Lighting a presenter for a virtual news desk

Steps

1. Decide where the light comes from in your virtual set.
2. Place the key light on the same side, 30–45° off camera axis.
3. Add soft fill at roughly half the key's intensity.
4. Add a back/rim light to separate hair from the green.
5. Light the green screen separately, about 1 stop under the face.

The most common mistake in virtual sets is a presenter lit from the left in front of a set whose windows are on the right. Viewers cannot name it, but they feel it.

Light ratios that read as "news"

• Key to fill around 2:1. News is brighter and flatter than drama.
• Back light about equal to the key, to give a clean edge for the keyer.
• Colour temperature matched: 5600 K everywhere, or 3200 K everywhere, never mixed.

Keep the presenter at least 2 m in front of the green to cut spill and shadows.