fabric to create a shape light

Cineruss

Active Member
Would anyone know of a fabric that could be used to cover a light (that basically draws 60 watts) to create a shape light? I am in a poistion I am going to have to do a DIY light or shape light from a 60 watt LED lamp.
 
Welding fabric would be overkill but still work.

Then just put whatever fabric you really want it to look like on the outside.
 
Is the LED light 60W of electrical consumption, or "60W equivalent"? In the latter case, the actual power used is more around 10W, and the heat generated correspondingly small.

What sort of fabric would be safe depends on lots of stuff: how far away it is from the bulb, how good the airflow and venting would be around/through it, etc.
 
Thanks everyone. The light is a led light corn bulb they call ot..very cheap but need to turn it into a shape light. Just cant afford to buy a $2500 Mole Richardson shape light. Here is the link where the light can be found. It puts out 60 watts equivalent power so will be warm at the base but not thinking it would be that warm.

I have a green cyc to light and am thinking of getting about 6 of these and put in an array overhead and providing a white translucent fabric cover (safe of course) that would give some soft light.
 
...to create a shape light?
Might you mean space light?

1602258210708.jpeg
 
Well I misread that completely. I thought you wanted to shape a light out of fabric. So like some giant or not so giant chicken wire fabric construction with a light in it.

My new suggestion would be gel. Because we have no idea what look you are going for and how much light you want to knockout.

but

You asked for fabric ( Googled soft box fabric) https://www.fjwestcott.com/12-x-16-...ecILoeG9ViaZQs6Qbs94DY6x1wFBy8XRoC6pEQAvD_BwE
Thanks Amiers, sorry for the confusion. derekleffew showed an example of what I am looking for. There just has to be a less expensive route, especially with these inexpensive LED light sources to do this without paying 2 grand per light source. I think the light I showed you will work but want to make sure the material used around it would not be flammable. The output is only 60 watts actual and 500 watt equivalent. I have a space of around 25' by 15' that I am thinking of using 6 in an array and material similar to what derekleffew has shown to achieve the effect.
 
It’s all good. Well you can still go with any kind of soft box fabric. Then if the fabric isn’t enough make a smaller version of gel inside
 
Any sheet of say Rosco #105 Tough Spun as with some Rosco products will take starch and adhesive with experimentation. As with many fabrics and other types of fabric stiffiners of various weaves assuming a LED lamp. Did a lot of R&D on something similar in concept of fabric/something retaining a shape for a Nook the LD project a few years ago. Tried from cast silicone to starched gel, and many other concepts.
 

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Thanks for the samples. The fabric would be enclosed so just want to make sure it is not flammable. I am assuming Rosco materials are built for this purpose
 
Thanks for the samples. The fabric would be enclosed so just want to make sure it is not flammable. I am assuming Rosco materials are built for this purpose
Yeah, Rosco tough spin is designed to put in a gel slot on a 1000 watt incandescent fixture, it'll be safe for your project.

Bigger question is what are you doing in the room with this light? The reason those Mole Richardsons are so expensive is the light source is designed to look amazing on film. Your discount COB lights from Amazon are likely to create all kinds of issues on camera. All kinds of potential issues with color temperature and CRI are waiting for you with the cheap bulbs. They are great for work lights, not great if color accuracy matters.
 
Yeah, Rosco tough spin is designed to put in a gel slot on a 1000 watt incandescent fixture, it'll be safe for your project.

Bigger question is what are you doing in the room with this light? The reason those Mole Richardsons are so expensive is the light source is designed to look amazing on film. Your discount COB lights from Amazon are likely to create all kinds of issues on camera. All kinds of potential issues with color temperature and CRI are waiting for you with the cheap bulbs. They are great for work lights, not great if color accuracy matters.
We are creating a space for shooting VR. Our space is approximately 26' x 16' and we need an array of soft lights. Our camera is one of the latest 8K 10 bit 360 units and does well with LED lighting. I agree that Mole Richardsons mean you get what you pay for but the budget for possibly 4 or 6 of these is out of the question. So having to design something that will work. I have seen several LED units out there that max out at about 20,000 lumens and only use approximately 120 watts of power. So thinking of going that direction..yea it is cheap but if it works and gives me the look I need for green screen then I am for it at the moment.
 
