HowTo Network emblem How To: Gaming THE HOW TO CO. — EDITION 10
A rectangular LED panel light on a stand, its diffuser glowing evenly and filling the frame.

SLOT 08 · STREAMING · WHAT THE LIGHT THROWS

One light in the right place.

It beats three in the wrong ones, and it beats any camera upgrade at the same money.

Forty-five degrees, and why.

THE DETAIL

A light directly beside the camera flattens your face into a passport photo. Move it round to about forty-five degrees and up a little, and one side of your face is lit while the other falls away — which is what makes a face look like it has a shape. Everything else in lighting is softening that light and keeping the room from tinting it.

45° 01 THE KEY Forty-five round, and up a bit 02 THE FILL Weaker, opposite, optional 03 THE FLAT ONE Beside the lens. Do not

What we are writing.

5 PIECES · IN THE WORKSHOP

Five pieces about the upgrade that costs least and shows most.

01

How to place a key light

Forty-five degrees, slightly above, and what each change does.

★☆☆ · 5 MIN

02

How to soften a light with things you own

What actually diffuses, and what just makes it dimmer.

★☆☆ · 5 MIN

03

How to stop your room colour ruining the shot

Mixed colour temperature, and the fix that takes one minute.

★★☆ · 6 MIN

04

How to light a face without lighting the whole room

Controlling spill so your background stays yours.

★★☆ · 6 MIN

05

Whether RGB lights do anything for your stream

Where they help the shot and where they only help the vibe.

★☆☆ · 4 MIN

A soft light throwing a gradient across a plain wall, the falloff clearly visible.

Nobody notices good lighting. Everybody notices bad lighting.

SLOT 08 · STREAMING · WHAT THE LIGHT THROWS
A desk corner at night: a panel light on a stand, a diffuser sheet, and a clamp light.

FROM THE CURATOR

Move the lamp you already have

Before buying anything, take the desk lamp you already own, put it forty-five degrees off to your left and slightly above your head, and point it at your face through a piece of baking paper. That is a key light. If it looks better — and it will — then you know what you are buying and why. If it does not, you have saved ninety pounds finding out.

BY POPPY — CLASS: CURATOR · THEPINKPIPER.GG

THE REST OF THIS STATION

Cameras & Capture WHAT THE LENS SEES →Audio for Streaming WHAT THE MIC HEARS →

BACK TO STREAMING →

You are here.

SLOT 08 / 08 · STREAMING

01 PC BUILDING 02 KEYBOARDS & MICE 03 CONTROLLERS 04 CONSOLES 05 MONITORS & DISPLAYS 06 AUDIO 07 DESKS & CHAIRS 08 STREAMING

Every station in this room has its own chapter. This one is 08. Back to the room to walk to another.