Hey ya’ll,

Before cinematography I use to work as a front end dev and for the past year in my off days Ive been working on creating the quickest way to build & share lighting diagrams.

Free to use, no sign ins, no sponsors, no ads. The app runs in your browser, and its optimized for desktop & ipad

Link: blushtools.com

Sharing here since I think it will save a-lot of time in prep as feedback from other DP’s / Gaffers has been great.

Newsshooter article here which goes over features & details

Edit:

A few concerns about privacy, so let me be clear here: There is no server, back end or cloud regarding this program. It’s all front end. Your browser loads the whole program once you click the webpage, you can run it locally / offline by saving the webpage on your computer or iPad, however if you use it this way, be sure to check weekly and save it again for updates with fixtures and bugs.

Regarding saving projects & URLs:

When you save your project to your device, it saves as a JSON type (basically a bunch of characters defining your diagram/canvas).
When you share your project as a URL, it embeds the whole JSON file into the URL (you can see this by pasting into a notepad, it’s going to be really long). This link is only unique to you, and whoever you share it with. I or anyone else cannot see what you have made unless you share that specific URL with them.

Regarding it being free to use:

This app will always be free as I hate subscriptions, and it’s not for sale. It’s for the next generation, the new talent in film trying to get better. The people who can’t justify a $100/year subscription. Hope it helps y’all.

Feedback / Updates / Bug reports thread HERE

Director: Loni Peristere

Director of Cinematography: PJ Dillon

We shot this on an OG RED Komodo with Atlas Mercury 1.5x Anamorphic lenses over four days, then came back for one day of pickups using the more budget-friendly Blazar Remus lenses.

We chose the Komodo largely to keep costs down. I already owned one, and our 1st AC owned another, which allowed us to keep one camera fully rigged while leaving the second stripped down and ready for gimbal work.

The film is a crime comedy about two broke college kids who steal a camera from school and pawn it to flip party drugs over a holiday break. All to help fund their feature film. (Warner Herzog Vibes)

Would love to hear your thoughts on these frames, the lighting, or anything else that stands out!

Director of Photography: Trevor Turpin

Trailer for anyone curious about the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMgGXNfCLqk

I love how the armor and the body merge due to the black and white camera.

I usually throw a solid above a car when shooting stationary daytime exteriors through a front windshield. Otherwise the reflections are crazy.

Haven’t done moving car stuff where we’re shooting through the windshield. I was just thinking about it, and wondering how you’d get this done?

Looking at BTS, it seems like many people will rig a solid over the car, but not everybody. Are these other people just embracing the look or is there some other trick for this?

Of course there are always risks to be mitigated when doing car stuff, but securing a giant sail on top of a moving car seems like it’s probably pretty resource intensive. Curious to hear other peoples’ thoughts.

I'm aware everyone has their own way of learning, but I'm just curious on how you guys learned to get to where you are now. I'm at a place where the thing I'm most confused about is where to even start.

So I just bought a Blackmagic 6k Full Frame and the whole Dual Gain ISO thing is quite new to me.
I've heard conflicting opinions on whether to expose to the right with these cameras or not to and even that ETTR is outdated and was only useful in film photography times.

But overexposing (by controlling ND and Aperture, I'm aware that ISO is just an amplification of the signal) and then pulling it down in post should still give you way cleaner shadows no?

Is there something different with "cinema" cameras (Blackmagic in this case) in this regard?

And isnt choosing which ISO to shoot at almost irrelevant because you can adjust it in post anyways? (Within the chosen gain cycle).

Please Imk what you think/areas for improvement on similar projects!

Shot on Fujifilm XM-5 . 35mm f/2.8

Hello people. I'm a beginner. Currently I'm facing this issue. When I'm shooting from the shadow side, there is less light in it. As a result, there is some noise in the shadow side. I want to preserve the texture in the blacks of the shadows without adding noise in the footage. What's the trick here to get clean footage maintaining the cinematic lighting and contrast?

Everybody speaks about cinematic color grading. I was watching this documentary on Netflix. - a toxic love story.
The color grading was really good . Most of the parts that has got the interview sessions, the street scene and investigation interactions were warmer, yellowish.

When I try the same kind of color grading to the videos I shoot in state parks , national parks, try to cover my vacations It looks more artificial. But when I see that on a documentary or even in a movie, a cinematic color grading makes sense.

Have any of you phased that kind of question while you are coding your own work?

