White paint for my studio

[Cosmichrist]

I'm building a photo/media/video studio with high walls and a cathedral ceiling. One big room the size of a two car garage. I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section.

So, I'm trying to figure out if bright white or an off white or grey would work best. Is it still best to go white white?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Sonyshine]

We recently repainted my son-in-laws studio and used ordinary matt emulsion paint in brilliant white.

It works fine.

 

[D Cox]

It should either a pure white or a light neutral grey. Definitely not Warm White or Magnolia or any other off white.

You can control colour balance with gels over the lights, and so vary it to suit the task.

 

[Sonyshine]

Correct! That is what my son in law does.

 

[Beachcomber Joe]

Pure white is the traditional choice and is how our studio is painted. If you are using studio lighting bright enough so that the ambient light is not a factor in the exposure it really makes no difference what color you use. I'm starting to see studios, video mostly, that use all black.

 

[darklamp]

I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section

I think this could be a problem.

If you paint a wall green then light reflecting from it will take on a green color which will cause mixed lighting on your subject.

If you require a green screen I'd suggest using a removable sheet or stand.

 

[hotdog321]

This question comes up in the Studio and Lighting Technique forum from time to time. Personally, I've worked in a bunch of studios over the years. White studios allow light to bounce all over the place, creating flat lighting and filling shadows. This works pretty well for portraits, but many studio photographers like to use dove gray or flat black studios, building the lighting on their subjects with lights and reflectors.

Black studios are kinda dismal to your eyes, but they are a joy to work in if you want precise lighting control.

 

[yardcoyote]

Since I do other things in my studio besides photography, I would vote for dove grey (very slightly warm) or neutral grey at 10 to 15%. I find bright white rooms clinical and oppressive and wouldn't want to sit in one to write, draw, paint, work on the computer, etc, however perfect it might be for photography. Dove grey is excellent for all kinds of art work and pleasant to be in to boot.

 

[Chikoo]

I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section

I think this could be a problem.

If you paint a wall green then light reflecting from it will take on a green color which will cause mixed lighting on your subject.

If you require a green screen I'd suggest using a removable sheet or stand.

carbon black all other walls.

 

[darklamp]

I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section

I think this could be a problem.

If you paint a wall green then light reflecting from it will take on a green color which will cause mixed lighting on your subject.

If you require a green screen I'd suggest using a removable sheet or stand.

carbon black all other walls.

That won't stop light from the green wall been reflected back to subject and screwing up the lighting color balance.

 

[Cosmichrist]

I took your advice and will use a pop up green screen. That's great stuff, thank you.

 

[Chikoo]

I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section

I think this could be a problem.

If you paint a wall green then light reflecting from it will take on a green color which will cause mixed lighting on your subject.

If you require a green screen I'd suggest using a removable sheet or stand.

carbon black all other walls.

That won't stop light from the green wall been reflected back to subject and screwing up the lighting color balance.

It is much much better than white.

 

[Chikoo]

I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section

I think this could be a problem.

If you paint a wall green then light reflecting from it will take on a green color which will cause mixed lighting on your subject.

If you require a green screen I'd suggest using a removable sheet or stand.

That does not reduce or eliminate the risk of the green being reflected off of the white walls.

Once I bounced flash off of a cream ceiling and the pictures came in with a yellow cast.

 

[darklamp]

I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section

I think this could be a problem.

If you paint a wall green then light reflecting from it will take on a green color which will cause mixed lighting on your subject.

If you require a green screen I'd suggest using a removable sheet or stand.

That does not reduce or eliminate the risk of the green being reflected off of the white walls.

Yes, it does.

You're only going to deploy a removable when you want to use the green screen. So the neutral walls are irrelevant if you're using the green screen as a background.

When you don't need the removable green screen it's simply not there, so it can't interfere with the neutral walls..

It is worth pointing out that you don't have to use a green screen for chromakey. Google a bit and you'll find info on that.

 

[Chikoo]

I plan to paint the inside almost all white, except for a green screen wall section

I think this could be a problem.

If you paint a wall green then light reflecting from it will take on a green color which will cause mixed lighting on your subject.

If you require a green screen I'd suggest using a removable sheet or stand.

That does not reduce or eliminate the risk of the green being reflected off of the white walls.

Yes, it does.

You're only going to deploy a removable when you want to use the green screen. So the neutral walls are irrelevant if you're using the green screen as a background.

When you don't need the removable green screen it's simply not there, so it can't interfere with the neutral walls..

It is worth pointing out that you don't have to use a green screen for chromakey. Google a bit and you'll find info on that.

You can use ANY color you want for chromakey as ling as you can isolate and replace it with what you want.

I fear the studio lights bouncing off of the green, then bouncing off of the white side walls creating a green hue.

 

[Cosmichrist]

I wanted to say thank you for all the input. I think I'll start out with a pop up green screen for now. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Cosmichrist]

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up having a custom grey made. It's just a tad less than white. I liked the color.

Now I'm having an infinity wall debate with myself, when will the madness end!? lol.