DIY Your Own Portable RGB Video Light
Gokux designed this inexpensive RGB video light similar to an Aputure Mc and you can build one yourself.
In the world of photography and videography, nothing is more important than lighting. A smartphone camera with good lighting will outperform the nicest mirrorless on the market if it has bad lighting. Knowing that, photographers and videographers put a lot of money and effort into their lighting. That very quickly becomes expensive, but does it have to? LEDs are pretty affordable these days and offer very respectable performance. To save some money in the studio, Gokux designed and built this inexpensive RGB video light.
Lights like these are very popular right now, with companies like Aputure selling pocked-sized models that offer respectable output in any color. But good models from reputable companies are a little pricey, while the cheap models from generic companies tend to leave a lot to be desired. Gokux’s DIY design is the best of both worlds. It is affordable to build, while offering great features and performance. And because it isn’t constrained by proprietary firmware, users can customize its behavior however they like. Want to add fancy animated effects? That’s as simple as programming them and flashing the new firmware.
As it is, this is a 20W portable video light with RGB LEDs and an internal 5000mAh battery. It can attach to the top of a tripod, a camera’s hot shoe, or on any ferrous surface thanks to the magnetic mount. A clever magnet system also lets users snap on various diffusers. Setting color and brightness is incredibly simple, because the only control is a rotary encoder. Rotate the knob to set color, press it, then rotate again to set brightness.
The light comes from six panels of WS2812b individually addressable RGB LEDs, each with a 4×4 grid of LEDs. That means there are 96 LEDs in total. A tiny Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 development board reads input from the rotary encoder and sets the LEDs accordingly. Power comes from two 2500mAh 18650 lithium batteries via a charger/booster module. All of those components fit inside a compact and attractive 3D-printed enclosure.
And this design has a lot of additional potential. Gokux isn’t taking advantage of it in the current firmware, but the ESP32C3 would allow for WiFi and/or Bluetooth control of the light. And because every LED is individually addressable, it would be possible to program interesting animated effects.
But even as it is, this is a very useful light. Mount it on top of the camera for key lighting or to the side for some colorful fill. You can even attach it magnetically to something in the background for some striking practical lighting.
