DIY Fluorescent Lighting [Archive] - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 11:11 AM

So, in another thread someone mentioned that they might like to see what others have done in building their own lights. My name is Richard Andrewski and I've done quite a bit in this area and you can see an excerpt at

http://www.coollights.biz/My_Homepage_Files/Page11.html?osCsid=212939dc998c5db2437aa4b0d711ade 2

But also, here are some photos of fixtures I have built in the last year. Hope others will post their photos and tell us about ideas they have and what they have learned and would do differently. So here goes:

I started here with this 330 watt monster. Really overpowering and don't use it that much except for backlighting of green screen work. A softlite hood attachment was also built as an alternative to a softbox.

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 11:14 AM

Then there was this one. Draws 126w. Also has a softlite hood attachment that can be removed and a barndoor attachment that can be used directly on the fixture or the softlite hood. I built 5 of these and 3 of them have dimmers. Dimmable technology in fluorescent is very expensive though and I don't recommend it unless you really need to be able to dim and can't just use the poorman's method of switching on and off ballasts and bulbs. You can see the dimmer on the one on the right -- its a small box on the front of the fixture. Allows dimming from 10% to 100%. That's abt as good as it gets in fluorescent using the better of the two available dimming technologies.

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 11:18 AM

I use this one quite a bit more than the 330w. Just a smaller brother really that uses the same parts but less of them. By the way, I mostly use 3500K bulbs which are quite a bit cheaper and don't see a problem with them. If you must have other color temps you will pay double what I pay for these 3500's or 5000's.

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 11:21 AM

Then we have this which really started out kind of as a joke but turned out to be a really serious tool. I ended up using this light mostly in the production of my video. I never would have thought that a 30w fixture would be enough lite but I can tell you that it is when you start to relearn how to light a scene with fluorescent. This is obviously the cast aluminum fixture from a halogen work light that was "gutted" and a E26 medium base socket was added along with my idea for barn doors. I have 8 of these -- some in fixed positions and most of them on stands. They are a great utility light and I call it the "Low Key" (excuse the pun).

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 11:28 AM

I had several tries at making something that would go in a softbox hood and this was the first generation. Quite a nightmare to work on so I scrapped it eventually. When your on the road to trying to invent things you will have a miss or two...

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 11:35 AM

This was easier to work on but as you will see in the next version coming up, this one here was still too complicated for various reasons. The fixture is just too big with this kind of bulb and having to have ballasts too. But, it does put out a lot of light. 7 bulbs x 42 w each is a draw of 294 watts (and those are 3500K bulbs also). So our equivalent output is around 1200w. Just try to find a softbox hood that would function with 1200watts! Very hard to find and very expensive. In this case, that hood was rated for 500w so my actual draw of 300 was still way under the rating. Sorry for lack of color balance in the photo showing the back of the unit with switches!

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 11:37 AM

This one is great. Simple fixture. Self-ballasted CFL bulb at 200w. The simple, inexpensive hood from Ebay. Can't get much easier to put together.

HorseFilms

06-14-2006, 11:54 AM

Those are some damn nice fixtures. Well done! :beer:

Chris Stearns

06-14-2006, 02:52 PM

Very nice. I'm inspired by all of these.

Yardsale

06-14-2006, 04:26 PM

wow incredible!

TeamJoeDawn

06-14-2006, 06:50 PM

Great work, Miracom.. and nice website.

Can you give more details on that final light, the multi-CFL ? Seems like a workhorse.

J

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 07:43 PM

Great work, Miracom.. and nice website.

Can you give more details on that final light, the multi-CFL ? Seems like a workhorse.

J

Workhorse? Depends on what you're doing. When I started I really thought I would need lots of light so I started with the big fixtures and these really big bulbs. What I found though is that I really didn't need that much lite for "how-to" video production. And anyway I like a more subtle light effect. I was amazed at how the 30w unit became my real workhorse. Usually one or two in fixed position on the ceiling and one or two on a stand.

I used them everywhere! With the intelligent use of the iris, several of these can be enough to lite a scene, even more contributing to the lower temperature and working comfort of the shooting area. Of course, with the fall-off they can only be used in scenes (like interviews and they are super for that too) where they can be relatively close to the subject. And the barndoors were really great to have to. You have to have barndoors on fluorescent fixtures or it's really frustrating.

