeing this outside the bathrooms and they controlled the exhaust fan inside the bathroom via a motion sensor. Do you have an exhaust fan in the ADU or is this switch for something else? Not very ergonomic lol.
It’s for the aircon unit.
I love your new space, I’m excited about where you might place the accoutrements like the 8track player, sub counter etc. The lights as others said look amazeBalls, good way to recharge the vitamin d ☺️. As a kid I used to fantasize about having a SunPak 544 for my 35mm outfit. I had to settle for a primitive non-bounce speed light instead as those things were a fortune back in the day. Maybe you’ll review one of those someday lol.
Dude, it’s all really coming together quite nicely, now. I’ve been sorting out my mini studio setup for a while now. Buying new bits here and there. I’m not a YouTuber but a designer, so everything has to be just right… especially the lighting. Cheers Lee
Bugger the lights — I'm chuffed that you sound and look so much better. I hope this means you're continuing to recover. OK, the mini-review of the light and the diffuser was interesting, too, of course ... interesting enough to send me off to the Neewer website.
You look and sound 50x better than when I saw you last. I hope you feel the same. If the worst that comes out of all you've been through lately is losing 2 stone I'll have it! Also, my jimmy weighs a ton. Just sayin'.
Look into getting a few sandbags (floppy canvas/nylon bags full of lead shot). Way back when I was using a big soft box (halogen! I could bake a Russet potato on my head!) I discovered that my existing stands were way more stable with sandbags on top the legs.
Yes I noticed the sandbag hook on my new stands, it’d make sense for me to use it.
Home studio lighting is always a compromise between how good you want to look and how little you want to be bothered, isn't it? I'm grateful to be doing a show with Alex Lindsay and Leo Laporte. If I were to invest ten times as much time, money and effort into my studio lighting, theirs would still be three times better than mine. So the pressure's off!
Special Weapons Dalek gun at 10.20, there, I see!
I was blinded by the light
Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night?
Exciting to watch the new digs come along. I do hope we get a closer look at the Terminator arm some day. I wasn't sure that was one of them in an earlier video because it wasn't in focus- but it is! Pretty cool.
Love the Patron only video continues like this. Keep us updated with your garden studio please 😀
Since instructions are usually read after things go wrong, they might as well add: Do Not Stare Into Studio Light With Remaining Eye.
So glad to see you back on the horse again! And nice to see your garden office is taking shape! Talking about Etsy: If I search for "techmoan" on Etsy now, it gives out nothing. None of your merch stuff at all. Could you please share the direct link again? EDIT: Got it! I have to change my location to "United Kingdom" to view your stuff. Strange.... EDIT 2: Sadly, they no longer ship to Germany at all :-/ Seems that my Techmoan hoodie has become a rarity here ....
Newer make a wall mounted boom arm suitable for these that has 180deg of adjustment and extend beyond 1.5m, so you can fix the mount plate at chest height and swing the arm up for lighting your piece to camera or down and over your table for product close ups. Big soft lights are a blessing for the mature broadcaster.
I love mugs, but yeah I’ve a bunch from years ago. I bought one of those Ember “smart mugs” after you reviewed one years back. I hate cold coffee and thanks to my Costco rewards check so it wasn’t as expensive as it could have been.
A pro videographer I know says you'll get better results with good lights and a cheap camera than you will with cheap lights and a good camera
Part of the fun of opening a new device is to see how far you get without needing to read the instructions. Maybe it's a guy thing.
Oooooh, nice, I think I’ll look after these lights for my modest photograph studio ! I have a lot of different things to shoot, from small objects like iPhone to bigger ones like… humans, so it’ll be a perfect add to my flashes ! It’s nice to see you back, and I can’t wait for your next video, the NT-2 was a great one ! And yeah : instructions are rubbish :P
Cheers Matt. Love it - if all else fails, read the instructions. My motto!
Are you going to do coloured back lighting on the shelves to give the background a warm tone? I guess it's maybe a bit overdone by YouTubers these days, but it can look nice
I hadn't realised how wide that B&O system was until I saw it on the shelves with in the background there. I thought it was about the same as the one on the shelf below it.
