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Diffusion Nets (??)
I feel stupid for needing to ask this, but I need one of those nets that drops the brightness of a background. Like when a person goes to the door and opens it to find someone waiting outside…right now I have to shoot every light I have at the door to battle the sun. I’ve also seen them used for interviews outside. They drape them behind the subject so the background doesn’t overpower the model. What are those nets called, and where’s a good place to buy one?
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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10 Replies
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Scrim fabric… usually stretched in a butterfly frame. Matthews has black scrim fabric both single and double in most standard butterfly frame sizes starting I believe at 6×6 feet and going up all the way to 20×30 feet. Couple hundred bucks for the small one, up to about $1500 for the gigantic ones.
Singles will usually cut about 1/2 stop or a little more… the double scrims a little less than a stop and a half.
B&H Photo usually carries most of their line (plus other brands of rags, too… but Matthews is kinda the “industry standard”)… or you can buy rags and frames (and all kinds of other fun stuff) directly from Matthews at https://www.msegrip.com
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Thanks, Todd. I’m going to assume they come in different degrees, or f-stops. For the scenerios in my original post, what would you use for the person at the door shot on an overcast winter’s day? What would you use on a golf course in the middle of July under full sun? I’ve seen them used once and have wanted one ever since, and too often the work I do really calls for it but the budget isn’t there for me to buy or rent one. I’ve finally decided that budget or not, it’s my name on the production and I’m gonna get one.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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I think the black singles are officially rated at .6 stops and the doubles are 1.2 stops or thereabouts. Thats for Matthews, other brands might be different depending on the particular rags.
Which you would need depends on the usage. On overcast day a single would probably be sufficient, especially if you are shooting film. If you are shooting video though and with a full sunlit background a double is probably in order. It varies.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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This is what I have,
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=184349&is=REG
This is the cheapest of the matthews kits but works just as well. It’s also very portable and easy to set up. BUT you need to buy the Scrim separatly. It cames with diffusion, black and a few other things.
Here is a double stop scrim.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=32976&is=REG
I take it everywhere. Matthews has exactly the same set up only thicker and stonger frame, it costs 2K more.
Hope it helps,
Emre
http://www.productionpit.com
Boxx Tech PC, dual-dual AMD 2.0,4BG ram,Avidexpress HD w/Mojo,UVW-1800,DSR-25, Adobe Premium CS3.Gspeed ES.Steadicam OP/Owner.“Creative cow is udder madness.”
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Check out Rose Brand. They are great people to deal with and have good prices. Check out their diffusion category or call them to discuss your needs.
“everything is broken” ……1st. coined by Esther Philips I believe.
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Thanks, Emre – that was really helpful. I happened to have a Matthews catalog I picked up at NAB, but there’s so much to choose from – I wasn’t sure what to look at.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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You know – I’m still new at this, so I’m going to ask a favor. I went to the website, but just like before, I really don’t know what to look for. Emre found some stuff online for me. Would you mind pointing me towards something you’ve used, or at least what you know to be the right thing for me? That would be really helpful, and would allow me to compare prices and so on. I know I want something pretty big, something that could be set up behind a family that’s at the door when my model opens it up. I’ve got this one agency I work with that likes to do the “answer the door” thing, and it always looks like crap. Terrible to try to light. I also have a car dealership I work with that has TONS of windows, so it’s probably in the cards for me to get a couple of mega-scrims…down the road…not today.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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The black Single or Double Cinenet is the most useful for what you are doing. It is flame retardant and can be doubled or tripled. It cuts about 1/2 stop per layer. Prices are per linear foot and they make up to 24′ widths.
On their web site look under “Fabric By Use” in the top tool bar. You can find “diffusion” there.
“everything is broken” ……1st. coined by Esther Philips I believe.
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They are usually referred to as a grip single or a grip double. The single usually has a green border and the double has a red border. The Single is usually one stop and the double is 2 stops. Hence the terminology.
The smaller open ended versions, shaped like flags, are indespensible in a grip kit. The larger units, come in a 4×4, 6×6, 8×8, 12×12 and larger. these larger units would be good on a rental basis as you need larger stands and more hands to work with them.
Make sure you have enough of a throw between your subject and your net or you will see it.
cheers
Todd McMullen
Flip Flop Films
Austin
http://www.toddmcmullen.com -
Anyone know how effective these things are when shooting HD? Seems to me you would have moire issues unless you had it quite a distance behind the subject.
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