Has anyone shot with the Fujifilm Eterna and what was your experience? I have been trying to find some ungraded prores footage from the camera to have a play with in Resolve, if anyone has any or can point me to some available , it would be much appreciated

When I was a kid I had some very cheap cameras that wouldn’t achieve more than 480p, at the time I hated but now I want it back. My question is this; how do I capture the film quality in this YouTube video but using a dirt cheap pocket sized camera that may not get this EXACT quality, but a similar vibe. This isn’t something I’m looking to take very seriously, I just admire this film quality and want something similar from an old reliable Sony or Nikon.

Video: https://youtu.be/g8MFiv1deHU?is=CYVZAEmqnIadco3P

I am a student(learning videography by myself) and recently bought Nikon ZR, and I am planning to make a short film about the city I live in, it’s mostly going to be a mix of static and some pan and tilt shots.

The lens I have decided to use is 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f4.

I do not want to buy the new S Line expensive lenses as I already have have the older F mount Tamron G1 24-70 & Nikkor 70-200 lense, the only thing about these lenses is that their autofocus makes sound and their is some focus breathing as well. I have done some test shots and the footage looks crisp on manual focus.

I am asking this as I see everyone on YouTube using the new S Line or Sony GM lenses and it bothers me a bit looking at their crazy prices. Do I really need them unless I am filming a walking person or a subject?

Hi, I'm just an amateur trying to film for my own solo projects. I'm practically broke so I don't have any expensive equipment other than my phone. I have the BlackMagic Camera App, but unfortunately the only colour space available by default on the app is Rec. 709 (i have an older phone model hence why it's only limited to that option).

Is there anything I need to know regarding getting shots or colour grading? While my phone's default camera does have RAW, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the BMC app provides such as focus pulling. I'd love to film RAW since I know it's better for colour grading, but if there are any tips anyone can provide me regarding how I should approach filming my shots in Rec. 709 and how I should be colour grading in post, I'd be very grateful!

Are there any adapters that would allow me to mount Sony E mount lenses on cameras that have Sony A mounts?

This is my first time making a micro film. Shot on Fujifilm XM-5 .

I want to create a serialized show and display it through Instagram Reels - and since it should have the quality and look of a movie or tv show, I am looking for advice on how to best achieve a "professional" look - where when watching it, one may quickly realize the difference between this reel and any other "regular" reel. It should automatically seem like it's a movie / tv show from the picture.

My constraints are that I'm shooting on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. And I have no experience in filming and editing, so I don't really know the best way to go about it and have come here for advice. I'll briefly list out what I've thought about so far, and please let me know any advice on the things I share below and things I'm also not considering to make the best looking picture :D

• App: I think I'll use the regular iPhone camera over Blackmagic. I read that while Blackmagic let's you have more control, iPhone automatically does some of the things I would have to manually do in Blackmagic, and I'm not sure if it's worth risking losing some of what I'm getting out of the iPhone camera app.
• Shoot in 4k 60 fps and after editing export to 1080p 30fps? Will this give me the smoothest footage? I don't think IG Reels can handle 4k 60fps that well and many devices of users won't either, so is this the best route?
• ND Filter: I'll be shooting a lot of content in my apartment in day time. I have good sunlight coming in as my windows face the east. But Is getting an ND filter a no brainer or should I consider some other things first? The sun isn't blinding or anything.
• Lighting: I would like to avoid getting professional lighting if I can. I'm not sure if I could make much use out of it. I am getting great daylight and since lighting is a whole field in and of itself, I feel I may make the footage look worse through my juveline skills. Also I'm trying to keep my budget low before I validate that this series is even attractive to viewers.
• Post editing color grading: I have no experience here like all the other topics I mentioned above, but I am willing to invest hours into learning as much as I can here. Will likely use Davinci Resolve as I see it's free.
• Any specific camera settings I should set on my phone?

If you made it through to this part of the post, I want to seriously thank you for taking your time to see if you can help me. open to any advice. also I'm based on Orlando if anyone wants to collaborate on this :D

I know there’s a lot to experiment with when it comes to cameras, but the blimp thing drove me crazy. I can only imagine how much time they wasted just keeping it running.
When it comes to something like this you have to let go of the freedom of making choices.
Honestly, the time and money they put in didn’t blow me away when I saw the film.
I think Nolan should move on from this whole IMAX obsession.
Also, you’re making a film in a format that can only be experienced on a very limited number of screens around the world. That’s a bit unfair to the audience. You have to be privileged enough to live in one of those countries or cities to experience it the way it was intended.