Yet another good update, keep them coming. In fact i want one every hour on the hour and I want them yesterday. You're clearly 100% healthy now so it shouldn't be much trouble. If you start to struggle have your wife load a tranquiliser gun with insulin and caffeine shoot you every time you start to flag. I'm sure all the science and facts about caffeine, diabetics and insulin levels is complete nonsense, i mean who are the The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists, Royal Society of Medicine and The British Medical Association really apart from highly skilled professionals? Charlatans, that's what. I, a commenter on the actual internet clearly know more than them as I have common sense and the power of imagination therefore I am superior. I can come up with ideas without having to talk to other people to check their validity, how weak minded do you have to be to say "I should run tests to ensure I am right?" Just do it, have a go getting and proactive attitude, none of this namby pamby attitude of checking with others. Anyway, some say laughter is the best medicine, it's not true, clearly insulin and caffeine laced tranquiliser darts are.
You can extend the DC part of a cable - you just need to know the size of the barrel plug (ext. x int. diameter). The most popular size is 5.5 x 2.1mm. Then you just search for 2.5 x 2.1 dc extension (male to female). I have often had to extend the DC cable on mains adapter plugs in this way, as they are almost always too short.
I don't normally like Influencers, but if Techmoan told me I need to buy something, I would
I spy a Sony Sports Handycam on the shelf behind you -- almost certainly dead due to bad capacitors, right?
Always been curious about these style of lights. I like the diffused look towards the end. And you have enough white with the walls and ceiling that there’s plenty of opportunity for bounce lighting.
Clint, I don't know what lighting setup you've got over there, but if you're able to splurge a little more, I would recommend the Aputure Amaran series. They've got a range of lights, including COB (what Mat demonstrated here), mini panel lights (like what Mat previously used, and smaller ones), tube lights (just fun) and flexible panel lights. I have all of those, and my most recent acquisition was a flexible panel light (Aputure Amaran F22c). That one produced amazing soft light at a very small depthprint, so it is a good choice for smaller spaces. They offer each light in white ranges (cool to warm), or full RGB for a price. I use all of them in my photography studio, and I'm loving them so much! They can be controlled directly, or remotely via a mobile app or desktop app (Bluetooth, not WiFi), and someone even developed a Stream Deck plugin so you can control them quickly with physical buttons. #not_sponsored, but I wish I was 😂 They're really expensive, but a lot of fun.
I like those lights, deffinately better with the soft box
It's taking shape 😊. I hope you have a bit of fun tinkering. Perhaps having a bar across, up close to the ceiling, may help to hang them lights and " be out of the way" when moving? I remember doing high speed photography for tracing evacuation of gases in the turret of armoured vehicles. Damn was it hot with the lights we needed
Softbox: Are you perhaps meant to just press down on those "pegs" so that they bow out and click? Total guess, of course.
I've bought some lights from Neewer in the past, and was quite impressed at the quality vs the price. I consider them sort of an upscale generic brand - at least in my experience.
Glad you were able to win the battle with the diffuser. I don't think March Matt would have got it out of the bag, so that's a good recovery sign.
Uh Mat, you’re kind of not supposed to look directly into the light.
He didn't see this in the instruction manual! 😱 https://ibb.co/Q3CnJbpD
Those shelves make an excellent background for your videos! Like others say I will miss the old studio but the new one looks great too! Maybe by adding in the subs counter and the light up signs it will make it more familiar and ease the transition 😂 I think there are some adjustable arms which can mount to walls and ceilings for lights but it may be too restrictive to have them mounted to one point. I'm so pleased to hear you sounding stronger seems like you are really beginning to bounce back. Hope your recovery continues well.
Definitely needed the diffuser.
Either that or a large pack of Matt Face Powder from the local beauty store.
Ah, the fun of lighting. You might also get away with using your ceiling as a free bounce/reflector. Pointing both lights (sans diffusion) towards the ceiling space above your desk area should allow the light to refract down naturally. I've used that technique every once in a while.
Mat, nice to see you are setting up the studio. Hope to see allot of videos made within this studio.
Mat, will we ever see you "filming" in your old spare bedroom again? I love the new place and all the possibilities it has, but I wonder if The Missus has already taken over the old studio and I'm kinda feeling pangs of nostalgia for the old place because we might not ever see it again.🤔
I’m still using it at the moment and it’s all still set up for shooting. If the NT video had needed a bit to camera I’d have done it in there. Alas it wasn’t that kind of video.
Really nice lighting
Your thumbnail made me laugh really loud hahahaha. Great to see you building up!
