What is the front pannel of a softbox made of?

[ShutteringFocus]

Anybody know what the front "Action side" pannel of a softbox is made out of?

Yep, I'm one of those guys who loves to do stuff cheap. I have a frame built out of 1/4 inch PVC tubing and I have the inside of other pannels made with a reflectiveish white material that I found at the fabric store. I lined the outside of the pannels with this really cool swirly orange-red fabric just because I dont want it to look "normal" and black like all the rest of them :-D

It fits on the lightstand...and it stands up and rotates to horizontal style also. Its about 40'' x 30''

I just dont know what to put on the front of it.

Any ideas?

So far the closest thing I can think of is White Rip-stop Nylon...but the softboxes I have seen seem to have a slightly heavier material on the front...what is it?

[iwatkins]

Yes, very similar to rip stop nylon (use it in my kites) but much heavier, probably two to three times heavier. I'm not sure what it is called other than "diffusion material".

Of course, you could use white rip stop, just double or triple it up. :)

For maximum light efficiency, if you use triple rip stop, line the inside of the box with silver foil.

Cheers

Ian

[Scottes]

Try two layers... ?

What's your light source? That stuff will melt pretty easily under halogens...

[mtndew]

BH has some defusion material just depends on how much you want to spend and how much ya need. A few post i read about PVC photo table they use some heavy paper from a craft store.

[ShutteringFocus]

I'm planning to power this thing with an Alian Bee...so thats why I'm aprehensive about rip-stop...I'm into kiting too and I have a number of kites and I also have experience with rip-stop...I dont know how hot the Bees get...but I know rip-stop is not the first choice for heat resistance...

[Headcase650]

Im not sure if this will help but, I just made a softbox out of a 12x22x30 heavy duty card board box to use with a vivitar 283. I closed the back of the box with box tape and cut a hole dead center for the 283 to slide through, the top flaps I cut to 1 1/5 inches wide and mitered the corners and taped them down so the front of the box has a 19x27 inch opening. Then I cut some 1 inch foam board to insert into the box going from the back center out to the front edges and covered them with aluminium foil. To mount it to the light stand I used a couple pieces of 6x9 flashing and a 3/8 bolt and nut, drilled holes in the flashing, put one on the inside and one on the outside of the bottom of the box about 3 inches back from the frount edge in the center for stability, ran the bolt down throught the box so the stud was sticking out the bottom and tightened up the nut. I covered the front with ripstop nylon and wraped the sides with duct tape. If i position it about 5 feet from the subject and meter it with the vivitar on full power I can get f11 200 shutter at ISO 200. The thing actually works better than I expected and I think I have about $8 into it. The box, flashing and foam I got from work, I only had to purchase the nut, bolt and nylon.

[blinking8s]

Ive seen diffusion paper before, worked just the same as the softbox for me when shooting video, havent tried it out with still photography though

lighting stuff cracks me up how much it costs...my ghettorig might not look cool but it gets what i need to done for 1/100th the cost...grandted half the video lighting is legit stuff

[ShutteringFocus]

Bloo- Could you explain what you mean a little more about this diffuser suspended in the box? What will that do? If I get what you are saying you mean that it is important to get the light bouncing all around inside the box so that it comes out evenly in the middle and edges? Maybe I'll replace my white insides with some more reflective stuff.

[iwatkins]

Many softboxes actually have two layers od diffusion mterial, one layer, the one you see, out on the front of the box. The second layer is usually the same material just further in, suspended usually on elastic cord etc.

Picture below explains better, basically a softbox with the front diffusion layer removed.

http://sell-it-on-the-net.com/images/equipment/softbox1616_interior.jpg

Cheers

Ian

[iwatkins]

Yeah, sorry ;)

[jimsolt]

Prior to this discussion I'd never heard of rip stop. Now, I'm finding that the several stores I've visited looking for it have never heard of it either. When I search it out on the web I get ads for camo clothing. Against my better principles, I even went to Walmart with the same results.
Two Questions:
1) Where can one buy rip stop suitable for this purpose?
2) Would the plastic diffusion panels at Home Despot etc., used for kitchen ceilings to diffuse flourescents be suitable for this purpose or would it have imbedded textures or colors that would cause problems? Obviously it wouldn't fold up for packing.
Thanks.
Jim

[Jon]

You might try looking for nylon taffeta. Similar weight to rip-stop but no patterning; it's more like a coat lining. Did you hit a major fabric store? Also take a look at kite suppliers.

[ShutteringFocus]

Yeah, search "Kite Building Supplies" you'll come up with a bunch of stuff.

http://www.kitebuilder.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/24_108?osCsid=bef92fb500f2f560d8ad3a090d87e4ee

There's one I found. Im not vouching for them...I've never bought anything from them...but its just one I found

[lisaphoto1978]

Anybody know what the front "Action side" pannel of a softbox is made out of?

Yep, I'm one of those guys who loves to do stuff cheap. I have a frame built out of 1/4 inch PVC tubing and I have the inside of other pannels made with a reflectiveish white material that I found at the fabric store. I lined the outside of the pannels with this really cool swirly orange-red fabric just because I dont want it to look "normal" and black like all the rest of them :-D

It fits on the lightstand...and it stands up and rotates to horizontal style also. Its about 40'' x 30''

I just dont know what to put on the front of it.

Any ideas?

So far the closest thing I can think of is White Rip-stop Nylon...but the softboxes I have seen seem to have a slightly heavier material on the front...what is it?



I was wondering if you could give me the direction on how to make a softbox out of the PVC pipe. i would greatly appreciate it if you would like to email me directly it is lisafntnnn@aol.com. thanks lisa

[PAS Photography]

Ive built a large softbox out of foam core board, then covered it with black felt. The diffuser inside and the face covering I used a white wedding dress fabric. The images actually look better than with my SP system softbox when photographed

[breal101]

If you don't mind compromising your home built philosophy a bit you could buy the cover for a light form, it is exactly what you are looking for and the small covers aren't too ridiculous in price. I've also seen the material used for womens slips (can't remember the name) also nylon sailcloth.

[breal101]

42 x 78" (107 x 198cm) Translucent Panel Fabric

RM7360 from Calumet Photo price is 29.99 plus shipping, some commercial fabrics contain whiteners which produce a high UV or bluing effect to your pics.

[DocFrankenstein]

Lee filters:
250 - half white diffusion
416 - quarter white diffusion
216 - white diffusion

You can get a 20*24 inch sheet for 6 bucks or so.