When I first started editing, I thought light was the DOP’s problem. Now, after editing hundreds of videos and working across direction, post-production, and even lighting setups – I know one thing:
Lighting is everything. If the light is wrong on set, your footage is 10x harder to fix in post.
Why I Started Caring About Lighting
In my early projects, I used to believe that with enough LUTs, masks, and overlays, I could fix bad lighting. But I soon learned the hard way — even the best effects can’t save footage that’s flat, overexposed, or unevenly lit.
Once, during an outdoor shoot, I had no control over natural light. The result? Harsh shadows, zero detail in faces, and reflections everywhere. I tried color grading, used dodge and burn masks, added simulated light leaks — and it still looked artificial.
That day I decided — if I’m going to work in VFX and post, I need to understand
Why Lighting is Crucial in Editing
Good lighting gives us control in post-production. It affects everything:
Color Grading: Balanced light allows for more accurate and flexible grading.
Keying & Masking: Clean lighting helps isolate elements and apply VFX seamlessly.
Depth & Focus: Shadows and highlights create separation and mood.
Realism in VFX: If the light source in VFX doesn’t match real footage, the entire shot looks fake.
Speed: Better lighting means less time fixing — and more time creating.
Now, before I shoot or edit anything, I ask myself one thing:
Where is the light coming from?
If I can answer that clearly — I know I can build the entire edit around it.
Types of Lighting in Film and Editing
Understanding the types of lights and how they’re used is essential for editors who want to control mood and realism in post:
Key Light:
The main light source that defines the subject’s form. It’s usually placed at 45° to the subject and sets the overall exposure.
Fill Light:
Used to soften or “fill in” the shadows created by the key light. Typically softer, placed on the opposite side of the key.
Back Light (Rim/Hair Light):
Placed behind the subject to separate them from the background. Adds depth, especially in interviews or dramatic setups.
Practical Lights:
Light sources that appear within the frame (lamps, TVs, neon signs). They often contribute both to storytelling and actual exposure.
Bounce Light:
Indirect light that is reflected off walls, reflectors, or ceilings to fill the subject evenly and naturally.
Ambient Light:
The naturally occurring or uncontrolled light in a location. Sometimes useful, sometimes problematic in post.
Lighting Techniques Every Creator Should Know
3-Point Lighting Setup
This is the foundational setup for almost any shoot. It includes:
- Key Light (main source)
- Fill Light (softens shadows)
- Back Light (adds edge separation)
Rembrandt Lighting
Named after the painter, this technique places the key light to one side and slightly above the subject, creating a small triangle of light under the eye on the shadow side. It’s cinematic and moody.
High-Key Lighting
Bright, low contrast, evenly lit — perfect for beauty, commercials, comedy. Very forgiving in editing.
Low-Key Lighting
Dark, contrast-heavy, and mood-driven. Think thrillers and interviews — but requires intentional exposure control.
Motivated Lighting
Every light should have a real reason in the frame — sunlight from a window, lamp on a desk. This helps in both shooting and VFX lighting matches.
Soft Lighting
Light that’s diffused (using a softbox, curtain, etc.) to reduce harsh shadows. Great for faces.
Hard Lighting
Direct, focused light that creates defined shadows. Works well for stylized, contrasty looks.
Lighting Gear & Tools I’ve Personally Used
Here’s a list of real tools I’ve used while directing, shooting, and fixing things in post:
- LED Panels: Portable, battery-powered, bi-color options. Great for interviews and YouTube content.
- Softboxes: Essential to diffuse harsh LED lights and create smooth shadows.
- Reflectors (Silver, White, Gold): Affordable and highly effective. I’ve used them even in outdoor daylight to fix facial shadows.
- Diffusers: Translucent materials or sheets placed between light source and subject to create a soft effect.
- Flags/Barn Doors: Used to block or shape light — extremely useful to control spills.
- Ring Lights: Often used in content creation. Good for flat beauty light, but lacks depth.
- Practical Fixtures: Sometimes just swapping a bulb in the room to 3200K or 5600K helps match other lights for a consistent look.
Tip from My Shoots
When I’m shooting content with limited gear, I follow this mini-setup:
Key Light + Bounce (White Wall) + Practical Light in Frame
This gives direction, soft fill, and mood — easy to fix or enhance in editing later.
Important Resources for You
How to Edit YouTube Videos Without Losing Quality
Graphic Design Tips for Better Visuals
Top 5 Free After Effects Plugins You Should Use
How I Fix or Enhance Lighting in Editing Software (Premiere Pro, DaVinci, After Effects)
Now that we understand how lighting works on set, let’s talk about the editing room — where most people think the magic happens. And yes, some of it does — but only if the footage gives you something to work with.
Most of the time, I open a project and the first thing I do is not add a LUT or text — I open the Lumetri Scopes.