But back to your question. These larger bulbs are becoming more and more commonly available now. You can get them in all sizes from around 85 watts on up to 300 watts and this one is known as an "8U". Why? Because it has 8 "U" shaped tubes on its ballast base. The fixture is non-dimmable as are most of these type of CFLs. Of course, there are the spiral types too which come in many different sizes and wattages. And some variations on the two also.

That particular bulb is made by a company called Maxlite. It is a 200w and only comes in 2700K, 5000K and 6400K. I got the 5000K ones. I am just about to finalize a deal where I will be selling these 200w (perhaps even 300w ones) on my site in 3200K and later in 5500K. Right now the 5000/5500K are more commonly available so I thought I would specially make the 3200's just to differentiate my offerings.

When I discovered the bulbs, I crafted a fixture that I can use with a softbox hood or with a chinese lantern. The one in the picture is the first generation fixture and it used an empty quart paint can. Has a switch on the back. Very simple mounting yoke. Has a mogul base mounted in it which is what these larger 8U bulbs use (as opposed to the "medium e26" base that a lot of the spirals use. I'm generalizing here. You can find all the variations you want in base and size.

The next generation fixture I have coming up is much better and very simple too. Made from sheet metal. I really think this may be a very popular option for people as softbox hoods are readily available as are chinese lanterns--both very inexpensive diffusion and easy to use. And there really isn't much in the way of suitable mounting fixtures for these bulbs right now.

By the way, the larger the lantern the higher its watt rating so it's probably not a good idea to use any of them smaller than 24" ones and I only like the nylon ones myself. They are only moderately higher in price and worth it in my opinion.

So what are other people's experiences with trying to build fluorescent lights?

Cool Lights

06-14-2006, 07:58 PM

Very nice. I'm inspired by all of these.

Well, I've really discovered that if you are going to make your own tools they better be inspiring or you won't want to use them that often. So put some thought into your stuff before you do them so they'll not only be functional but will add to the overall aesthetics of the work area. This is something that is subliminal and many would say it doesn't matter but I don't agree!

The way a tool looks is more important than many want to admit. What's happening behind the camera and how inspiring the work environment is can be just as important as what is happening in front of the camera. What if your environment is so hot from working with normal lights for instance that you don't feel like working or dread it? Anyone had that experience in the middle of the summer even in a well-airconditioned environment (I did and it's one reason I switched)? Many of us are working in smaller environments and the heat can affect that much more readily I think.

And what if your tools look too homemade? How might that be affecting you and your level of inspiration while you are working?

Besides, if you are working with clients you also want to project a professional image too. Perception is reality--especially in the business of media creation.

I guess my philosophy is that my level of satisfaction with my environment and tools affects my level of inspiration and also my enjoyment of working. The lights here are just one portion of that environment but I found that they were one of the most important to me. Really even more than the camera on many days. I realized it by accident while I was working with them on a day-to-day basis while adjusting them or positioning them how satisfied I was with what I had and how it was performing for me and how much easier it was to get the look I wanted too. I then found myself working more and more, later and later and not feeling quite as tired because I wasn't being fatigued by stuff that didn't work like I wanted it to.

And doesn't whether we enjoy our work pretty much come out one way or another in the finished product?

TeamJoeDawn

06-15-2006, 06:26 PM

Pro Gressive

06-15-2006, 11:54 PM

Good Stuff, you have inspired me as well to build some of these lights by modifying the work lights as well :) I dont know that there are many people on this Forum making there own lights. There was a guy awhile ago doing tests and making his own casings welding them out of some shiny checker board or something. There was footage being posted of him standing on them etc. He was eventually going to sell them, what ever happened to him???

vidled

06-16-2006, 12:24 AM

There was a guy awhile ago doing tests and making his own casings welding them out of some shiny checker board or something. There was footage being posted of him standing on them etc. He was eventually going to sell them, what ever happened to him???

He went to Haiti - loved it - I think he stayed.
:)

Nah, he's still here, look for MattinSTL. You might find him over in the AUDIO forum.

MattinSTL

06-16-2006, 12:47 AM

I sold about 35 of those lights... but I'm taking a break because of all the flo hoo-hah right now. I just want to see what people come up with before I commit to another batch...

Cool Lights

06-16-2006, 05:02 AM

I sold about 35 of those lights... but I'm taking a break because of all the flo hoo-hah right now. I just want to see what people come up with before I commit to another batch...

Well, don't be shy! Show us. That's why I started this thread. I want to see what everyone is doing...

