CTB gels on a softbox?

J

JaredSMark

Active member
I'm using an Arri 1k with a chimera softbox. I discovered that I really like the daylight color temperature over tungsten as my eyes are just telling me that I like the white-ish/clear color better than the yellow tone. Is there any possible way that I could recreate this using a softbox? I could start with a CTB gel on the 1k, but it would be passing through both the inner baffle and the outer one. Or, maybe I could use the gel on one of the baffles - the inner or outer one. I'm not sure how that would play out, but if I did use a gel at all, I'm afraid it may reduce the light output too much since the softbox tames the light to hell and back in the first place.
 
Ive done this with a 1k in an octobox - put Daylight behind the front baffle

Works with attendant light loss - plenty of light to do a nice interview in a daylight room

I actually abandoned it because I hate soft boxes - but it works

S
 
I believe the inner baffle is the one that does most of the diffusing, so if I had to put it inside, yeah I'd do it on the outer one. I've got a medium softbox so it'll take quite a bit of it, so I might as well buy a roll of full CTB and see how it works. I can always take it down and use it on something else.
 
If you are doing a proper white balance your light should look white not a yellow tone in camera.
That being said, sure you can gel your 1K softbox with a full CTB, but you will loose almost two stops by doing so.
 
If you have enough money, I would look into fluorescent fixtures instead of doing this. There are a bunch of DeSisti De Lux fixtures on eBay for a pretty good price (I own one, it's a really nice light although not as portable as say a Diva). These will put out way more light than a 1k with a chimera and full CTB. But again, as David stated, you shouldn't be getting a yellow tone. This would just help if there's daylight coming in through windows, doors, etc.
 
IMO its well worth doing

You can include windows in shot (which often gives depth to a composition) and don't risk the wonky colours of all but the most expensive flourecent fixtures

And cost wise about 1/3 of the price per lumen compared to Divas (excluding long term costs associated with the higher power draw)

I built a really nice light like this - just it was to big and bulky for my purposes

S
 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwqNRqDx680 - if you look near the end they do an A/B test of tungstens Vs. tungstens that have CTB gels on them. I love the look of the gelled tungstens. I actually won't be filming in daylight, it's just that my eyes are telling me to go with some of those gels and see how it fares. I guess the 5600k temperature is just my taste? I've looked at some of my footage and while it's not too yellow/orange, there's definitely just a bit of it there that I'd like removed so I think the CTB gel will work well.

If the time ever comes to shoot with windows or any natural light, I'll have all of the CTB gel I need on hand. I think I'll pick a roll of it up and do some experimenting. If my eyes tell me that it looks better, that's all that matters =)
 
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That video ridiculous...
"Here is tungsten.. notice it looks orange... now here is CTB on it... see it looks more blue?"

They left out
"Did we tell you we don't know how to white balance a camera?"
 
JaredSMark said:
I believe the inner baffle is the one that does most of the diffusing, so if I had to put it inside, yeah I'd do it on the outer one. I've got a medium softbox so it'll take quite a bit of it, so I might as well buy a roll of full CTB and see how it works. I can always take it down and use it on something else.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter (as far as color goes - heat is another story) where the gel ends up. It could be on a frame in front of the light, it could be right in front of the bulb (though it could melt or fade). It has nothing to do with where the diffusion comes into the path.

It's usually easiest to gel the inner baffle - so you don't have to tape sheets of gel together. But gelling a softbox is generally a pain, unless it's a small box.
 
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