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In regards to the lighting. > "best lighting is actual daylight in front of you ... Replacing the existing office lights with very warm toned lights" So Dayli

In regards to the lighting. > "best lighting is actual daylight in front of you ... Replacing the existing office lights with very warm toned lights" So Daylight is good, yes. That's 5500k to 6500k, depending on how you measure it. It's NOT very warm-toned; in fact, it's cool white. The lights linked are 2700k. You can use them, but your camera is just going to try and compensate for the yellow hue. If you're going to buy something specifically for lighting video calls/recording, you should find something daylight with a higher CRI ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-CRI_LED_lighting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-CRI_LED_lighting ). You don't need to go crazy, but the difference between those $1 LED's and the $20 LED's you see at the store, is probably the CRI. If you want GOOD lighting setup, go for 3 or 4 point lighting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting -- You don't need a huge number of expensive lights, just lights set off to the side. Personally, I hate ring lights because they are designed for you to put the camera in the middle of them. If you have glasses, all you can see in the camera is the ring reflection. Even if you don't have glasses, you're now staring into the center of a giant blinding light. No thanks.

pamelafox 3y ago
Great tips! In my bedroom office, I have a west-facing window behind my monitor, with thermal curtains for night and honeycomb light filtering blinds for the afternoon when sun is bright. Also an overhead light. I think its pretty good lighting, though daylight is inconsistent as a lighting source, so that makes it hard to stitch together recordings made across a workday and have them look cohesive.
- ShakataGaNai 3y ago
  Yea. To the left of my desk is a southern facing window that in the morning is blindingly bright. It's also subject to fun weather effects like partly cloudy days where the light can vary wildly. If I'm doing something I need to care about, then I just close the shades as much as possible and rely entirely on my lighting setup. It's a little annoying to be blocking out the nice sunny day in favor of artificial lighting...but that's what it takes sometimes. Then on my breaks I just make sure to go outside and enjoy said sun.
Marsymars 3y ago
Huh, I've never heard of "three-point lighting", but accidentally stumbled into the practice. My office is in a spare bedroom, where the East wall is my desk with 1500 lumens of bias lighting behind my monitor, the South wall is a TV with 2900 lumens of bias lighting and the North wall is a big window where I've put a 1600 lumen lightstrip on top of the holder of the shade, pointing upwards. I run it all (Hue lights) at 6500K during the daytime while I'm working, find it to be plenty of light, and I can't see any of the actual bulbs as points of glare.
steve_adams_86 3y ago
I recently bought a light for my plants since my office is in my garage and they get very little light there. It’s a 40W COB LED and a 20W as well, both around 4000K. Both have fairly substantial peaks in the 200-300nm and 600-700nm ranges (suitable for photosynthesis), and their CRI is 97. These lights are absolute game changers. I ordered a 150W with a CRI of 95 and a very similar photometric report which I plan to put further away from my desk and use as a sort of diffuse light to get more of this very natural feeling light into the space. The ability to grow plants so well is a huge plus too. But I’ve never had a higher quality picture in meetings, I feel way happier at my desk, I get less eye fatigue, and other perks. Good light is worth every penny.
- nottorp 3y ago
  Hmm I'd like some pointers to plant friendly led lights. Do they have a name? Brands? What should I look for?
  - spcebar 3y ago
    Are you looking for lights you would put in the ceiling that would incidentally benefit plants or specifically grow lights?
    - nottorp 3y ago
      Incidentally benefit. Don't want to start an agricultural operation, just to keep in mind what to buy that will help my potted plants.
      - steve_adams_86 3y ago
        Look for lights with photometric reports which show high values in the blue (400-500 nm) and red (600-700 nm) parts of the light spectrum. That's what plants crave. These can be all over the map in terms of price, but if you want it to be nice in living spaces, aim for something with a neutral-to-warm temperature and relatively high CRI. Your price point will increase, but these lights last a long, long time and make a substantial positive difference in my opinion.

pamelafox 3y ago

Great tips! In my bedroom office, I have a west-facing window behind my monitor, with thermal curtains for night and honeycomb light filtering blinds for the afternoon when sun is bright. Also an overhead light. I think its pretty good lighting, though daylight is inconsistent as a lighting source, so that makes it hard to stitch together recordings made across a workday and have them look cohesive.

ShakataGaNai 3y ago
Yea. To the left of my desk is a southern facing window that in the morning is blindingly bright. It's also subject to fun weather effects like partly cloudy days where the light can vary wildly. If I'm doing something I need to care about, then I just close the shades as much as possible and rely entirely on my lighting setup. It's a little annoying to be blocking out the nice sunny day in favor of artificial lighting...but that's what it takes sometimes. Then on my breaks I just make sure to go outside and enjoy said sun.

Marsymars 3y ago

Huh, I've never heard of "three-point lighting", but accidentally stumbled into the practice. My office is in a spare bedroom, where the East wall is my desk with 1500 lumens of bias lighting behind my monitor, the South wall is a TV with 2900 lumens of bias lighting and the North wall is a big window where I've put a 1600 lumen lightstrip on top of the holder of the shade, pointing upwards. I run it all (Hue lights) at 6500K during the daytime while I'm working, find it to be plenty of light, and I can't see any of the actual bulbs as points of glare.

steve_adams_86 3y ago

I recently bought a light for my plants since my office is in my garage and they get very little light there. It’s a 40W COB LED and a 20W as well, both around 4000K. Both have fairly substantial peaks in the 200-300nm and 600-700nm ranges (suitable for photosynthesis), and their CRI is 97. These lights are absolute game changers. I ordered a 150W with a CRI of 95 and a very similar photometric report which I plan to put further away from my desk and use as a sort of diffuse light to get more of this very natural feeling light into the space. The ability to grow plants so well is a huge plus too. But I’ve never had a higher quality picture in meetings, I feel way happier at my desk, I get less eye fatigue, and other perks. Good light is worth every penny.

nottorp 3y ago
Hmm I'd like some pointers to plant friendly led lights. Do they have a name? Brands? What should I look for?
- spcebar 3y ago
  Are you looking for lights you would put in the ceiling that would incidentally benefit plants or specifically grow lights?
  - nottorp 3y ago
    Incidentally benefit. Don't want to start an agricultural operation, just to keep in mind what to buy that will help my potted plants.
    - steve_adams_86 3y ago
      Look for lights with photometric reports which show high values in the blue (400-500 nm) and red (600-700 nm) parts of the light spectrum. That's what plants crave. These can be all over the map in terms of price, but if you want it to be nice in living spaces, aim for something with a neutral-to-warm temperature and relatively high CRI. Your price point will increase, but these lights last a long, long time and make a substantial positive difference in my opinion.