Personally, I'd use something like a chroma q space force(https://chroma-q.com/products/space-force) with the optional soft lantern(https://chroma-q.com/en_US/products/lantern) or cyc skirt/silk(https://chroma-q.com/en_US/products/cyc-skirt-silk).

The cheap LED lightbulb won't give you a good enough quality of light to make your subject look natural in a VR environment. You might(doubtful, but possible) be able to get a decent wash on your green screen, but you really want something higher-quality to light a person.(And the adjustable white helps a lot).

I've used the Space force with the soft lantern in a low-ceiling studio situation, and it's a good LED replacement for a conventional space light.
 
Personally, I'd use something like a chroma q space force(https://chroma-q.com/products/space-force) with the optional soft lantern(https://chroma-q.com/en_US/products/lantern) or cyc skirt/silk(https://chroma-q.com/en_US/products/cyc-skirt-silk).

The cheap LED lightbulb won't give you a good enough quality of light to make your subject look natural in a VR environment. You might(doubtful, but possible) be able to get a decent wash on your green screen, but you really want something higher-quality to light a person.(And the adjustable white helps a lot).

I've used the Space force with the soft lantern in a low-ceiling studio situation, and it's a good LED replacement for a conventional space light.
Thanks for the link. I was thinking about something more in terms of this and not simply an LED light WOW this is perfect. The space is only 26' x 15' so imagine I would only need around 4 of these but will check this out. Have you used these on shoots?
 
They're not as popular as incandescent space lights or skypanels for large film shoots, but work great for smaller studios.

I haven't used them on any of our green screen shoots, but they worked well in a ~25'x15' oval studio with a ~11' ceiling(I think we used 10 or so because of the low ceiling). (we used the soft lantern, and the low profile yokes because of our lack of headroom). They looked great on camera.

Before purchasing, it may be worth seeing if one of your local rental shops has some in stock that you could test out - always better to do a full rig demo instead of just looking at a single demo unit.

If these will be moved around/travel between spaces at all, it's worth investing in the protective lens for the face of the lights - also the newer firmware versions are much better for using the onboard menus than the older versions.
 
These will not be moved. So your studio was 25' x 15'? Amazing, that is the same size as the one I am looking to light. So you used 10 in that space?
 
Indeed - your mileage may vary depending on ceiling height though - we needed that many for even coverage at the low height, rather than for brightness. (Our fixtures were running at less than 50% for a comfortable light level)

The chroma q page linked above has photometric specs - I would plan your rig with the beam/field angles of the light on its own, and then add the lantern to diffuse and even out the light.

Also note the hanging options - Chroma q offers a standard yoke w/junior stud, low profile yoke that accepts 3/4" hardware, and 3-way bridle, which gives you a single hanging point in the style of a traditional space light.

On a lower budget, perhaps some type of Aladdin Bi-flex with one of their diffusers - they have a "Ball" diffuser which may be similar to a space light, and a soft box diffuser which would give a more directional soft light.(I've used the bi-flex as a soft light many times, but never to replace a space light - we don't have any of the ball diffusers in our inventory, so never used them).
 
A filmed production at work used a bunch of space lights just last week. Seems like a useful lighting fixture. Good idea on renting first. I bid on the CRI as it were for the cob lights for video concern.

Here is a theoretical question based on the above. While it might be slight, would there be a CRI boost from frost, silk or tuff spun gel and other materials when used with the original lighting concept above? (Yes I know it's actually a different scale than CRI for LED - but similar and what's mostly used.)

The phosphors coating the glass on a fluorescent lamp convert UV light produced into various use light output, color temperature and CRI as the gel/materials could. Same type of spikes with the fluorescent, more evened out with the phosphor coatings. Spectral spikes science etc... as no doubt factors, could the gel help to balance out this cob (corn cob) light source kind of like a kerosene camping lantern's mesh flame cover converts the flame into useful light?
 
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