My New Home-made DIY Mattebox

A

andybiz_2005

Well-known member
Hi all,

I just completed making a matte box for my DVX100A. It took me about 3 hours to complete it & materials were cheap. In total, I spent $6:00 on the corrogulated plastic & a roll of plastic adhesive tape. I made the mattebox so that its width is wider than its height (something like 16:9, but not the exact ratio.)

Let me know your comments. The screenshots are found in the link below


http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLanding.jsp?shareCode=A454903C155&cb=PW

Thanks.

Andrew
 
Hey Jarred,

Thanks for the reply. Actually, if you look at the side of the camera, you'll notice that my matte box sags slightly to the bottom (pointing downwards) To correct this, I fastened the mattebox to my DVX lens hood with the plastic adhesive tape. Removes the unsightly sagging. Well, yeah, it does look big compared to the size of my DVX. But it's big size shields the lens better from sun flares during outdoor wedding shoots. And it's size give it a little more prestige in the eyes of my clients :) Not to mention making it look like a real sophisticated cinema camera. But then again, *sigh!!* it's homemade.
 
andybiz_2005 said:
. And it's size give it a little more prestige in the eyes of my clients :) Not to mention making it look like a real sophisticated cinema camera. But then again, *sigh!!* it's homemade.
Click to expand...

andy my friend.. if you got the real answer from 90% of the people that buy $1500 matteboxes, the #1 reason is to make the camera look cooler.. im not kidding.

good work.
 
Actually, Jarred, besides making my DVX look more pro than it is, is there any real use to using a mattebox? Does it really significantly cut out or shield the lens from bright sunlight? Does it enhance the color of the footage being shot? Does it help to widen the image so that it functions like a wide-angle lense, or anamorphic lens? Thanks Jarred.
 
But I also heard that the more expensive matteboxs allows the cinematographer to slide in filters & other enhancing techniques to improve the exposure of the image. Am I wrong on this?
 
yes you are totally right.. but i promise you many people with them have never used a filter in them. As barry would say its like getting a rear sunroof in your car.
 
Thanks Jarred for the compliment. My next project is to building my own ring-light from home-made stuff & mount it on the end of my DVX.

In some of the old town, out back shops, I notice that they have these neon-light signs displaying the name of their shop. I'm hoping to source for lighting shop that can twist & bend a long tube of white neon light into a round coil. Then put a round reflective plate behind the coiled neon light. Then drill a large hole through the center of the reflective plate the size of my DVX's lens & slide it in nicely :)
 
What I'm achieving for is not just 1 coil alone. I'm trying to squeeze in at least 4-5 coils of these small-diameter neon-lights so that they spread outwards in a circular fashion. This will effectively create an "area" light, which I've learned from Jeremy Birn's digital lighting & rendering book will produce gentle illumination while eliminating hard-edged shadows. This would be good for portrait shots. I think each neon coil should be 3-4 watts each so that when they all add up, the light wouldn't be too strong on the subjects I'm shooting. I highly recommend Jeremy Birn's book. It covers a lot on digital lighting techniques, but can also be applied to real-life lighting. He's a nice guy too, very helpful.
 
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andybiz_2005 said:
Actually, Jarred, besides making my DVX look more pro than it is, is there any real use to using a mattebox? Does it really significantly cut out or shield the lens from bright sunlight? Does it enhance the color of the footage being shot? Does it help to widen the image so that it functions like a wide-angle lense, or anamorphic lens? Thanks Jarred.
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They are actually very helpful when shooting in places where there is only overhead, harsh lighting present. The lighting from above lightens the dust&dirt on the lens and looks ugly, a matte box blocks the light nicely:)

And yeah, they look really sexy too

:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
You did a real nice job for a homemade deal. I bought a chroziel matte box for my dvx when we bought the camera. I can count on one hand the amount of times it was mounted and used. the most useful portion of it was the french flag. i sold it just before I purchased my HVX. I was told by a professional company that it wouldn't fit the hvx. They were full of crap, it would not only have fit but worked perfectly. My concern is still the french flag, but will figure that out when I get there and need one.
 
i did something similar a while back with aluminum and gaff tape. no filter holders, just a big sunshade. it actually helps with the flares but most of all it looks like you mean business..... i think jarred is right on. most people buy to make the cam look cool. kinda silly, but i'd rather feel silly about spending $15 to make one than spending $500+ to buy one....

ff.jpg
 
Wow, awesome cheezweezl!

Your mattebox looks so much more complete than mine, with those 2 guide rods & what are those white color gear-like wheels used for? Did you machine those wheels yourself too?

For me, I'm not quite satisfied with my mattebox, cause I can't add any filters to it. I'm thinking of remodeling the existing mattebox to include a tiny slot at the top to slide in some 4"X4" filters. But haven't figured that part out yet.

I used a black color corragulated plastic board to make the mattebox with. Initially I considered hard cardboard, but then I also wanted a water-proof material like plastic to protect my lens during slight drizzles.
 
Man! Now I'm in doubt if I should make one or not. I don't want to make one if it's not worth it. I mean, it does like really professional. But isn't it flimsy and like would fall off if hit with wind pretty hard. I'm going to film a car chase for a scene in my film this summer and the camera would be hit with a lot of wind.

Where did you get the template (instructions) from?
 
andybiz_2005 said:
Wow, awesome cheezweezl!

Your mattebox looks so much more complete than mine, with those 2 guide rods & what are those white color gear-like wheels used for? Did you machine those wheels yourself too?

For me, I'm not quite satisfied with my mattebox, cause I can't add any filters to it. I'm thinking of remodeling the existing mattebox to include a tiny slot at the top to slide in some 4"X4" filters. But haven't figured that part out yet.
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i think the existing dvx hood which is the base of our sunshades can be modified to hold at least one 4x4. i think someone here on the forum did it actually.

the big white wheel on my rig is a follow focus. i didn't make it, it's an indifocus. the rods are store bought as well.

LuckyProducer said:
Man! Now I'm in doubt if I should make one or not. I don't want to make one if it's not worth it. I mean, it does like really professional. But isn't it flimsy and like would fall off if hit with wind pretty hard. I'm going to film a car chase for a scene in my film this summer and the camera would be hit with a lot of wind.

Where did you get the template (instructions) from?
Click to expand...

mine is pretty solid. not flimsy at all. a gust of wind would not stand a chance. it's been hit with a disco ball before when someone got careless with the jib and it didn't even dent.

mine is made from aluminum and gaff tape. i posted this a while back in the DIY section and actually made a tutorial with templates. here's a link.

DIY mattebox
 
The matte box definately works. The light system inside the camera is constantly being fooled by the ambient light from elsewhere in the room and affects how the picture/image looks. Once all that light is gone, the true light of the frame becomes the center of the image focus . . PLUS . . one can easily mount ND filters or other other filters to affect how light functions against the image to include putting in some serious lighting and some heavy ND's and then get some low F Stops and thus some control on the DOF :) The latter is something I really like and would like a lot more of!
 
dont gotta spend 500-1500 though, the HD Mattebox by Hyson is the real deal for 250 or something, mines coming tomorrow, hand delivered. Lucky im local!
 
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