Cool Lights

06-16-2006, 05:09 AM

I think the lights sound great.. I think Im going to try my hand at modifying a work light to make one of those 30 watt units, although I may try to ditch the safety yellow for a more professional black.

Good work!

J

You're absolutely right! I only kept on using those stands because I didn't want to waste them. But powder coating might be an option to get a good tough finish. Don't just paint them. Paint scratches off way too easily...

Also, I will soon be selling these stands on my site in black which I can tell you is very hard to find.

Cool Lights

06-16-2006, 05:44 AM

As I was saying, I'll have some stands in black soon. Also, I am trying to get some larger cast aluminum boxes like the halogen work light ones but larger. The photos here show these items.

This sample fixture seems to be close to what I'm looking for--a couple of small problems that need to be fixed first. I just ordered a 65w spiral light which should also work in this box, but probably just barely.

If you look hard enough on the closeup photo, you can see that I posed a 12" ruler on the face of the light--to give scale. The box is about 15" long x 8" wide but not all of that is usable because of the way the medium base is mounted in it. A bit of wasted space underneath the reflector.

Also, I think I'll lose the glass faceplate. Not necessary. Only will serve to shorten the life of the bulb I think. I should be able to sell these fixtures pretty reasonably once I get the deal finalized. I'm waiting because I have some more samples coming in soon from another source and want to look at those first. Some even larger ones in that batch that may be good for the 150/200w/250w/300w bulbs. I should also have my 250w and 300w separate ballast lights coming in soon too and will post results on that when I get them. Those will be interesting because the cost of replacement will be less than with the current self-ballasted models. Maybe not an issue for most folks--what do you think?

Before I sell this, got to make barn door kits for these larger boxes too. Won't do to not have barndoors on something this large.

MattinSTL

06-16-2006, 05:47 AM

Well, don't be shy! Show us. That's why I started this thread. I want to see what everyone is doing...

I showed everybody a long time ago... I've been doing DIY flo lights since '03... "here's a peek at what I've been working on"... I don't want to revive that thread because as I was saying... I'm taking a break from lights AT THE MOMENT as the dust settles on all this stuff.

I want to evaluate what people feel is most important before I commit to another batch of lights... my projects were someplace between DIY and affordable lights... I wasn't making hardly anything on them, but I wasn't trying to either. Maybe it was the easy way out, but I figured as long as nobody could make anything anywhere near as nice for a lot more then I was charging... then everybody would be happy.

Now with your thread and some of the other flo DIY threads I want to wait and see what's REALLY important to people... I could have made lights of equal output, but much cheaper construction... and it appears that might be the way to go. I was spending over $50 on the aluminum shells alone... with that and some other details it was getting hard to sell single tube fixtures for even $199... sooo time for a break. If people want $99 fixtures instead of $199 fixtures then it means I have to see if that's possible for me to do.

Have you ever considered what you might charge for each of your light designs if you were selling them instead of showing people how to mod or make their own?

I started off wanting to make lights for myself... and then I started running pricing for 15+ lights per "batch"... and that's how I started selling other people the same lights I wanted for myself. With the DIY spirit being pretty high lately (or LOOKING as if it is) I put up my sockets, supports, and reflector material for sale and so far very few takers... so I'm thinking that all the requests I kept getting from people to divulge a total blueprint was mostly talk anyway... I think most people that read threads like this find it interesting, but probably won't commit to actually making these things for themselves... and that's what I originally thought when I started selling others the lights that I made for myself.

I'm waiting to see if a lot of people do start doing the DIY thing and if rock bottom flo lighting is going to get popular... or if I should start making stuff to sell again. I'm already looking at ways to sell effective flo lighting in this new sub-$100 range anyway, but those lights won't be anything like my other lights... and this is why I'm wondering if you'd care to entertain me and put a price on each of the lights that you have made (or perhaps just the small 30w flo)... if you were to start going to the trouble to make these for people how much would you want for each light?

Cool Lights

06-16-2006, 06:10 AM

Have you ever considered what you might charge for each of your light designs if you were selling them instead of showing people how to mod or make their own?

...and this is why I'm wondering if you'd care to entertain me and put a price on each of the lights that you have made (or perhaps just the small 30w flo)... if you were to start going to the trouble to make these for people how much would you want for each light?

I'd say that it might be difficult with the sheet metal boxes until they can be kits and more mass produced to produce them at a price that people would be willing to pay--but I am working on it.

