LightCalc is being touted as a precision lighting tool for filmmakers that lets you plan gear, work with real-world cameras, lights, and diffusion data, and execute lighting setups in minutes without the need for spreadsheets or guesswork.
LightCalc offers users access to the photometric data of over 120 lighting fixtures from various brands, as well as 350+ lighting modifiers to account for every unique scenario.
How does it work?
The app lets you choose from a very extensive selection of ambient lighting conditions, ranging from moonlight to office interiors. You first choose what ambient lighting condition you will be working in. All these environments have been measured by the developers of the apps.
The app will then tell you what the general ambience level will be. You can also enter your own data if you have done a location scout and obtained a reading.
You can then choose what type of skin type your subject has, or you can just leave it as middle grey.
The next step is to dial in your camera settings, such as ISO, frame rate, T-stop, ND, shutter angle, etc.
Then LightCalc will tell you how over or underexposed your subject and background are for the given settings you have entered.
You can then go ahead and add a light source (from a list of industry-standard manufacturers). You can choose how many fixtures you are using and if they are running modifiers.
You can then add diffusion as well.
The app will then tell you, based on everything you have inputted, key information. In the example above, I have chosen to set the subject to ambient at +2.05 stops. This value indicates how many stops the subject is over- or underexposed compared to the base illuminance of the scene (ambient). This is often referred to as “lighting ratios”. A positive number (+) indicates that the subject appears brighter than, a negative number (-) indicates that the subject appears darker than the ambient in camera.
LightCalc will add new lighting fixtures and diffusion materials to the app as they are released. Furthermore, they are actively working on a list of additional features that we plan to implement and gradually incorporate into LightCalc in the future.
Pricing & Availability
LightCalc is not subscription-based. It’s a one-time payment, and once purchased, the software is yours for life, including all future updates. It cost $45 USD.
You can try out a free version, but it is very limiting; at least it will give you a good idea about how it works.
