We know that Film and TV industry is fast changed by technology. All suppliers always dedicate themselves to developing new products. Lighting equipment was updated to LED over 10 years ago. And then it came to LED panel, LED Fresnel, LED edge-lit, LED flexible cloth. The Color temperature is changed gradually from one color to Bi-Color 3200K-5600K, Bi-color 2800K-10000K, and RGBW ones with all colors. And the LED source was changed from DIP to SMD and COB. As professionals in lighting for TV and Film production, it’s important for us to know the development trends, as well as what kinds of lighting each supplier is supplying, plus their function and difference. The more information we get, the more correct decision we make.
Yet the question is, how do you get the first-hand news in time?
– By social media like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube?
– By visiting broadcast shows like NAB, IBC, Broadcast Asia?
– By visiting or subscribing to websites like newsshooter?
These are good ways, but I suppose we always get too much information that we are not interested in. Time will be wasted. Here I’d like to share 3 other ways to get news quickly and efficiently about lighting for TV and Film production.
1. Google Alerts
From Wikipedia, Google Alerts is a content change detection and notification service, offered by Google. The service sends emails to the user when it finds new results—such as web pages, newspaper articles, blogs, or scientific research—that match the user’s search term(s).
What you need to do is just input your email address and input keywords to create alerts with Google Alerts. The keyword could be product names like TV studio lighting, or brand name like ARRI. To get the news about lighting for TV and Film production, it’s better to create brands names. And then, new lighting info, market research reports, etc. will be sent to your inbox. You could add or delete alerts anytime.
2. Industry magazines
Browsing the industry magazines is a very good habit. It won’t take too much time, but we can learn the new technology and the whole market trends. There is always surprising information slipping into our minds.
Below are listed the industry magazines I have collected. It would be much appreciated if you share with me other industry magazines you like.
TM broadcast and audiovisual digital magazine
3. Monthly visiting lighting suppliers’ websites
To know most lighting equipment supplied in the market, the easiest way is to visit suppliers’ websites. You must have done that. Here I’d like to mention 3 key points.
1) It’s better to visit all suppliers’ websites at the same time. For example, I spend one day at the end of each month visiting all the websites I collected. In the meanwhile, I use the Chrome extension to quickly capture full pages of the lighting fixture I am interested in. All screenshots will be filed in one folder, and I can check them in the future. The concentration of each month helps me to better understand the market.
2) We should do this EVERY MONTH regularly, not optionally when we have time. This is an important, yet not urgent thing.
3) The number of suppliers’ websites should be the more the better. It’s easy to understand. I am trying to collect all the professional lighting suppliers in the market and visit all websites each month. Once I find a new good supplier, I’ll add it to my list too. Now I already have 80 websites on my list. To save your time and be helpful, I am happy to share this document with you. Please click here to leave your email and you will receive the PDF file soon.
Thank you for reading. Welcome you to share any other ways in the comments.