Right now, if I were to sell the 126w softlite (with all attachments) it would cost about $260 for just the sheet metal parts (since I'm ordering small quantities--you've got the base, reflector, yoke, barndoor attachment, hood attachment and yoke mounting hardware--a lot of stuff!). Probably add another $70 for a powder coating option--or people could just paint it like I did the original ones. Electronic parts, sockets, wire, bulbs, etc. would add another--say $100. Another $140 on top of that if you want dimmer. Don't know if people are willing to pay that or not. I guess we'll find out. It's a pretty unique design in what's available right now in fluorescent.

My 200w CFL fixture and yoke that I'm working on now will probably cost $140 with all the parts in the sheet metal version (w/o bulb). If I can get the cast aluminum version one that I want, that should go down significantly to under $100.

As I just posted in this thread, I'll have a larger version of the halogen box for sale soon -- should be under $100 when you get the fixture and bulb. Barndoors may add a bit more--not sure yet. Stand will probably be targetted at $35. Just waiting to evaluate all the samples I have coming in.

I have the "low key" 30w light for sale right now on my site at $189. That's the assembled version. The parts only version would be way, way cheaper than that--for sure sub $100. I actually have already sold one of those assembled ones to a D.P. in Hollywood. Loves it and wants to use it as an on-camera light (35mm camera) even though it is a bit larger than what you would normally see for this use.

The 6 x 55w fixture which I will probably only make to order unless it becomes very popular will be selling for around $370 with all the parts. As has been noted in another thread--a dimmer option would be very expensive for this one. But would sell it assembled for $499 or so probably.

Right now, I need a mass-produced, low cost cast aluminum box for the 110w (2 x 55w) fixture. I think that's what people are going to be more wanting than the 6 x 55w fixture. If you want inexpensive--cast aluminum is the way to go!

zach72

06-16-2006, 12:17 PM

On your worklight version, how were the barndoor mounted on the frame of the light?

TeamJoeDawn

06-17-2006, 01:12 PM

Miracom,

I think it is very admirable that you are willing to share so much of the information you have learned through hard earned (and probably none-so-cheap) experience.

I see that you are making a go of it on your website, with finished units, but I appreciate the energy you have put in here to foster that DIY spirit.

Much like Matt, you are not protective in this forum of the lessons you have learned, but share and hope that others will share their experience too.

Thanks, to both of you guys..

Cheers,
J

thisiswells

06-29-2006, 06:12 PM

there really isn't much in the way of suitable mounting fixtures for these bulbs right now... Anything with a mogul base will work, right? What about a Photoflex Starlite? I just bought one today for a song. They are great tungsten hot lights -- and it sounds like they would be a good match for an inexpensive (~$50) daylight flo globe, too.

Just a thought.

thisiswells

06-29-2006, 06:18 PM

Right now, I need a mass-produced, low cost cast aluminum box for the 110w (2 x 55w) fixture.
I have some Kino Flo Diva Lite's and they are little more than overpriced aquarium lights with dimmers. 55W daylight biax tubes have been used in aquarium lights for years. Check eBay for super cheap daylight balanced aquarium lights. I've seen them for under ~$20 before. Jebo is one brand name that is pretty cheap. Another cool thing is the 55W "Actinic" globes which are the same as Kino's "Super Blue" Visual Effects lamps for Blue Green/FX work. They are also very cheap on eBay.

Cool Lights

07-01-2006, 05:27 AM

Anything with a mogul base will work, right? What about a Photoflex Starlite? I just bought one today for a song. They are great tungsten hot lights -- and it sounds like they would be a good match for an inexpensive (~$50) daylight flo globe, too.

Just a thought.

Well mogul base if you want to use the larger bulbs like the 85w to 200w ones. Otherwise, medium or edison (e26 or e27 also) base for most of the spiral lamps. Remember mogul (also known as E39 or E40) is the larger version of the smaller "medium" edison base. As long as the bulb is "self-ballasted" there should be no problem. As will be seen soon, I am experimenting with some non-ballasted CFL 200w lights. Not sure what I think about it yet, but it does lower bulb replacement cost as you are only replacing the bulb not also the ballast.

Cool Lights

07-01-2006, 05:31 AM

I have some Kino Flo Diva Lite's and they are little more than overpriced aquarium lights with dimmers. 55W daylight biax tubes have been used in aquarium lights for years. Check eBay for super cheap daylight balanced aquarium lights. I've seen them for under ~$20 before. Jebo is one brand name that is pretty cheap. Another cool thing is the 55W "Actinic" globes which are the same as Kino's "Super Blue" Visual Effects lamps for Blue Green/FX work. They are also very cheap on eBay.