I'll check you merch asap. Consider that every time I go on holiday in a new place I buy a mug, so I'm not going short on mugs anywhere soon and in some ways this is a kind of place I've been so shame on me I haven't bought one yet. From nørrebro bryghus in Denmark to UK, and I still have to come to Goodwood revival this september to add a new one
Why do manufacturers put a plastic thingy covering UK plugs? I don't see the reason.
I sometimes find them useful if I'm carrying a lead in the same bag as something that could get scratched or marked by the metal pins. But yeah, for the most part they just build up as they come with everything!
Congratulations! The coming videos will definitely be of good quality, and we hope there are still lots to come!
You seem to be getting better, your voice is still not quite sounding like it did though, but good to have you back.
Yes it’s still a bit hoarse/wavering.
The lighting in the thumbnail is perfect, don't change a thing!
Good to see you looking in better spirits! You look good, Mat. Nice behind the scenes peek, and it's good to see your new studio coming together.
• It's exciting seeing you getting the new space set up. The lights are flippin' awesome - and professional. I'm impressed with the sound dampening panels, too; they significantly reduce that echo. • Nice peel, oh yeah! • You must have used your time machine to intercept the Terminator's arm before it could be obtained by Cyberdyne. 😯 Very good of you. • You look and sound great. ☺️ • You've got one of those Sony Sports camcorders! • The Neewer model name made me think of Tony the Tiger's catch phrase, so I made this. https://ibb.co/PZ5LGKkR Take care 🤍
I only bought the camcorder as a prop because it looks so cool, so it’s good to be able to display it.
I'm starting to learn photography, tomorrow will be the first lesson, and I was thinking about getting Neewer branded lens filters for my camera. Although there were many comments about it's very low end quality, the performance of the softbox looks quite okay. Maybe not every Neewer branded stuff is that bad?
I’ve been using their stuff for years. Lesson one in photography should be to ignore all the people telling you to spend hundreds on multiple lenses and just enjoy yourself.
Great lights, and good to see you looking better! Any update on sampling your favourite foods? Have you still got your taste?
Yes the taste is still here, how long for is anyone’s guess…however I’ve had to put food tasting on hold as I’m on a very restrictive diet before my colonoscopy next week.
You may be able to find a bar to mount the lights on like a curtain or shower rod, at least how they are here in the states. You twist them and they spread apart clamping itself between the walls. Thanks for the video!
It would have to support the weight of a gorilla carrying a safe.
I wonder if there's an adjustable roof mount so you can lift it up and out of the way when you aren't using it?
I don’t think I can drill into this ceiling.
I agree, they do a tremendous job. I think it’s a little like cutting butter with a chainsaw. If they could shrink the whole thing in half, it would be ideal. But, you know us Americans, we get everything twice as powerful as we need, only to use half of its power. Still, if anyone can make it work, my money’s on Matt.
You're looking a lot better I'm pleased to see. Just be careful of the forehead glare :) What about a lighting bar on the ceiling? They wouldn't be such a trip hazard that way. I'm sure there are people on here that do stage lighting that can advise you.
Yes! I was wondering if I was the only one waiting to see if the diffuser would take the forehead glare away. If not, Mat would have to hire a makeup artist or something from now on.
The diffused one is excellent, Mat. To give your face some modelling, you need one of those high and to one side and quite bright and the other a bit lower to the other side but not quite as bright, just to fill in the shadowed side. If I might also suggest, a little non-difused top light would be good, just to light and separate your head and shoulders from the background. The audio was definitely better this time, too.
I’ll bear this advice in mind.
The next new mug should be Mat, Kitchener style, pointing and saying “Click, you bugger!” 🙂
I would suggest fix a metal bar on the roof / between the walls and use a manfrotto bar clamp to keep your floorspace free.
The ceiling seems low enough for that to work with a shop light or medium-sized LED panel, similar to how the old arrangement had a light above the filming space. The other small LED panels could be still be used as fill light.
No complaints about camera angles from me. Comparing to other youtube vids , that’s good This isn’t bad at all. Didn’t think in that way before you mentioned it and I have no complaints
Instructions? We don't need no stinkin' instructions!
Hey Mat, On the subject of mugs: Is there any chance the „Flippin Eck“ muppet mug might make a comeback? I just missed the boat ordering one when they were on.
I think that one has gone for ever unfortunately. It was sold through teespring who were a bit of a shower.
Yet to watch the video but like the new mug design. Might have to get one, my few hundred other mugs are feeling lonely.
First 😁😊👍🏻