Motivated lighting is a fancy name for any light source that is out-of-frame and also enhances, spreads, or somehow affects the practical light in the scene.

Want to know how to deal with direct sunlight? How to add extra light sources but not cast harsh shadows? Or how to get the most out of your kit with a bounce light?

A visual medium requires visual methods. Master the art of visual storytelling with our FREE video series on directing and filmmaking techniques.

How to diffuse lightfrom LED

If you’re interested in a how to capture a shallow depth of field, or blurring the background to make your subject pop, a larger sensor is the way to go. Smaller sensors require more distance from the subject to execute this. Or, they’ll need a very wide angle lens.

Jarwoskyj reminds us that larger sensors are great for capturing more background around your subject. The downside is that larger sensors don't perform as well in low-light conditions. In other words, camera sensor size does matter but larger is not better in every circumstance.

How else does a camera’s sensor size affect your images? This video gets into some of the nitty gritty science behind camera sensor size.

Even with nothing but the image above, you can see a pretty big difference. Diffused light is a more natural, healthy look, and — in a weird way — can actually help you balance your color temperature if you use the same light diffuser (or DIY material) on different lights.

And while you’ve probably seen (or maybe even used) a bedsheet as a light diffuser, you can also use a shower liner. The frosted plastic holds its shape better than a sheet, but you’ll want to make sure you don’t get a clear one because that plastic surface could reflect light.

Also extremely popular, especially amongst major brands. Not all APS-C sensors measure equally. A Canon APS-C sensor is about 22.2mm by 14.8mm while the Sony is about 23.5mm to 15.6mm.

One answer for all of these questions is “diffused lighting.” Regardless of your lighting situation, light diffusion gives you a way to get the most out of the lighting on a set.

Because a sensor stores such valuable information, if there is a large camera sensor size, more information can fit, producing better quality images than smaller sensors. The size determines what you see through your camera’s viewfinder.

Diffused light can actually get you the best of both worlds. It’s the process of using a diffuser (which could be a DIY piece or something you bought in a lighting kit) to reduce harsh shadows or the glare of a light source you can’t get rid of on the set.

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You can get soft lighting. Think of it as getting the benefits of a directional light, but also enjoying the aesthetics of indirect lighting.

Angle of view refers to how much of the frame we’ll be able to see once we take the picture. Smaller sensors have a crop factor. Take a look below. You’ll notice how the full frame (larger sensor) accommodates for much more of the image.

Using a DIY technique can help you create diffused light on the cheap. More importantly, it can also help you address some of the many light-related problems that filmmakers have to solve.

Then again, those options deal with video production on a set. But if you’re shooting outdoors or in a space with natural lighting, a softbox or an umbrella might not be enough for that job. Or maybe you can’t afford a new lighting kit, but you still want to create diffused light on your next project. What options do you have?

How to diffuse lightfor photography

A camera sensor is a piece of hardware inside the camera that captures light and converts it into signals which result in an image. Sensors consist of millions of photosites, or light-sensitive spots that record what is being seen through the lens. The size of the camera’s sensor determines how much of this light is used to create the image.

Either one offers a relatively affordable option to diffuse light in your video projects. (And if you already have some lighting equipment, you could look for an individual piece — it just won’t be as good of a bargain as if you bought a bundle.)

A pillowcase is an ingenious and inexpensive way to make a DIY softbox, catching and diffusing all of the light from a source. It works for a stand light, a lamp across the room, or — if you tape it up — even to help soften the light from a small window.

There have never been more tutorials about DIY filmmaking, so in a way you have as many options as you can think of…so long as your diffuser is the right material. You could use a bedsheet, or a thin set of curtains, or even a lampshade.

Diffuse lightsource

As mentioned above, while megapixels measure the resolution of your image, a higher count doesn’t necessarily mean they take care of everything. A larger sensor allows larger photosites and an ability to capture low light situations compared to a smaller sensor.

You really can’t take advantage of that idea without using a light diffuser. The control it gives you doesn’t just make your footage look better — it allows you to turn any light source into something that adds depth, interest, or emotion to a shot. And that’s exactly the sort of trick a visual storyteller wants to have on any video shoot.

Lightdiffuser plastic

Hopefully, you understand the interplay of megapixels and sensor size, so now we can jump into how size affects the quality of each shot. Don't forget that to maximize the efficacy of your sensor, you'll need to know how to clean your camera sensor properly.

Your camera sensor’s is basically a photo-sensitive site that captures light and color. This sensor has millions of these light-capturing cavities called "photosites." The camera transforms these photosites into pixels which make up your image.

That wasn’t exactly a textbook definition, but it gets across enough of the basics that you should have an idea of why diffused light matters. Now, we get to the fun part — what it looks like in practice, and what you need to start improving the quality of your lighting gear.

Every filmmaker has their own ideas for DIY solutions. And chances are that as you spend more time creating content, you’ll discover a few unique techniques we might not have heard of.

When you are lighting a shoot, the quality of the light can be just as influential as the color temperature or the placement. And the better the quality — whether from proximity, brightness, etc. — the more detail you’ll get out of the subject you’re trying to light.

Below is a brief guide to a few of the common camera sensor sizes. Also, Benjamin Jarwoskyj shows us the resulting images from some of these different sized sensors.

