Here's a peek at what I've been working on...

[MattinSTL]

Norm... I just shipped out 350' of cables this past wednesday. I'm doing cables BIG TIME. So far I've kept pretty low key about all this stuff because it turns me off when people stress price over and over. I understand that we all want to save money where we can... and I actually began ALL my projects with one of three motivations:

1) To create something new and cool.
2) To improve upon something already available.
3) To offer an affordable alternative to something prohibitively expensive.

Everything I do falls into a combination of those 3 ideas. I haven't been pushing the cables because they were intended to meet the first 2 criteria at the same prices as current pro shops (not Markertek) charge for cables. Markertek is only a few dollars cheaper on all their cables, but that few dollars is enough that it's not worth it for me to do it... and in fact, I'm doing mine with silver solder... and you've seen the short cables right? They are out of this world! The long cables are made with Musilux, which is soft as a spaghetti noodle (ever coil up Star Quad? Know how you have to constantly flip the coil or twist as you wind? Musilux is TWICE as flexible and soft... so WAY easier to coil)... and on top of that it's also HALF the resistance, HALF the impedence, HALF the capacitance, and 100% shielded instead of 95%! It is CLEARLY the superior cable... and of course it costs me about 30% MORE then StarQuad... so you see how I'm not trying to beat out Markertek's prices?

Okay so the lights... they are to meet criteria 1 and 3... If you can afford a Diva 200 then you should probably get that! If you can afford a Gyoury system then you should probably get that! If you want something really cool, unique, with high-quality light output at less then HALF the price of those other fixtures... then I can probably meet your needs. So far the lights I sell are intended primarily for small to medium sized sets... I developed these as softbox replacements... but with a deep parabolic for more throw. Without restating all my design goals (that are already in this thread)... the gist is a small, punchy flo... which runs WAY cooler then normal lights (but still gets warm, just like a Diva or Gyoury or Caselight)... If somebody sees these and thinks they are going to flood an area like a 4-bank would... then I set them straight right away. These are amazing for the size... but they aren't intended (or expected) to FLOOD a large area!

If I'm able to make subtle improvements and people are willing to pay for the necessary price increases... then you will see a continuous evolution of lighting from me... I have a lot of ideas that I'm working on right now... it's just a question of how close I want to get to the price of Kino, Gyoury, Lowell. I can tell you that I'm really excited about this current batch. You will see some things, such as bulldog clips... that still show the DIY heritage... but when I'm able to afford it I'll look into runs of custom replacements that serve the same purpose.

To answer your other question, some people suggested that the reflective outer surface could cause an unwanted reflection from some other light source. I never had a problem with that in nearly a year, but the brushed finish looks really cool and it's only about as reflective as my Mole Richardson fresnels were... still a "bright" surface, because it's silver... but not exactly reflective.

As for the cables, I plan to set up something official with Jarred... but I figure he's busy with the sci-fest and after it's over we'll probably get something worked out. The pricing is about what you'd see for a cable from Trew... but with silver solder and Musilux construction... unless you want StarQuad (I have that too... but it's a no-contest... trust me). Short cables can be the craziest things you've ever seen... if you like color they will not disappoint you.

I've got a simple little stabilizer thing going too... not much to it... and definitely NOT like steadicam... but pretty darn cool anyway. As soon as I get my grips in I'll bump that thread up. Plus I'm doing the skaters and a crane project. Eventually I want to offer every solution that either a low-budget filmmaker or a fanatical perfectionist... could want. (2 different classes of product... but I'm very passionate about both extremes)

These will be done tomorrow... then I'll edit this post to show the completed light (dig that vent... the tool that does that cost a couple bucks):

[Norm Sanders]

Matt, thanks for the info. Nope, never seen pic one of your cables, so much of what you said was completely new to me.

Feel free to PM me some pics, links, etc. I've got to wait to get my lights in before I know what else I'll need in that area, but I'm sure I'm game for some cables. Crane my also be of interest, as right now I've been seriously thinking of the Kessler Crane.

