User`s guide

Making Great Presentations
Broadcast Settings
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Wirecast User Guide | 104730
ing. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but you must choose how much effort you
want to go through to make a good live event. If your lighting balance is excellent,
you will can avoid make-up on your subjects. The key in adjusting the lighting is to
look at your subject and make sure they do not look washed out.
• Watch professional events and learn from them. As you watch, notice the lighting
instead of watching the program. Notice how they employ the suggestions listed
above.
These guidelines might seem to suggest subtle improvements, but good lighting can
make an amateur video look professional and a professional video look fabulous. The
important thing to remember is that one or two properly placed lights makes a huge
difference in the quality of your live event.
Triangular Lighting
One advanced and very effective approach to good lighting is known as triangular
lighting (or three light setup). Although this may sound complicated, it is actually quite
simple. It involves setting up three lights (sometimes using natural light as one of the
light sources), in a configuration that achieves a good balance. Here are the main
elements of Triangular Lighting:
• Main Light (Key Light) This is the strongest of your lights and does most of the
work. This light normally comes from one side of the camera (the left, for example)
and is slightly raised. However, using just the main light results in shadowing.
• Fill Light This is a soft light placed directly in front of the subject. It removes shad-
ows and fills in the image. It is usually direct and usually comes from the same
direction as the camera (or just to the side and behind it). It could be, for example,
placed on the same level as the head of a person you are lighting. If you use only a
fill light, your subject might appear too dark. The only purpose of a fill light is to add
to the main light by filling in shadows. If your key light comes from the left of your
camera, your fill light should come from the right, and vice versa.
• Back Light (Rim Light) This light is directed from behind the subject and above it.
This is the hardest light to explain, but the best way is to describe it as an accent of
your subject. If you look at a typical high school yearbook picture, you will notice
that the top-left (or top-right) part of each head shot has a highlight of light in it.
This light is the back light. It is also called a rim light because it makes a slight rim
around the edge of the head of your subject. This light normally comes from
behind and above the subject, and it is focused. Make sure it is not directed at the
camera.
Most serious lighting starts with these three basic lights. There are also some great
Websites that describe these techniques in great detail.
Broadcast Settings
Once you have good video and audio coming into Wirecast, the final item of
importance is make sure the Broadcast Settings are configured correctly for your