skin tone / details and soft light

hi,
i need your help.
My question might be more about lighting than color grading or post production, but i hope i'll get some feedback here anyway i can work with. So i thank you for responding in advance already. Highly appreciated!

For months i've been struggeling to make my face "soft" when using small LED lights as primary and filler light. I know, i shoud use a softbox but as i'm always travelling, bigger lights or boxes are not an option for me. So i work with 2 white/yellow LED lights to lighten my face, and 1 RBG (blue) LED light for the background.

Please take a look at this video and let me know how i can improve the way i look in terms of lighting. I have the feeling the lines in my face are "hard" whereas when i shoot outside without the LED's i look "softer":

(starting from 0:35)

In this particular setup i used a piece of white sheet to cover the LED's, which makes it better compared to previous videos i shot without the sheet. But still it needs to be improved.

What advice can you give me to soften my face with the current setup? Is there anything i can do in post production? Basically now i just adjust the blacks and whites, apply white balance, add a little saturation and that's it. ALso, should i place the LED's as close as possible from my face, or as far as possible (when still giving enough light)

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

This are just suggestions and you'll have to test it yourself.
1. Use a bound board to bounce off the light and use it as your source instead of a direct light so it is not too harsh on your skin.

2. The sheet is not providing enough diffusion. You can add more diffusion.

3. Use a diffusion filter like Promist, probably the 1/4 or 1/8.

4. In Post, there are a few ways to handle this in Resolve. You can key the facial skin tone and user some blur adjustment. You can use the facial refinement tool in Resolve too. There are many YouTube videos showing how it's done. Here's just one.

thanks Ellory Yu!

i will think about ways to diffuse more.
great video, unfortunately the feature is not included in the free version. ok now i have a reason to upgrade

do you think the studio version is worth the money for my needs:

- mp4 1080p recordings with Canon M50 for youtube
- laptop: Dell XPS 15 9500 (the new one)

Basically the reason i would buy the studio version is to have the fx features like the face refinement.

I also see the studio version has enhanced color grading features compared with the free version. Is it worth the monet for 1080p youtube videos? thanks

It is usually > 10x harder to fix it in post than to fix it in prep. I hear what you are saying about needing to travel light. At the end of the day, you need to control your contrast ratios, and while a fashion studio can solve that problem with 7' diameter beauty lights and a 12'x12' book light, that's simply not practical as a rig you can put into your backpack.

That said, it really helps to understand the principles of lighting tools and techniques so that you can devise effective strategies for working with the tools you do have. In my journey, I've found that is far more beneficial to learn first how things are really done in the professional world first, and then what can be stripped away to work in the DIY/one-person-band world, rather than to start with my existing limitations and try to work my way up to proficiency from there. Another way to say it: you have to learn the rules first, then you can break them. If you just try breaking the rules from the get-go, everything is going to be far more trial, far more error, than if you educate yourself from the get-go.

Here's a video from the series "Meet the Gaffer", which I have found very informative and very educational:

I have the feeling the lines in my face are "hard"

You don't look bad in your videos. Not to sound sexist, when I'm lighting men in interviews there is more freedom to give them a "hard" look because they're men, and women typically want to be shown much softer.

And hard lighting in men can make them appear more rugged in the sports / wildlife / adventure area and that's the image you want to portray in your videos to become a 'trusted expert.' Looking like you've just come in from the outdoors when you're lighting yourself in your studio is helpful to get your brand across.

Michael beat me to it... +1 to learning all about a book light

One helpful thing to remember is that smaller light sources make harsher shadows, large sources make soft shadows. If the sun is out in a clear sky, that's a small, powerful light source and it creates really harsh shadows. If it's an overcast day, the whole sky is the light source and it creates soft to non-existant shadows.

Your LED is a small light source. It is going to make harsh shadows. You should bounce it off a card - a poster board works fine. You should also not place the light lower than the subject's nose or you will create sinister shadows.

Using a large window as your key light will give you better light than any LED, but it is not consistent and repeatable.

One helpful thing to remember is that smaller light sources make harsher shadows, large sources make soft shadows.

Very True. +1.

It is usually >
That said, it really helps to understand the principles of lighting tools and techniques so that you can devise effective strategies for working with the tools you do have .... Another way to say it: you have to learn the rules first, then you can break them. If you just try breaking the rules from the get-go, everything is going to be far more trial, far more error, than if you educate yourself from the get-go.

This is what everyone should do first. Lighting strategies makes it all right but it is also the hardest and most time consuming thing to learn.

do you think the studio version is worth the money for my needs:

- mp4 1080p recordings with Canon M50 for youtube
- laptop: Dell XPS 15 9500 (the new one)

Basically the reason i would buy the studio version is to have the fx features like the face refinement.

I also see the studio version has enhanced color grading features compared with the free version. Is it worth the monet for 1080p youtube videos? thanks

The Studio Version is always worth the money if you want to have a much more productive workflow with the additional features. I assume you already have a copy of the studio version by owning a BMD camera or similar. But if you are just buying it because of the face refinement features and you've not gone the route of the basics, I think you should try other alternatives, like planning your lighting strategy. And if you just want to fix your existing picture, you can still use the free version. Just use the technique of creating a mask of your face (skin area) that you want to soften, then you can try out things like
1. Adjust contrast - bring it down just slightly until you're satisfied, balance it with saturation if need be.
2. You can use the blur tool, but just very slightly adjust it to soften the texture.
You can do this things with the free version, and much much more. You just need to know how to use it well. If not, I don't think you'll get any benefit from the extra grading features of the Studio Version.

Here's a video...

Thanks Michael! yes, i do have a bounce board will try to set it up!

And hard lighting in men can make them appear more rugged in the sports / wildlife / adventure area and that's the image you want to portray in your videos to become a 'trusted expert.

waaw never looked at it that way. that's a different perspective! thanks will take it into consideration.

And if you just want to fix your existing picture, you can still use the free version. Just use the technique of creating a mask of your face (skin area) that you want to soften, then you can try out things like
1. Adjust contrast - bring it down just slightly until you're satisfied, balance it with saturation if need be.
2. You can use the blur tool, but just very slightly adjust it to soften the texture.
You can do this things with the free version, and much much more. You just need to know how to use it well. If not, I don't think you'll get any benefit from the extra grading features of the Studio Version.

thanks! will stick to the free version for now and see how that goes in terms of fixing hard light. cheers!