So apparently gels can melt...

dr_stupid

dr_stupid

Active member
I was somehow under the impression that they were made out of some space age heat-proof polymer or something. I clipped a piece of CTB right to the face of a Britek 600W, and then put a softbox on. When I finished the shoot, I took the softbox off, and the gel had essentially vaporized. Ooops! Clearly I am an idiot.

Anyway, just curious, what is a safe distance, and how do you guys usually attach them? Clip them to barn doors? What about if you're using a softbox?

Thanks for your help!

EDIT - oops, thought I was posting in lighting...sorry.
 
It wasn't the distance from the front of the fixture that caused your gel to melt, it was the fact that it was trapped in what is essentially an oven because it was inside the softbox. When using gels with a softbox, I get big ones and clip them to the front diffusion panel of the softbox.
 
gels and softboxes don't usually mix well. if they don't melt, the color will burn out and still need replaced periodically. clip onto the barndoors instead.
 
I had the similar experience.
It could actually set a fire too!
I clipped mine to barn doors and it still melted, even with 300W lighting kit.
So now what I do is put them on and turn off the lights when not shooting because they cool off fast, and turn them back on when shooting.
Even in the professional TV studio environment, they change gels/filters ocassionally because the colors fade away.
At least, it was my experience.
 
dr_stupid said:
I was somehow under the impression that they were made out of some space age heat-proof polymer or something. I clipped a piece of CTB right to the face of a Britek 600W, and then put a softbox on. When I finished the shoot, I took the softbox off, and the gel had essentially vaporized. Ooops! Clearly I am an idiot.

Anyway, just curious, what is a safe distance, and how do you guys usually attach them? Clip them to barn doors? What about if you're using a softbox?

Thanks for your help!

EDIT - oops, thought I was posting in lighting...sorry.
Click to expand...

L M A O

Take this post and your iusername and I'm just siiting here cracking up.
:cheesy: :beer: :grin:

Please be careful out there Doc.
 
I just got a lowel omni 500. AWWWW, my first light! And I also got a soft box and some gels. Without me trying it first if I put the gel over the light/speed ring inside the soft box is it going to melt? Even if it is going to fade...how much life will my very expensive gel have?
 
Thanks John... :) In honor of this gaf, I decided to finally give myself an avatar -- my namesake, the original "Dr. Stupid," also known as Stimpson J. Cat...

You should have seen the gel -- there was almost no trace of it left -- it straight up evaporated...
 
At least that's all that happened. So you lost a gel, no big deal. Next time, you'll know. I don't even want to get into some of the **** I've done and am now ashamed of.
 
As was said above, you have to gel the unit from a distance (outside of the box).

The best solution would be a 4x4 frame of gel to put in front.

Gels are amazingly heat resistant - I just got home from a shoot where I had a 10k gelled with CTO from 2pm to 2am without any melting problems (it was just clipped to the doors).

I also have done the same earlier this week, but with CTB. The only problem is the gel fading. You have to have a decent distance.


Kevin Zanit
 
Don't run any gels under a softbox... but if you use gels with that 600w very often you should buy some heatshield anyway... (heat resistant gel that you place closest to the light)...

I clipped gels to the barndoors of Mole 300w (tweenie IIs) and with the gel bending in they'd still get crinkled by the end of one day... unless I used heatshield...

I need to modify this post to add that I MEANT I clipped the gel to the OUTSIDE EDGE of the barndoors... but the gel was bent inward... so that it was still about 6" from the face of the fresnel... and that is STILL too close... even with 300w... (by the end of the day)...
 
Somewhat OT: I am brand new to the world of gels. I attached a "1/2 CTB" to my Britek 1000 watts, and it turned everything blue. It didn't look like anything other than just all of a sudden everything was blue.

What am I not understanding? Am I supposed to be white balancing w/ that on or? I don't grasp how a 1/2 CTB gel is any different from just a blue gel.

M
 
Don't use gel holders unless you really are short on gel, don't clip them inside the barndoors unless you are a cheap bastard and if you do, keep watching them and turning the lights off. To gel softboxes, you need to gel the front of the box with a large piece of gel. Clip it in several places so it does not make any noise. To gel a light, it is best to gel it outside the barndoors, that will make a gel last forever. When geling a xenon, get the gel as close to the lens as possible, ironically it's the coolest spot in the beam (So I was told, never used a xenon).

Don't let your gel touch anything that gets extremely hot: Lamps, lenses, scrims, that will make it melt and ruin whatever it melts on.

Personal experience. With care, and not folding the gels too much, they last forever, and you save money in the long run. PS: I'm a cheap bastard.
 
machardi: Depends on what you're trying to do. If you're trying to match daylight then full CTB will take the 3200 tungsten to 5500. The 1/2 will only give you 4100, which could be helpful for matching certain daylight. If you're faking night, balance then gel. If you're faking day, gel then balance.
 
MattinSTL said:
Don't run any gels under a softbox... but if you use gels with that 600w very often you should buy some heatshield anyway... (heat resistant gel that you place closest to the light)...

I clipped gels to the barndoors of Mole 300w (tweenie IIs) and with the gel bending in they'd still get crinkled by the end of one day... unless I used heatshield...
Click to expand...

That the way to go with strong light source, it's help a lot.
 
It's eat no light at all, it's a transparent filter and I used it on a 2K fresnel and no problem with the filters, but without it's another thing.
 
HorseFilms said:
At least that's all that happened. So you lost a gel, no big deal. Next time, you'll know. I don't even want to get into some of the **** I've done and am now ashamed of.
Click to expand...

Yes of course; the farm stories.
 
ScottDVX100 - that fact is no longer true, sadly. They used to make them out of gelatin, the same base that's in Jell-O! They are plastic film now. When I was in high school we still had some of the gelatin ones around. As upperclassmen we would pull one out of a Par 64, ellipsoidal, or fresnel hand it to a fresh, green, newbie, freshman, explain how VERY EXPENSIVE, and hard to replace given our limited budgets and how mad the professor would get if we lost or miss-cut them. Then we'd say, "This ones dusty, go wash it off in the shop sink"
The look on their face was priceless as it ran down the drain.
Hey, I wouldn't have done it, but it was done to me. :)
 
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