DIY grid for softbox stripbox or octabox

Has anyone made one? I'd love to see some examples!

Thanks!

Me too. It would seem like entirely too much hassle/effort to make one though.

I haven't done it but ran across this:

http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com …ftbox-grid-for-under.html

emitecaps wrote in post #11585046
Me too. It would seem like entirely too much hassle/effort to make one though.

I can attest to that! MAN! I made one and when it was finally finished, the price for the ready made (or even custom made) didn't seem so bad. Honestly, if you factor any value for your time, you soon see why they are so expensive. (I was afraid to even calculate how much my time was worth by the time I finished.)

The worst thing (for me at least, since I am a perfectionist) is that the final result didn't look good compared to what you could buy. It works as it should, but it looks so bad I don't even want to post a photo. But that is just me. The materials didn't cost more than $10-15 - but the time needed was outrageous. I am no seamstress but my mother was and I am pretty handy with a sewing machine - if you aren't don't even think about it!

I have to admit that a lot of my time was figuring out a system for constructing it. Basically you need fabric strips enough to make the grid for the size softbox you use. I suggest doing like me and drawing a scale drawing on graph paper. Then you can figure out how much strip you need - and don't forget the frame that goes around the outside. One problem that I realized is that you really do not want to make the strips across one direction and then sew the pieces in between them. This would take two seams at each junction. So what I did was to figure out to "zig-zag" the strips starting from one corner and then if a strip is going across up to one seam, it goes up (or down) after that seam and then across again. This means you only need to sew one seam per junction.

I drew the zig-zag in different colors on my drawing and then figured out how may strips of what length I needed. I assembled the inner part first and then when it was finished, sewed the "frame" around it. Sorry if this is hard to visualize - but it is difficult to explain.

I also ran into issues with the weight of the strips. You don't want raw edges so you can't just cut strips and then sew them into a grid. You need to finish the edges. I considered using webbing, but was afraid it would be too heavy and after I finished mine, it was clear that it would have been much to heavy. To fasten it to the softbox, I simply made the "frame" a bit wider than the grid so that it would have some fabric to fit around the softbox and used velcro to fasten it in the same places the front white diffusor attaches.

Mine sags and looks like heck. But it works better than I would have thought. The cardboad DIY that was linked here might be another option that would be more simple. If I decide to do another one, I'll try that method.