Lighting for impact swing camera high fps

[Carl Johnson]

Look forward to your updates after speaking with the lighting guy. I have about 15,000 lumens and feel I could use a bit more, although 30k seems a bit excessive to me ... from working with 15k IRL.

[LeftyLeff52]

Had conversations with a lighting manufacturer I buy some scrap metal from and basically said 30k lumens over kill need to make sure have lighting on all sides of subject(golfer) and have correct lights set up for high fps stuff he went into crazy detail and will be seeing him wednesday. Will share his information after I see him

[Carl Johnson]

Yes - can do. Give me a day or two - still getting my room back together after a bit of concrete work (lowered hitting mat into floor).

[LeftyLeff52]

Can you send sample of video clip

[LeftyLeff52]

I'm determined to find a finished look as well my room is same multi purpose room. And will share results appreciate the feedback. Waiting to speak to guys at jc video they are saying they have the answer.

[Carl Johnson]

Please be super careful with lighting and high frame rate cameras. I am living the nightmare right now. Okay, not a nightmare but flicker can become an issue as you get into higher frame rate cameras and lighting. Trackman has some lights suggested non-flicker lights in their camera section of their website, which I should have investigated more before I bought my lighting. I went with LEDs on tracklights - fairly high-end Juno lights, and the flicker is pretty bad once you get above 120 fps. You ideally want DC volt lighting as one of the cheaper options, which are typically photography lights converted from AC to DC (the power cord would be just like a laptop charging cable would have) - some even operate on batteries. Because DC does not operate on an on/off cycle like AC current does, DC lights should not flicker at any fps. The IDS cameras you are looking at max. out at 166fps (correct?), which is terrible for AC lighting. In USA, we operate on a 60hz frequency so if you use AC lighting for swing capture, you must match the 60 hz frequency (e.g. 60, 120, 180 fps, etc.). If you set the IDS 3060 cameras to say 120 fps, you will have almost no flicker with AC lights of any kind since the camera frames are (sort of) matched up against the on/off flicker from AC lighting. But that is limiting your camera's capability - you want max fps ideally. I also have IDS cameras - 3140s which can be set to 220fps but I must stay at 180fps or the flicker becomes nearly unbearable to watch on replay. There are other lighting options but are vastly more expensive than DC photography lights. I read on some photography forums that certain Metal Halide lights work well as they stay somewhat illuminated between on/off cycles ... but most MH options are pricey. My biggest issue with the LED photography lights is the overall 'look' - they look like portable lights which works in many applications but is not ideal for a 'finished' room which mine is (combo theater, video game, sim room). At 180fps, the flicker is acceptable on slow motion replay on Swing Catalyst, so I will stay with the LED setup I have for now. Note: I have about 15 fixtures between 850-1300 lumens each above the hitting area - barely enough for the two IDS cameras I have when there is no daylight involved. So, you do need plenty of light for high fps cameras. Pretty sure TM suggests something like 30,000 lumens at the hitting area which is nearly sunlight level of light!

https://trackman.zendesk.com/hc/en-u...ting-for-Video

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/searc...yAAEgLW4PD_BwE

Hope this helps!!

[preludesam]

The only cameras that are going to require less light are monochrome. The sensor construction of color requires 3 times the light vs their monochrome counterparts. It’s important to light the area of focus and the area around the camera. I would think you just need more.

[LeftyLeff52]

This was swing catalyst suggestion. Add 2 of these showed video with 2 of these in there lower camera option and was too dark for what I was looking for. So two things not sure if there better model camera would drastically improve video. Or just needed to continue adding lights till was bright enough. Also looking for white lights to blend in more with ceiling so doesn't stand out as much. My ceiling height is 9 ft so sure that effects area covered as well

[LeftyLeff52]

[preludesam]

Have you checked out what Swing Catalyst recommends?

https://support.swingcatalyst.com/hc...-installations

[LeftyLeff52]

Cameras looking at are ids 3060 model which seems to be universal and can be used with all of the golf analysis software companies. Blackfly cameras which swing catalyst recommends. And beginning to speak with guys at jc video about what they think

[LeftyLeff52]

Looking to start discussion on which lighting people have tried with high fps cameras to take away blur and have clear image of golf swing. About to pull trigger on 2 camera setup and need answers on how many lights is required for clear video