I SUCKED at Lighting until I Learned This

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but it took me over 10 years to get from this to this. Let's rewind a little bit. You see, I love using natural light as much as possible. It's free, it gives me vitamin D, but it's not always the best key. It's uncontrollable and super inconsistent. So I need lights, powerful lights. Oh shoot, that's too big. That's much better. This is the new Amaran Ray 120C, and not only is it smaller, but it's more powerful, it has RGB, and most importantly, it can be powered by USB-C. This is what the film industry calls the key light because it is the main light that's lighting our subject. It's positioned 45 degrees and slightly angled down. How long do I have to- You're ruining the illusion. Oh, sorry. For lighting intensity, we only have it at 11%, with the color temperature at 5600 Kelvin, and our camera white balance is also set to 5600 Kelvin. But what's more important than the light itself is actually the modifier. You see, by itself, it's too harsh. We actually need something else in between to help pass that light, to soften things up. Ideally, in a box. Dang, what is that thing called again? Oh right, an octodome. See how it's making me, the subject here, look more flattering versus the harsh light? And believe it or not, size matters here too. Too small of a modifier like this 30-centimeter octodome here, the lighting would still be too directional and too harsh. But a big modifier like this 90-centimeter octodome here, oh, the lighting is just super soft, which is the best look, but it also looks comically big in a small studio like mine. So if you're also operating in a small space, this 60-centimeter here is perfect. We're gonna throw on this honeycomb grid so the light doesn't spill all over the place. There we go. But what about this side of my face? It's still looking too dark. Let's fill it in with the Amaran Ray 60C, the baby brother of the 120C. And remember that 30-centimeter octodome from before? It was too small as a key light, but as a fill light, it's perfect. Just 2% and it's already making a huge difference to my face. This is on, this is off. By the way, I have these lights paired to an app called Sidus Link, which allows me to control everything. And pairing to the app was super easy. There's an NFC chip in these lights here, and by bringing our phone next to it, when the app is open, it gets automatically registered. I never have to leave my seat to adjust the lighting. Easy. Well, except those practical lights in the back earlier. Those are not Amaran brands, so they're not part of the Sidus Link ecosystem. I should probably get more Amaran lights for the shelf. And it also works with Amaran app, which is even more streamlined and user-friendly. And because these lights can be powered by USB-C, I can attach a small battery pack here to avoid using a wall outlet, keeping the floor mostly cable-free. But there's more we can do here. This is called rim lighting. Yeah, those film industry peeps be a little freaky. The more common terminology would be hair light because it's lighting our back and hair side, but more importantly, it's separating us from the background. Now, this third light here is completely optional, but I do think it's worth adding to give our videos a more professional vibe. And for this one, I like to add a bit of warmth, 3200 Kelvin, to match the practical lights in the background so it feels like they're emanating warm light at me. And practical lights are lights that are in and part of the scene. Oh, I just love the warm tones in the background because it helps contrast the cool white tones for my key and my fill light. But because these are RGB lights, we can get a little freaky with it. ♪ Oh, lights always shine ♪ All right, I know I'm a little late on that meme. Now, it would be unfair of me not to mention this, but powering these lights via USB-C means we won't be getting the fullest power. For example, we're just getting 60% of the 120C with a 100 watt power outlet. For this dark out studio, it's okay, but if you need the most power, be sure to plug it into the wall. And what's great is that when you're on the go, both the 60C and 120C are compatible with Amaranth's peak battery that also doubles as a handle, making it easy for quick run and gun shoots. Now, if you need even more power, Amaranth also has a 360C and a 660C. You can use the same modifiers with these massive bad boys as well. It's all the same interchangeable locking interface thanks to the Bowens mount system, which is practically industry standard. Man, oh, Jesus, 660C is literally the power of the sun in the palm of our hands, which means if I ever need to fake natural sunlight, I can. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Welcome to the Vong Studio of 2026. It's not fully ready yet. We're still missing bits and bobs everywhere, but the lighting, oh, the lighting is perfect. Thank you, Amaranth, for sponsoring this video and lighting up the new Vong Studio of 2026. All the links to the lights are in the description box below. Guys, thank you so much for watching. We'll see you guys in the next video. Peace. This is what the film industry calls the key light because... Are you okay? Yes. I didn't yank that hard. How hard did you yank it? I didn't yank that hard.