Coolest. Thing. Ever.

I had a shoot outdoors the other day - I was told it was on a large patio "in full shade" and didn't bring my 12x butterfly. Got there and it was under a big timber pergola - the sort of deck-roof with long slats and open space between. So, very hard-striped shade. I had a lot of scrim fabric with me and a 10' stepladder, and it was a b*tch to get all the fabric clamped to the underside. The framing was way too fat for superclamps or spring clamps. I had some 10' conduit in the truck and we managed to get it rigged.

That's when I went looking for a bar-clamp solution. I found some with square tube and thumbscrews, but these just seem more elegant and slick. Well conceived bit of gear.
 
Michael Carter said:
I had a shoot outdoors the other day - I was told it was on a large patio "in full shade" and didn't bring my 12x butterfly. Got there and it was under a big timber pergola - the sort of deck-roof with long slats and open space between. So, very hard-striped shade. I had a lot of scrim fabric with me and a 10' stepladder, and it was a b*tch to get all the fabric clamped to the underside. The framing was way too fat for superclamps or spring clamps. I had some 10' conduit in the truck and we managed to get it rigged.

That's when I went looking for a bar-clamp solution. I found some with square tube and thumbscrews, but these just seem more elegant and slick. Well conceived bit of gear.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that that gizmo can be one of those, "How did I live with out it" gadgets. I've eyed the bar clamps in hardware stores before and always wondered about modifying them for film use.
 
also seems a great idea for small indoor sets (animation in particular) where you don't want big lighting stands cluttering up the floor.

I already have some of Digital Juice's suction cap lighting mounts, but am seriously considering getting a few of these as well.
 
DSC01643.jpgi made up a set of various size clamps the cheap way... i just put a 3/8 bolt thru them

cheers
 
Thans very much, this is one of the most useful things I've seen in a long time!
 
legrevedotcom said:
Carter, did you happen to take a snap of that setup? Would love to see it..
Click to expand...

Nope, I meant to but it was a hustle to get it rigged. Basically a patio about 14' x 20' with a grill at the end, covered with 2x4's on their sides with about 4" between each "slat" - so hard stripes of full sunlight on the set. We just used spring clamps to stretch diffusion fabric overhead, used about 4 pieces of 4' x 9'.

Since the grill was at the end and was getting some sun, we used superclamps to attach a 6x6 Westcott Scrim Jim to the edge of the pergola and extended the diffused "ceiling" by another 6' for safety - clamped one end to the end of the lumber and supported the other end with a sandbagged beefy baby.

I usually have a sack of "diffusion" with me; just sort of stretchy-soft polyester from the fabric store, about 4' x three yards, 4 or 5 sheets. Indoors, for big soft light, I make sort of a 'wall' with c-stands and 5/8 metal tubing, and clip the sheets to it for what's essentially a ceiling height x 4, 8, or 12" "softbox" - then I stick open faced HIDs behind it. Used that forever with strobes for fashion stills, great when you want that natural and soft light - just a big wall of glowing white. You can angle it off to the side or do it straight on (behind the camera). So I had enough material to cover the "ceiling" outside. (I have a huge duffel with diffusion, duvatyne, and yards of black felt - the black felt is cheap enough I don't mind cutting scraps or strips for special black out needs, and it's very light weight. The whole bag seems to weigh a pound or two and it's a life saver - I'll stick that white fabric in places you just wouldn't want to put a pricey 12x12 silk, don't care if it gets dirty or torn, etc).
 
Not really new, Its just a furniture clamp. Can't say they aren't awesome though, other companies make similar parts:
http://www.cinegearstore.com/products/Furniture-Clamp-Sliding-Baby-Pin.html
http://www.cinemagadgets.com/productdetail/3017

Or you can get the whole clamp here:

http://www.cinemagadgets.com/category/mounting-equipment/clamps/furniture-clamps



A lot of clamps have just baby pins welded on them. I'm planning on purchasing a bunch of c-clamps and welding baby pins and junior receivers on them. And save a few bucks
Considering a 10" c clamp with baby pin is like 60-70$ and the clamp itself is around 25$ while each pin is maybe 5$
 
Indeed, I've seen every variant - I like these for their either-way mounting, T-handles vs. thumbscrews and generally elegant approach.

I have about a dozen furniture clamps from 6" to 36" so a slide-on piece appealed to me. (And I don't own a welder...)
 
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