[MattinSTL]

Still tweaking this simple idea... thought I'd be done today, but I have other things going. It's pretty easy to see what's happening here.

If you bought lights from me and want to add this I'll send you a kit for cost of $15 per light, plus actual shipping. You can easily turn your lights into barndoor adaptable with just a drill. What you see will be on both ends and is easily installed and removed when you want the ends flat... the barndoors can be anything from coroplast to black foam core... I'll supply the coroplast with any new lights bought. The idea behind this is/was that barndoors for flos are NEVER big enough... they can be as big as you want like this... or as small. It's a simple sheet of foamcore... which you probably already use as bounce or dark board now.

Okay so maybe I'll post pics of the totally finished lights tomorrow. I get into a state of overthinking some things and that slows me down... that and I have a busy life outside of all this... sorry for the delay.

[HorseFilms]

That's looking pretty sweet, Matt.

[MattinSTL]

Still rough on the doors... but I just wanted to show you the idea behind it. I think you can see that I'm trying to solve the most basic problems that frustrate us all on a set (unless you could afford top shelf stuff from the start).

[slinks]

yes Matt it does look amazing. I can't wait!

[MattinSTL]

I'll have to show the pics of the barndoor system tomorrow I guess... my larger clips didn't come today... but I'm 95% there... as soon as the clips get here I'll be able to wrap up each light in 5 minutes.




The larger stand is one of my favorites... the 3398b... but the smaller stand is a Bogen 8' stacker... a pretty small $69 stand. Either one can hold these with no problems... on a busy set you may want to sandbag the stands... but the lights weigh about the same as a Gyoury... I need to scale 'em to get an exact number for you, but they're pretty light considering the construction.

[MattinSTL]

The additional mount I added on the side allows the light to position at any angle with just a Manfrotto 2905, which is $28 from B&H. Previously you had to have a double-ball to accomplish this. The gel clips are nice too... they can be pushed out of the way or utilized... and the barndoors will swing around those.

[Luis Caffesse]

SWEET!
Those look great Matt!

[MattinSTL]

Thanks Luis... I'm pretty happy with 'em. The barndoor system pushes them over the top in functionality. If you've ever used a flo then you know the aggravation of the included barndoors... even on the Diva they don't cut it. Why? Because the ONLY way a barndoor on a flo can be 100% effective is if it's AS WIDE AS THE FIXTURE! So who wants to engineer a 20-24" deep barndoor? It would ruin the look of the light... so they give you 12" and under barndoors... with my system you just pop in a piece of black foam core and you're set.

You can still use 6" or 12" foamcore... or whatever you like. I'm going to include 6" and 12" black coroplast doors with each light... but foamcore is better. I have a ton of black coroplast from my KinoFlo experiments last year... when I thought I'd just make fake-Divas... so I cut that up into shipping friendly bites. This coroplast does not like to be out in the sun though... so I want to issue the disclaimer now that the included black coroplast is a temp BONUS for you to play with until you have to buy black foam core.

At this point I think I have 6 still available.

EDIT: Looks like 3 or 4 left as of 7am, Feb 16th. Hemophilia... thanks... that's what it's all about!

[hemophilia]

Matt- That looks absurdly fantastic. I'd buy one but I'm flat broke at the moment. Looks like an awesome creation for an awesome price though, so I hope you're getting piles of orders and inspiration to keep this up. I don't imagine those 6 will last very long (before being sold that is).

Kinoflo Diva 200 ~ US$550
Lowel Caselight2 ~ US$750
St. Louis Special ~ US$200

Seriously! Obviously there are some pros & cons to each of these lights and they're different-style products that aren't exactly comparable... but it looks like Matt's has its own pros where the others do not (like they look like they could survive a direct hit from the combined might of the entire U.S. Military-- flexibility of his barndoor set-up, etc...). And value-- whew!