Interesting, so the color temperature of the Kino Visual Effects bulbs is in the 10,000K range-because that is what actinic usually is. Well I've said for quite some time now that I thought daylight was better for blue/green screen work. The screen would have to be rendered in all its glory quite a bit better in daylight color temps (or higher!). Actually, the best of all worlds might even be to light the backdrop with daylight and the subject with 3200K. What does anyone else think on that? You get perfectly rendered green behind and a "warmly" lit human in front.

MattinSTL

07-01-2006, 06:57 AM

Cool Lights

07-02-2006, 07:32 AM

Cine Services in STL sold me some green and blue flo tubes that were supposed to be Kino's green and blue "visual effects" tubes and they are so green (or blue) that you can hardly look at them... they make the entire room that color unless you control the spill totally... unless you have adequate room between the person and the green screen it's hard to control the bounce-back... but if you do have distance and can flag off the flo totally... then these green or blue lights will turn your green/blue screen totally, flawlessly green/blue. The light they put out is like fog... it permeates every crease or blemish of the green/blue screen... but like I said, it's borderline TOO effective... so you need distance.

I don't know the color temp of the blue lights I got, but they are ultra-blue, just as the green are ultra-green... it doesn't remind me of a fish tank at all... they are so solidly colored that they make your eyes vibrate when you look at them... :)

Seriously it gives you a headache.

Oh, I misunderstood. Thought these lamps were some kind of special daylight lamp for rendering colors better. It seems you really can make a super rendered blue or green screen with those blue or green tubes. Anyone remember that movie "Dragonslayer" from around 1981. They did really great compositing work in that. Used a backlit screen. Backlit with blue DC operated fluorescent tubes. Probably cost an arm and a leg to find and pay for those back then and it was a huge screen too with tons of tubes behind it.

Of course, as you observed, the person in front of the screen had to be a ways from it to keep from having blue spill problems on them. The DC operation was the best way they had back then to aleviate the problem of flicker. Today, it's no longer an issue with most good electronic ballasts--as you are well aware....

MalcolmOng

07-02-2006, 09:13 AM

The last light looks like a chain gun or something...Really mean. I can't even being to fathom how much effort it must have taken to put all these together. Great job

Carlos_E._Martinez

07-03-2006, 07:05 AM

Cool Lights

07-03-2006, 05:42 PM

This site has some interesting setups for CFLs:

http://homeharvest.com/hydrofarmcompactfluorescents.htm

Prices are not exactly cheap, but...

Kelvin temp is rather high, but a light orange or yelow gel/celophane would warm it.

How linear is the light output is a question mark, though.

I would really be curious how suitable 6400K would be for shooting. Never tried it. They also have a 2700K. That seems like too extreme also. Way too warm probably. I have some 2900K ones I have used before and don't really like them. If I am using "warm" I like 3200 or even 3500 is pretty nice. Just need barndoors and it might be okay. Prices are perhaps a bit much.

roscoe

07-03-2006, 11:24 PM

The other thing to watch is the spikes in the spectrum of the bulbs themselves. Both seem to have a big spke in green and yellow. I'm curios what the CRI of the bulbs are.

Ross

Bird

07-04-2006, 12:12 AM

Cool Lights

07-08-2006, 06:13 AM

Cool video on your website! Who did the music? Nice! I own the Birds Nest Studio in Covington Georgia - http://www.thebirdsneststudio.com (http://www.thebirdsneststudio.com/) - and we're starting to get more serious with our music videos. This forum has been an amazing resource and I have learned much from it in just the couple weeks since I discovered it. Your Light Ideas are great. I will be "borrowing" from you!

Thanks, :dankk2:

Bird

Looks like a nice little studio. My studio started out as a sound studio many years ago and morphed in to a video studio. I have tons and tons of royalty free music on my 89 minute video. Spent a fortune on that alone. Can't even begin to say how many songs are there. Most came from places like musicbakery.com, flying hands music, elite video, opuzz, sounddogs and ultimate tracks. Since I have a sound background, i really understand the necessity of good sound on video and spend quite a bit of time on mixing the final soundtrack down.