Because as a VFX editor, I’ve learned:
“If you don’t read your scopes, you’re just color guessing.
Even if you think the footage “looks fine,” scopes will show you whether shadows are clipped, midtones are flat, or highlights are blown out.
Premiere Pro: Tools I Use for Lighting Fixes
- 1. Lumetri Color Panel : This is my primary space for grading and lighting fixes. I use:
Basic Correction: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows
Curves: Custom S-curves for tone control
Color Wheels: To lift shadows or push highlights without touching midtones
Vignette: To control viewer focus - 2. Adjustment Layers: I stack lighting changes here so I can animate or keyframe light mood changes across scenes.
- 3. Track Matte Masks: When lighting is uneven on faces, I use a mask with feathering to boost only specific parts like cheeks, eyes, or hair.
- 4. Scopes I Monitor:
Waveform (Luma)
RGB Parade (Color Balance)
Vectorscope (Skin tones) - Noise Reduction: Often required when lifting exposure from underexposed clips — adds digital grain.
DaVinci Resolve: Pro-Level Light Correction
When color is the priority, I switch to Resolve. Here’s why:
- Lift/Gamma/Gain Controls – Unlike simple exposure sliders, these let me individually shape shadows, mids, and highlights.
- Power Windows – Used to mask just one area of the frame (like face or background) and control its lighting independently.
- Tracking – I can track a lighting mask across a moving subject — amazing for interviews with poor lighting.
- Scopes Everywhere – I use the Luma waveform for exposure matching across cuts, especially in multi-cam setups.
- Bonus: I use Resolve for prepping footage for VFX if lighting needs balancing before going into After Effects.
After Effects: When I Have to Fake or Simulate Light
As a VFX director, I sometimes need to simulate light in post completely. Here’s how I do it in AE:
- Light Wraps – When compositing elements (like a 3D object or background), I simulate real-world lighting by wrapping light around the subject edge using luminance keys.
- Glow + Diffuse Combo – I build light spills using AE’s native “Glow” effect with masked feathered solids. Useful for simulating windows or neon lights.
- Directional Light Simulation – I often use 3D layers with shadows + spotlights to mimic directional light on set. It’s not easy, but it works in controlled shots.
- Turbulent Displace + Exposure Wiggle – For dynamic flickering light like fire or malfunctioning bulbs.
- Fake Depth with Gradients – Using a black-to-transparent radial gradient set to “Soft Light” to fake depth in flat lighting conditions.
Real Workflow Tip
I often get asked: “Can I fix overexposed or underexposed footage?”
Here’s what I’ve learned:
Overexposed = Details gone = very hard to fix
Underexposed = Noisy fix = time-consuming
Unevenly lit = Masking required = salvageable
That’s why I always recommend:
Fix it on set if possible. If not, prepare to spend hours masking, keyframing, tracking, and noise-reducing.
What You Must Learn as an Editor
- How to read Waveforms, Parade, Vectorscope
- What each slider in Lumetri actually does
- How to use Masks + Trackers creatively
- When to switch between Premiere, Resolve, and AE
- How to avoid over-correcting and creating a “burnt” look
Lighting Terms Every Editor & DOP Should Know
1. CRI (Color Rendering Index)
Measures how accurately a light shows colors.
Scale: 0 to 100.
90+ is ideal for video, especially for skin tones.
2. Kelvin (K)
Measures color temperature of light:
3200K = warm (orange)
5600K = daylight (white-blue)
Always balance your lights to the same Kelvin to avoid weird color shifts in post.
3. LUX
Measures how much light falls on a subject.
Think of it as brightness at a distance — the higher the lux, the brighter your subject.
4. Diffusion
The process of softening light to reduce shadows and flatten harsh edges.
Done using softboxes, diffusion paper, or sheer cloth.
5. Hard Light
Creates sharp shadows. Often direct from small sources (bare LED, sun).
Used for dramatic or stylized shots.
6. Soft Light
Even, wrap-around light with gentle shadows.
Used in beauty, interviews, lifestyle, etc.
7. Light Spill
When unwanted light hits parts of your frame or subject.
Use flags or barn doors to block it.
8. Inverse Square Law
Light intensity falls off dramatically as distance increases.
Double the distance = 1/4 of the brightness.
Critical for interviews and bounce lighting.
9. Key-to-Fill Ratio
The difference between your key light and fill light.
High ratio = dramatic contrast
Low ratio = soft and even
10. Bounce
Redirecting light off a surface (white wall, reflector) to create softer fill light.
11. Flagging
Blocking part of a light using flags or black foam to prevent spill or control shape.
12. Practical Light
Real lights visible in frame (lamp, phone screen) that add to both story and lighting motivation.
13. Lighting Motivation
Your light should match a believable source in the scene — even if it’s artificial.
Post-Production Terms – For Editors & VFX Artists
1. Luma
The brightness or lightness of an image — no color.