Well keep up the good work and if I'm lucky you'll still be cranking these out in a couple months when I can offer you more than just kind words of encouragement.

[MattinSTL]

I just want to remind anybody who bought lights before this current generation that I'll either perform the improvements or sell you a kit to do the barndoors, etc (it's easy) at cost...

As I try to improve each generation of this light I want previous buyers to remain just as happy with the ones they bought. Since you'll notice that the price MUST go up to pay for changes... it's not like somebody else is getting something for free that you didn't get... and that's why I said I'll help you in any way you like. I will FULLY support every person who buys something from me. I just want that statement to be in this thread.

Thanks to everybody who has been supportive of this project.

[Luis Caffesse]

Matt, you're a DIY fiend! Last we PM'd I thought you were going to get me pics of some XLR cables you were working on as well, but never heard back.

I've got one of Matt's cables and I can tell you they are bad ass.
Grade A construction - this thing feels like a tank could run over it and it still wouldn't short out.

If these lights are anything like his cables - then they're MORE than worth every penny.

[LRich007]

I was reading the thread and I must say I like how you feel about making things. I think I'm not bad making stuff. I think your lights are great and I would like to make something like yours. If you don't mind I'm not clear about the Ballast used on your lights. I see you are using videssence fluorescent biax lamps. Where did you get the connectors and the ballast used. I am using briteck lights and I would like to use fluorescents but I want to build my own. Just in case I don't like the results. This way I won't go broke trying something new.

[MattinSTL]

They are Kino Flo TRUE MATCH 21" flos... I've linked them several times. $21.50 from B&H ($23 shipped at my price which is all I charge... I'm not big on Videssence. These come in the brand new Kino Box and the tubes are clearly marked as KINO)... as for the rest I'm sorry but I've put a LOT of time and a LOT of money into this... I'm charging a super-low price, but I have no interest in disclosing everything I've learned over the last year just for the asking. I've taken great pride in this project and it has been a TON of work to get to this point. Many parts had to be bought with 500 piece minimums! You can't just buy this stuff by the each... or even 10 at a time... or even 20 at a time. Nothing I'm using (except the parts from B&H, which I've fully disclosed) had minimums under 250 pieces. That's saying nothing of all the specialty tools I've bought to do this. It costs me $140-150 to sell a $199 light. I'm working on ways to constantly improve the lights as well as lower the price... because it's a lot of work at this point... but I truly feel like it's a benevolent gesture and I'm having fun building them (as long as people are happy)... and I want to eventually evolve this into something big. So far there are some people who I've given information, parts, or units to... and I'm lucky if I get a quick thanks.

If you open a restaurant because you want to share a dish that you really enjoy and you put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it (not to mention $)... and even if you open and you aren't making much on anything you sell... would you be keen on just handing your recipe over to some guy that comes in and buys a soda? Please don't take this as rude... but you'd be surprised at how many PMs I get from people who just want me to dump a parts list on them... half of the light couldn't even be made unless I either supplied some of my own parts... or unless you want to do all the legwork I did and then buy 500 piece boxes of stuff. I appreciate the guys who are showing us some cool DOF adapters and what not... but the one guy who is going to SELL them to us (as reasonable prices) isn't hooking us all up with his Asian suppliers. I hope you understand where I'm coming from on this... I'm pretty easy-going and helpful guy 99.9% of the time on these boards... it's just that I've had a lot of people asking for parts lists and blue-prints.

If I ever get sick of this I'll dump parts on the marketplace and disclose everything I've learned over the past 2-3 years... but between you and me... I hope that one day I can make a living on all the various DIY stuff that I do... even if it is just $40 profit at a time. (10 items = $400) No REAL business can operate with these margins... but as you have read in this thread... I'm not a real business... I'm just a guy who means well and wants to make everybody happy as I reduce my dependence on the suck-work I've had to do to make ends meet for the past 12 years.

Anyway... here's the barndoors everybody... sorry for the blabbering on.