My microphone, from my recording days, is a Neumann U87 that was modified by Cameron labs in Tennessee to have a vacuum tube in it. Really changes the character of the mic (and makes it quite a bit more expensive too!). I have a few other mics too of various types. The Neumann of course is not a location mic and is a very unconventional mic to use in video also. Before that I had a U67 but sold it when I quit doing music and sound recording. Wasn't suitable for anything but music because of it's mediocre noise floor. Kept the U87 though because it was cleaner sounding for voiceovers, etc.

Bird

07-08-2006, 08:58 AM

Looks like we might be morphing that way too (video). I love the medium, but I am a gospel music performer as well, and that is truly my calling so I can never give that up, but we are heading into the video world in order to do TV. I'm doing a cable show right now locally and we hope to expand that as our product improves. I'm learning a lot by doing tho. I liked your work and ideas!

God Bless,

Bird

TimurCivan

07-08-2006, 08:33 PM

Im building a "Warm White ( 3500K) Flourescant ringlite.

Will update with Pics and scematics.

TeamJoeDawn

02-21-2007, 04:11 PM

*bump* This is a great thread... I wish I had more to contribute. I will make one of these!!!!

J

Cool Lights

02-21-2007, 04:49 PM

*bump* This is a great thread... I wish I had more to contribute. I will make one of these!!!!

Wow, we've come a long way since July. Seems so long ago.

What kind of work are you doing? If you're doing closein work, why not start by making something simple like the fluorescent halogen conversion. I covered the barn door part in my "Cool Lights Video Magazine" (by any other name, a VLOG) recently.

http://www.coollights.biz/wordpress/archives/category/cool-lights-video-magazine

Here's the barndoor segment specifically:

http://www.coollights.biz/wordpress/archives/21#more-21

kplo

02-21-2007, 08:22 PM

Miracom,
The Yoke Adaptor video link on the video-magazine site doesn't work.
Ken

Cool Lights

02-21-2007, 08:50 PM

Kplo,

Thats strange, its working for me. This is the direct link to the Cool Lights Video Magazine Universal Yoke Adapter video.

http://www.coollights.biz/wordpress/archives/22#more-22

What browswer are you using and what version? I'm testing under Internet Explorer 6 and Mozilla 2 (latest). Works fine under both. Its Windows Media too. I have to admit I haven't tested under a Mac (don't have one).

snarfer

02-26-2007, 12:18 PM

Interesting thread. I am pretty impressed with some of this sheet metal work. I don't understand what the purpose of the hood is though. If you need to soften the light why not just put some paper in front?

Also I am curious about the CRI of the compact fluorescents used. So far I have only been able find 90+ CRI lamps in T-8, T-12 and PL-L sizes (as pictured below), and only from Philips. The compact fluorescents all seem to be around 82 CRI, which is not good enough for my purposes. Am I missing something here? Are high CRI compact fluorescents available? Who makes them?

I found myself in the situation of needing to build my own lights as well. So I made the light pictured here. Runs on 240 VAC, 4x55w PL-L tubes 5000K, 91 CRI, fully dimmable. The honeycomb is also home made. Construction is mainly PVC with some polycarbonate. Heaviest part is the ballast. I also constructed a two tube version (not pictured).

I'm working on a new design that will no longer be a patent violation, and will offer additional features at lighter weight. I wonder what you guys think. Kino sells the Diva Lite 400 for about $1000. Are there people out there interested in something along these lines at half the price?

My next design will be lighter weight, and dmx controlled. Any other features people would be interested in? Just to be clear, although I built these at home, some of the materials and fasteners are not the kind of thing you'd find at your local hardware store. So I wouldn't say the plans would be of much use to anyone.

Cool Lights

02-26-2007, 04:27 PM

The left picture isn't very clear. What did you use for the housing or how did you make it? What country are you in--if you're using 220v that usually indicates somewhere other than USA...

As for the original bulbs I used, they were GE 3500K I believe with CRI 82 which was fine for my purposes. 82 CRI is only 18% off of 100. Most people won't see this difference especially if you are using a light like this to light a backdrop like a green screen which is primarily what I used my original 6x55's for.