Used in Luma keys, waveform monitors, and gradient maps.
2. RGB Parade
Scope showing red, green, and blue channels individually.
Helps identify unwanted color casts in footage.
3. Vectorscope
Shows where your color lies — very useful for checking skin tone line.
4. Dynamic Range
The range between darkest blacks and brightest whites your footage can capture.
Footage with more dynamic range gives you more freedom in color grading.
5. Color Grading vs Color Correction
Correction = Fixing what’s wrong (white balance, exposure)
Grading = Adding style and tone after footage is fixed
6. Highlight Recovery
Pulling back overexposed areas — only possible if your camera recorded that data (e.g., shooting in log or RAW)
7. Clipping
When details are lost because brightness is too high (or shadows too crushed).
Clipped footage = cannot be fixed properly.
8. Tracking Masks
Masks that move with your subject — essential for localized lighting fixes in DaVinci/AE.
9. Feathering
Softening the edges of a mask — makes lighting effects feel real and organic.
10. Light Wrap
A compositing technique where the light of the background “wraps” around the subject — helps blend foreground & background.
Example: Using These Terms in My Workflow
Let’s say I’m fixing a poorly-lit interview in post.
I’d first:
Open Waveform to check exposure
Use Luma curves to balance contrast
Add a Power Window (in Resolve) around the subject’s face
Feather it and boost midtones
Use tracking if the face moves
Adjust RGB Parade to correct skin tone color
Final pass
add a soft vignette using Luma mask to guide focus
Knowing these terms saved me hours, because I wasn’t guessing — I was solving.
Bonus: Terms for Cross-Team Communication
When working with a DOP or lighting assistant, I use terms like:
- “Let’s bump the key to 5600K and add a diffusion cloth”
- “Flag the spill on the background — we’re getting bounce from the floor”
- “We’re over 100 IRE on waveform — highlight recovery won’t save it later”
- “Let’s match the practical light source to the Kelvin of the key”1
Lighting in Editing – Real FAQs from Editors, Creators, and VFX Artists
These are real-world questions I’ve been asked by video editors, creators, DOPs, and students. I’ve answered them simply, from personal experience — no fluff, no overcomplicated theory.
❓ Q1: Can bad lighting be fixed in post?
Yes and no.
If footage is underexposed, you can lift it — but you’ll get noise.
If it’s overexposed, you’re likely to lose all highlight detail — no recovery possible.
If it’s uneven, you can use masks and grading — but it takes time.
Best case: Fix as much as possible during shooting.
Worst case: Expect long sessions with tracking masks and noise reduction.
❓ Q2: What lighting setup should a beginner start with?
3-point lighting, always.
- Key Light (main light source)
- Fill Light (to soften shadows)
- Back/Rim Light (to separate subject from background)
Even basic LED panels or lamps + a reflector can do this. You don’t need fancy gear — just understand placement and intensity.
❓ Q3: How do I simulate light in editing?
Use feathered masks, color grading, and vignette control.
In After Effects or Premiere Pro:
- Create a solid layer with a soft mask, set blend mode to Soft Light
- Add color tint (warm or cool)
- Use track mattes to restrict light only to the subject
Bonus in AE: Add lens flares or directional light from 3D layers to simulate mood lighting.
❓ Q4: What’s the best color temperature (Kelvin) for indoor shoots?
3200K (warm tungsten) or 5600K (daylight)
What matters is consistency. Don’t mix unless for a stylistic reason. Always white balance your camera to match your key light.
❓ Q5: How do I know if my footage is properly lit?
Use scopes, not just your eyes:
- Waveform Luma to check exposure
- Skin tones around 70 IRE
- Maintain contrast without clipping highlights or crushing shadows
❓ Q6: What tools should I learn for lighting fixes?
- Waveform Monitor
- RGB Parade + Vectorscope
- Lumetri Color / Curves
- Masks & Feathering
- Power Windows (Resolve)
- Light Wraps (AE for VFX)
- Noise Reduction
❓ Q7: Should editors learn lighting?
Absolutely. If you want control in post:
You don’t just fix mistakes — you shape mood, focus, story.
Understanding light helps you:
- Build better LUTs
- Grade with depth
- Composite more realistically
- Communicate clearly with shooters
❓ Q8: What’s your go-to lighting repair trick?
Soft mask on the face → boost midtones → feather wide → track motion if needed. Add subtle vignette at the end.
❓ Q9: How do I fix green or magenta tint from mixed lights?
Use Color Wheels or Curves to shift shadows/highlights. Use HSL Secondary to isolate skin tones. Check Vectorscope – skin should lie along the skin tone line.
❓ Q10: Where can I get lighting overlays or effects?
Get free transparent overlays and FX from DehraFlicks.com. Perfect for glow, flickers, mood boosts — no plugins needed.