What lux level is recommended for lighting a keynote speaker on a stage?
Col asked:
The stage is located next to a single court basket ball stadium, recessed into one of the sides. There will be about 20 rows of seating. There will be a projected image of the speaker on both sides of the stage – so lighting must be suitable for the cameras as well. The audience will range from 20 year olds to people in their 80’s. We will be lighting with par64’s and Fresnels. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
The stage is located next to a single court basket ball stadium, recessed into one of the sides. There will be about 20 rows of seating. There will be a projected image of the speaker on both sides of the stage – so lighting must be suitable for the cameras as well. The audience will range from 20 year olds to people in their 80’s. We will be lighting with par64’s and Fresnels. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
You don’t want to blind the speaker.
10 lux is enough for video to work quite well
Take an ambient light reading of the stage area without spot and then adjust it so it’s no more than twice ambient, test that see how it looks. [who] Earl D
Um…I think Earl D made some kind of mistake above. 10 lux is about 1 footcandle, which is about the same light level as moonlight. If you are in the U.S., measurements are taken in footcandles. Most good broadcast video cameras need a good amount of light in order to pick up the subject. I have designed scenarios such as yours, such as churches. I would not go less than 60 footcandles (about 600 lux). 100 footcandles might be excessive. You should target around 75 footcandles for your setup. This is easy accomplished using the type of light sources you are talking about. Using a couple of fresnel spots on each side of the stage and a couple in front should get you what you need. I would use 500 watt PAR64/MFL (medium floods) to do this. Put them on a dimmer so you can fine-tune the light level you want. Also, your lights should be placed at a 45 degree angle from the area they are lighting, so if this puts the lights a good distance from the stage then you might need to increase the quantity of lights. [who] prime8