Yesterday I released a fairly big update for Studio 5, the Set Builder!
The thing about the Set Builder is that it gives me almost endless possibilities for new features. There are so many directions I could take it that I constantly have to decide what to work on next. And more importantly: what would actually be the most useful?
This time I went for something that was really missing: flash lighting!
Until now, the Set Builder only supported continuous lighting. That works perfectly fine, but plenty of photographers mainly work with studio flashes, or don’t use continuous light at all. So it was time to build a proper flash system.
First of all, I’ve split the lighting equipment in the Library sidebar into two categories: Continuous Lighting and Flash Lighting. You can use them separately or combine them in the same setup.
The technical details, if you’re curious
Are you a photographer who works with flash and wants to know exactly how it all works? Open the box below for the equipment, exposure and sync details. If not, just keep reading.
Under the hoodFlash equipment, power, TTL & HSSOpen for the technical details · optional reading
Flash equipment and modifiers
I’ve added a selection of flash setups and light modifiers, including:
- Rectangular softboxes and stripboxes in multiple sizes, from 30 × 120 cm stripboxes to 90 × 150 cm softboxes.
- Octaboxes in 90, 120 and 150 cm.
- Reflective umbrellas in white and silver, translucent shoot-through umbrellas, and deeper parabolic umbrellas.
- Beauty dishes in white and silver.
- Lantern modifiers for broad, surrounding illumination.
- Snoots for smaller, more concentrated areas of light.
- Optional grids on compatible modifiers to control light spill.
Each modifier has its own simulated light distribution and estimated transmission losses. So switching from a softbox to a beauty dish isn’t just a costume change for the equipment. The light actually behaves differently.
Flash power and exposure
There are currently five flash energy classes: 100, 200, 400, 600 and 1200 Ws.
Flash power can be adjusted from 1/1 down to 1/512, in one-third-stop increments.
You can choose between two operating modes:
- Manual: Set the flash power yourself.
- TTL Auto: A simulated through-the-lens metering system calculates the required flash output based on the camera image.
TTL also supports individual flash exposure compensation from -3 to +3 EV, alongside a global camera TTL correction.
The simulated camera takes aperture, ISO and shutter speed into account. Continuous light responds to shutter speed as you’d expect, while regular flash exposure is calculated from the part of the flash pulse that’s actually captured during the exposure.
Flash duration and HSS
Flash duration can be calculated automatically based on the selected power, or set manually from roughly 1/200 to 1/20,000 second.
I’ve also included High-Speed Sync (HSS).
The simulated standard sync speed is 1/200 second. Pick a faster shutter speed and HSS can take over automatically, including the drop in available flash output that comes with it.
You can also switch HSS off. In that case the camera will warn you when your shutter speed goes past the normal sync limit.
Color and lighting information
Flash color temperature is fixed at 5600 K, with color gels available if you want to change the light color.
The Light Info panel shows things like flash energy, power, duration, operating mode and sync status.
And of course you can combine multiple flashes, use different modifiers, mix Manual and TTL flashes, and throw in your existing continuous lights and daylight as well.
One important detail: these are generic simulated flash units, not exact digital copies of specific brands. The system is based on photographic exposure principles and a calibrated reference flash, but the equipment characteristics and modifier losses are partly estimated. I think that’s a fair thing to point out.
Is it finished?
No. Not yet. Let’s just get that out of the way.
Simulating flash photography properly is hard, especially when it all has to run inside a web browser. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and this isn’t something I can build in one go and call finished. I’ll be refining it over the coming weeks.
For now, the system is there, the basics work, and you can start experimenting with it. But like the rest of Studio 5, this is still very much a beta product, so I can’t rule out that a little problem or two is waiting around the corner 😉
The Set Builder has so many settings, objects and possible combinations that I can’t test every scenario on my own. Somebody out there will find that one combination nobody saw coming. That’s where feedback helps a lot.
If something doesn’t work properly, I’d really like to hear about it. There’s no obligation at all, but the more feedback I get, the easier it is for me to find and fix problems.
Shadow quality is still on the list
Another thing I’m working on is a recurring issue with shadow quality.
Depending on the lighting setup and the type of light source, some shadows can still look grainy, blocky or just not as smooth as they should. And yes, this is another one of those things that’s a lot harder to fix than it looks, for the same browser reasons as above.
Instead of trying to fix it all in one massive update, I expect shadow quality to improve step by step through smaller changes. I can’t give a timeline yet, but it’s definitely on the list.
Try flash lighting in Studio 5
The Flash Lighting update is live and available in Studio 5 right now. Try it with a Lumen Tool membership.
Meanwhile, I’m working on something I’ve mentioned before: a major improvement to the Archive. That’s what I’m focusing on today, and I’m hoping to have it ready later today or otherwise tomorrow.
I’ll explain it all in a separate blog post once it’s done, because I think this one could be really useful for everyone.
That’s it for now!
Franck