When you do the research into what it takes to make a CRI 90 bulb, how really difficult it is to make something like that and even higher, you realize that you are negating many of the reasons people go to fluorescent in the first place--namely energy efficiency. The higher the CRI, the less light comes out of the tube. There is a balance to be struck between energy efficiency and good color rendering. I wrote about it here:

http://www.coollights.biz/wordpress/archives/13

and here:

http://www.coollights.biz/wordpress/archives/14

Both articles talking about all the issues in fluorescent tube production, why there is a green spike, how Color Temperature and CRI are measured and why its so tough to find higher CRI bulbs in 3200K and 5600K. In a nutshell though, we are really a small minority and are competing with the rest of the world which doesn't really care about CRI or Color temp and thus most of the tubes produced are mostly meant for grocery stores and warehouses. They mainly care about energy efficiency and tube life.

As for the hood its a long story and you had to be there. It was just an extra experiment that I tried when I realized how extremely bright a 6x55 was. It also related to how expensive dimming ballasts are--I was trying other tricks to see how more diffusion could play a role in a poor man's dimmer. I also tried polystyrene diffusion material too.

I did show how to add dimming ballasts and dimmers in my video though for those really interested in it and not afraid of the extra costs but a dimming 55w ballast costs at least $120 in the USA unless you are lucky enough to find a deal where someone is liquidating some. And that doesn't include the costs for adding DMX or any special 10v dimming manual controllers.

As for higher CRI bulbs, I am selling CRI >87 on my site now in 3200K and 5600K color temps. CRI 90 and higher are available but (for sure) a bit tougher to find and for sure more expensive.

There are definitely people out there interested in dimmable 4x55 units. I'll have dimmable models for sale on my site to go with our non-dimmable units and it will be priced under $500 to go along with our committment to bringing the price down and making energy efficient lighting affordable. As I mentioned earlier, the price of dimming ballasts makes this a tougher, but not impossible issue to solve.

Car3o

11-10-2007, 06:25 PM

Richard,

Is it possible to purchase just the halogen to cfl conversion in a .mov or .avi? I'd really like to purchase the whole dvd, but i'm only going to be using the one tutorial?

all the best,
-Rh

Cool Lights

11-14-2007, 05:54 AM

Hi Car30, I haven't broken it out before and hadn't thought to do that at least at this time.

JohnMC

11-16-2007, 09:46 PM

I'm working on a new design that will no longer be a patent violation, and will offer additional features at lighter weight. I wonder what you guys think. Kino sells the Diva Lite 400 for about $1000. Are there people out there interested in something along these lines at half the price?

My next design will be lighter weight, and dmx controlled. Any other features people would be interested in? Just to be clear, although I built these at home, some of the materials and fasteners are not the kind of thing you'd find at your local hardware store. So I wouldn't say the plans would be of much use to anyone.

What patent is he talking about? I'm currently working on some lights for myself, but some other people I know would also like to buy a couple. I just want to make sure I am not stealing any property.

Thanks,
John

KROOKEDKROWN

12-05-2007, 09:32 AM

Do you have any plans for any of these so I could take a wack at a couple of these my self

waefre

12-12-2007, 07:39 PM

Any good leads on blub suppliers?

egendron

12-15-2007, 08:07 AM

Cool Lights

12-17-2007, 08:36 PM

They do all look wonderful. But what I'm really wondering about is flicker. Flicker is the achilles heel of the flourescent world right?
So....
Do you have any?
If not, HOW did you avoid that problem????
-edg

Flicker is one of the least problems today when you use an electronic ballast. Advance, Fulham, Universal, Sylvania all have reasonably priced non-dimming ballasts which yield great results and no flicker at any shutter and/or frame rate. We sell Sylvania ballasts on my site and they are well liked by everyone that uses them.

erdiaz

01-06-2009, 08:02 AM

Hello, Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA

I'm in a project and have to make my own equipement, because:
1.- here in my country is very espensive to rent cine equipement, and
2.- we need to carry (several weeks) the equipement to the jungle in order to make a feature (independent) movie.

I have constructed my ligths, (as well as a crane, a dolly, a kind of steady cam wich I call "Dove Cam", among other devices) but have not been able to make the barndoors's hinges in a usefull way.

So can you help me giving me some advice?

thanks in advance.

Jim Brennan

01-06-2009, 09:00 AM

You can make to doors out of aluminum. Attach 2 "L" brackets to the barn door so that the holes in the part of the bracket on the adjacent side (the side not on the barn door) face each other, Do the same thing on the body of the light so that brackets on the light and the barn door line up with each other. Put a small nut bolt with a lock washer of some type through the holes and tighten.

Here's a pic of a Smith Victor (http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=91934) light with a similar design, except it uses a single "U" shaped bracket on each part instead of 2 "L" brackets, but it's the same idea.