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Wheres the best spot for the hair light when trying to avoid reflections?
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That shouldn’t be hard, Craig… I can think of two different ways right away to do that with PVC.
They’d take a few min to describe/illustrate though and I’m heading out the door right now, just saw your post… I’ll try to post my ideas in the morning…
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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thank you
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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Just a couple of quick ideas, Craig…
If you can attach these pipes to a floor, piece of plywood, deck, or whatever, you can do this easily with a few Home Depot parts… the pipe, threaded male “slip adapters,” and floor flanges… like this…
Or if you want to go the all-PVC route for a truly “Drunk RotoRooter Man” look, just whack it together with a bunch of elbows and tees… as many tees as you like, arranged however you like….
…and you can lay a sandbag across that center strut to keep it from tipping over.
If you’ll forgive the quick/bad cell phone pics, a quick walk through the studio showed me a couple of other pieces of hardware that might work… like a junior plate screwed to the floor or decking (this one here I screwed to a board)…
That will let you put anything “junior sized” in it… such as the junior pin on a lighting fixture, or the base of a C-stand riser.
You can also get those in wall-hanger versions… I turned a couple upside down and screwed them to the bottom of another camera case for a convenient place to store/transport a couple of C-stand risers…
None of those setups will probably work exactly like you are looking for, but might spark an idea for something that will.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Yes it definitely is a possibility. Funny I used those floor flanges several years ago when I built my own table using plumping pipe for the legs. One to attach to the table top and one below for the feet. Very solid and it didn’t cost much to have the pipe cut to size and threaded. I suppose that’s another possibility though I think the booms would get stratched going in and out of metal.
What glue did you use on the PVC?
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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[Craig Alan] “…didn’t cost much to have the pipe cut to size and threaded. I suppose that’s another possibility though I think the booms would get stratched going in and out of metal. “
Don’t use metal then, use the PVC pipe. You can still attach them to the metal floor flanges with the male threaded slip adapters.
[Craig Alan] “What glue did you use on the PVC?”
Well there was no glue on my project, none of the pipes were attached to any fittings. As I said, the pipes were bolted to the side of the case only. But any time I’ve ever used PVC pipe and fittings before (even for actual plumbing), I’ve just used the regular PVC cement.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Gotcha. and cheaper too. I’m also thinking that I could use one of those right angle connections along the verticals to a add a short cut off piece as a hook for the cords.
How big a piece of board as a base do you think I’d need to make it all stable. The metal floor flanges would add some weight but it need to be pretty tip proof. Obviously I can throw on a sand bag.
I wouldn’t mind another tube to hold my operating pole for the pole op fresnels we’re using.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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[Craig Alan] “How big a piece of board as a base do you think I’d need…”
Dunno, that’s probably a trial and error thing. Or just make a good guess. It shouldn’t have to be too big, part of it would concern how many poles, how much they weigh, and how long they are. To hang cables though I’d probably just put a hook on them rather than something as complicated as multiple fittings. There should be something easy to find at Home Depot or Lowes either in with the cabinet hardware and hooks, etc., or with the pegboard stuff.
At any rate I’d throw some weight on it, either a sandbag or a spare jib or stage weight.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Todd Terry] “Yes I like idea of the built-in umbrella holders on them. A little while back someone in a COW forum, I can’t remember who, was hatin’ on umbrellas… said something to the effect that they were the sign of an amateur or someone who didn’t know what they were doing, or a good way to spot a still photographer who is trying to do video. I completely disagree with that… I love umbrellas and use them all the time.”
Sadly, I think that was me. In my 25 years plus on various corporate sets, I’ve still never seen an umbrella in use. But I’m also old enough and wise enough to understand that just because that’s my experience, doesn’t mean it matches everyone else’s.
My problem with umbrellas is that they’re pretty much uncontrollable. If you’re using solids, you’re double the distance from a light source to the object via reflection so you’re necessarily trading punch for spread. If you’re using translucent, then they make more sense to me since they’re just a diffuser on a stick – and I can see the sense in that for efficiency for a fast soft fill – but I’d still prefer a softbox plus grid – which produces essentially the same size light with much more control. That said, I get that a softbox/grid is WAY more expensive and harder to rig via the speeding than an umbrella in a fixture with the proper receiver – so I can see why if for no other reason then quick setup and cost, they can have a useful place in production.
And if you use them well, the light can be great. So it’s just what you’re accustomed to.
I still haven’t ever seen an umbrella on any video set I’ve walked onto – but that’s just me.
So I’ll happily retract my original observation that they’re not a “pro” video lighting tool. And amend it to them simply being a significantly less common one.
Used with care. Any light is a great light. And used poorly, any light is a disaster. That’s why it’s always the piano player, never the piano.
FWIW.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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[Bill Davis] “Sadly, I think that was me.”
Might have been, Bill… I honestly didn’t remember. I don’t think any less of you, though… ha.
[Bill Davis] “My problem with umbrellas is that they’re pretty much uncontrollable”
Totally agree… boxes are infinitely more controllable. I just found that after years of using softboxes, that just as often as not I really didn’t need to control them for a lot of environments and applications… I just needed a big soft source, with no need for eggcrates or much flagging or control. This is usually in larger interior locations where spill or a little bit of stray light doesn’t prove to be an issue. If softboxes were as easy and fast to set up, I’d probably use them exclusively… but umbrellas are 10x easier and faster, so in those situations where I would get the same results, that’s what I use.
Fortunately the heads we use in our softboxes (when we use tungsten heads, that is) also have little umbrella holders on them, so we can easily use the same instrument in either application.
[Bill Davis] “If you’re using solids, you’re double the distance from a light source to the object via reflection”
Very true. I almost never use the solid ones. Out of the probably eight or ten umbrellas I have only two of them are solids (black with reflective interiors… one silver and one blue). I honestly never use those, I can’t even remember the last time. I shoot through umbrellas 99 times out of 100, using the silk or translucent ones.
I use them purely for ease and speed, but Bill is right, there is definitely a cost factor if that’s an issue. The cheapest softbox is still quite a few bucks, while most umbrellas are pretty cheap. If you want to go the eBay route, you can readily find mid-size ones for literally five or ten bucks.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Hey Todd,
I apologise if this question has been asked and answered already; but what kind of softbox do you use with these proaims when you use the softbox holes? I’m looking to do the same sort of thing, and wanted to know what you’d recommend.
Also, thanks a heap for your comprehensive posts. It’s awesome to see someone like yourself explaining your workings in detail so that they can be learnt from. Very cool.
Thanks again,
Anthony
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