This article mentioned how larger sensors with wide apertures could create shallow depth of field to help your subjects stand out. But a camera's sensor is just one contributing factor when considering depth of field. We'll not only define depth of field, we'll explain what other camera settings can be manipulated to achieve amazing images.

That’s not to say it’s the only obstacle, or even the most annoying. But it is ever present. We could easily lay out a half-dozen reasons why lighting is the nemesis of filmmakers.

While megapixels do matter to some degree, they’re not the end all be all of what creates a crystal clear image. The sensor size plays quite a role. Let’s quickly break it down.

Light will bounce off most solid objects, which is why any good lighting kit comes with reflectors. But a light diffuser does the opposite — it blocks or reflects part of the light, but still allows enough to properly light a subject or scene.

Smaller sensors apply cropping to lenses while larger sensors can capture much more of the scene. This full-frame from larger sensors is your traditional 35mm film. A camera sensor and its size determines image size, depth of field, resolution, low-light performance, a camera’s physical size, and more.

Below is an example of two sensors from the same distance that capture the blur very differently. Learn more about the different types of camera lenses and how they work.

Lightdiffuser Sheet

This is the largest sensor size. As mentioned above, it’s the same as a 35mm film frame. There is no crop factor, so whatever you see in the viewfinder is what you’ll shoot. Images of this size often require larger-bodied cameras, and even larger camera lenses.

DIYlightdiffuser parchment paper

Inside your digital camera is a very important element: the sensor. Camera sensor size is definitely something to consider when renting or purchasing a camera. The image quality and the flexibility of what kinds of images you can capture is directly related to your camera’s sensor. So how exactly does camera sensor size matter? Let’s take a closer look.

The fun thing about using a diffuser is that you can pair it with a reflective material to bounce light, which gives you control over the direction of the light, the intensity of the light, and the level of detail that the light reveals.

The most obvious place to start is with a dedicated softbox lighting kit. You could also go for an umbrella diffuser — they work great but aren’t quite as adaptable as soft boxes.

A camera’s resolution is measured in megapixels. The bigger the camera’s sensor, the bigger the photosites are to hold more megapixels, creating a clearer image.

A larger sensor requires a larger lens to cast an image over it. Not to mention, your camera itself might have to be larger to house a large sensor. Both of these considerations can be cumbersome and just down right expensive, especially if you’re traveling or if your filmmaking style doesn’t demand it.

Let’s pretend you’re filming outdoors, and the noonday sun is creating harsh shadows on your subject. Setting up a sheet overhead doesn’t really make sense, but waiting for a passing cloud would provide a natural diffuser that creates even light distribution.

Now that we've covered the basic considerations between large and small camera sensor size, let's get into more specific detail, including technical specs.

DIYlightdiffuser material

Other options include a white trash bag, a thin T-shirt, or even parchment paper. The different thickness and texture of each item means the quality of your diffused lighting could be hard to predict. But if you’ve already got these things around your house, it’s a cheap way to experiment and see if any of them work with the light sources you want to work with.

Considering sensor size is another way to assess the quality of your equipment. The next time you go camera shopping, remember that the sensor size is a major feature. Make sure you understand the different types of cameras and types of lenses and how those factors combine with your camera's sensor size.

If you have a 24-megapixel camera, it means you have 24 million photosites on your sensor. So, where does a camera sensor size come into play? Keep in mind, a high megapixel doesn’t necessarily mean better image quality. Why?

Alyssa Maio is a screenwriter from New Jersey, now living in Los Angeles. She works as a copywriter here at StudioBinder.

A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image that can be represented in a display device. A million pixels is the equivalent to one megapixel. So your megapixel count refers to how many of these photo-sensitive sites your sensor contains.

About a quarter of the size of a full frame sensor. It has a 2x crop factor. The four thirds system is used solely by Panasonic and Olympus. It’s about 30-40% smaller than APS-C sensors. MFT or M 4/3 is the Micro Four Thirds System for mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras.

Diffusedlightphotography Examples

It’s worth investigating any tool or learning any trick to improve the quality of your lighting. And because diffusing light is an easy, cheap, and efficient way to adjust lighting, it’s something that every filmmaker should at least be aware of.

And if you want to find similar tips, tricks, and solutions to level up your filmmaking, here are some other articles from Soundstripe:

But obviously you won’t always have access to an agreeable cloud. Your most realistic option is to find a good lighting kit, something that includes at least one type of diffuser.

Before we get into a camera sensor size comparison, and the difference between smaller vs larger sensor sizes, we need to answer a fundamental question: what is a camera sensor? We should know its main function before we determine anything else.

APS stands for active pixel sensor and it’s super popular for interchangeable lens cameras. It combines a large sensor with a moderate pixel count boosting ISO performance with a 1.3x crop factor.

Well, if you have a high megapixel count, on a small sensor, all that means is the photosites are now smaller. In good light, this works just fine. But if there is low light, the tiny photosites on a smaller sensor don’t work as well.

For the purpose of this article, however, we’re going to look at some of the most popular DIY lighting solutions that help you diffuse light without spending any of your budget on new equipment. (But you may end up needing to spend a few dollars on something.)

On one hand, it’s difficult to control because so many moving parts are involved — natural light, reflective material, the Kelvin scale, etc. On the other hand, how you light a shot can make all the difference in post-production and eventually the final product.