# DIY Diffusion Panels.



## K_Pugh (Nov 12, 2008)

After watching Dean Collins 4-DVD box-set I was left feeling much more educated and inspired to start using diffusion panels myself - So I built a few.

It's the same old basic design really.

BOM:


8x 3metre lengths of 21.5mm PVC pipe.


16x Right-angled couplings.


2x 180cm x 180cm shower curtains. (I actually bought one white, one semi-translucent)
I basically made one cut on each 3m length of PCV pipe. As the shower curtains are 180cm wide I cut the PVC pipes to 185cm (allowing for space and insertion into the right-angled pieces).. and that left 115cm length for the top and bottom lengths.

I then laid out the shower curtain, laid the 185cm PVC length on top, glued the edge of the curtain onto the pipe - I then did the same at the other end of the curtain. This eliminates any cutting of the fabric and you just roll the fabric up onto the pipes - It's also very good for adjusting tension on the fabric, as you just twist the pipe once assembled to get desired tension.

Next step was to assemble the panel. Once assembled i laid the whole thing down on a flat surface (the floor) to make sure the right angled pieces were flat, then I glued in the shorter PVC pipe ends into the right angled pieces - this keeps it from bending/flexing out of shape so much. *Don't glue the longer pipes with the fabric onto the right-angled pieces as you wont be able to adjust tension or disassemble!. (for good measure i taped over the glued joint, i also put a little tape over the longer PVC pipe to get a snugger fit.

To attach two panels to make them freestanding I used 2 tie wraps, one top, one bottom, they work fine, no need for special clips.

2 panels (4 complete panels) assembled (2 separate freestanding "double panels"):






The whole thing disassembles quickly and easily, the fabric rolls onto the two pipes its attached to like so:

1 panel (2 complete panels) disassembled:





So that's that! I will need some black material to attach to the two "blank" supporting panels to use as a flag/negative fill - they'll be glued and attached like the shower curtains were so they can be rolled up in the same way.. 

I'm also going to get a silver reflective material which i'll be able to attach behind the diffusion panels by using velcro pads onto the shorter pipes - i'll have velcro on both sides of the silver material so i can use it either behind the diffusion curtains for a softer reflective fill or use them alone for a harder reflective fill.

Oh yeah the shower curtains are great, no lines in the material etc.. I'll just need to lay them flat and iron the creases out.. i'm hoping they wont get creased when they're rolled up either!


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## Alleh Lindquist (Nov 12, 2008)

Looks pretty good but how many stops of light are you losing through those shower curtains? Might be better to spend some money of some real diffusion material. Something like this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/41955-REG/Photoflex_LP_3972WT_39_x_72_White.html


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## Ls3D (Nov 12, 2008)

I love DIY!  So thanks for posting & I look forward to seeing a few test shots.

-Shea


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## K_Pugh (Nov 12, 2008)

1 1/3 stops on the white one.
1/3 stop on the more translucent one.

Just out of curiosity, how many stops do the "real" ones lose?

I did try a quick test shot today, overcast day and the light just coming in the window like the first photo.. i used the more translucent panel... 5 foot from window, 1 foot from subject.. it took out the harsh shine no problem.. first exposure without panel was 1/80th, shot with panel was 1/60th. I'll give it a good test with my strobes at some point.


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## Alleh Lindquist (Nov 12, 2008)

I don't know but I would assume it has to be less than a shower curtain while providing an equal amount of diffusion.


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## roadkill (Nov 13, 2008)

Does it matter how many stops of light?  Just up your light source to compensate to get the shot you want.


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## K_Pugh (Nov 13, 2008)

Well I plan to use them outdoors to diffuse harsh sunlight.. How much light they eat can be important if you want to key-shift and by how much. These ones don't eat that much light so i may buy another white curtain so i can attach it with velcro if i need more diffusion.


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## benhasajeep (Nov 13, 2008)

Pretty cool idea.  Light weight and transportable.  :thumbup:


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## JerryPH (Nov 13, 2008)

K_Pugh said:


> 1/3 stop on the more translucent one.



You tested that out and it's fairly accurate?  That would be as good if not better than normal diffusion material.  The only concern would be that the shower curtain would not be as long lasting, but at the price that the come in at, that's no problem at all.

As far as wrinkles, thats nothing to worry about, it will not affect the end result.


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## K_Pugh (Nov 13, 2008)

Yeah, I've done a few tests with it Jerry, different lights at different distances etc.. seems to be 1/3 to 1/2 stop. 

I've no idea how long they'll last but they don't look like they'll rip/tear easily, bit if they do they're easily replaced without going to a specialist store.

The wrinkles I was wanting to take out in case I was going to use them to provide a specular highlight in glasses etc.. haven't tried to iron them out yet.

There's only one problem i can think of that shouldn't affect me as i use small strobes - Heat, it may discolour the material or melt it if the lights are too close i think.


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## JerryPH (Nov 13, 2008)

True, it may... but if you think about it logically, you are not going to want your flashes closer than 2-3 feet so that the apparent light source is large/diffused, and not small with potential hotspots... so your one concern is not really a concern.


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## K_Pugh (Nov 13, 2008)

True enough... I was just thinking along the lines of studio lights with mega watt seconds.

They may blow over in the wind!.. can weigh them down and take some tension out of the material I suppose.


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## JerryPH (Nov 13, 2008)

K_Pugh said:


> They may blow over in the wind!.. can weigh them down and take some tension out of the material I suppose.



Tent pegs... 5 bucks for 8 of them.


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## Mike_E (Nov 14, 2008)

You can try ripstop nylon or nylon shear material for curtains also.

To get rid of the wrinkles try stretching the diffusers on their frames and using a blow dryer on the to smooth them out.  I would be careful ironing them.

Love the Dean Collins DVD set!!


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## K_Pugh (Nov 14, 2008)

Thanks for the ideas guys! 

I've been wanting to try them outside but the weather has been rubbish (to put it lightly).


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## JerryPH (Nov 14, 2008)

Mike_E said:


> Love the Dean Collins DVD set!!



They're interesting but take a lot of mental filtering of info to get the most from them, and you have to have a more than basic understanding of light to catch what he is saying to "flesh out" the skeleton of what he is trying to teach at that machine gun speed of his speech.  

I cannot see a complete newbie pick up that set, go through it 3 times and catch more than 10% of the value in the set, and, if I had to constantly listen anymore to Collins say "yeah... yeah, Yeah!, YEAH!, YEAH!!!!.. Good-good-good-good-Good-GOOD!!!" anymore, it would have been annoying as hell... lol

Probably the best part for us was the part on using one light to accomplish what most use 2 or even 3 lights for.  But I will tell you what... though diffusion using a panel is very effective, they are way better kites than a smaller umbrella or softbox and additional strobe(s) to get that secondary light source when outside in the wind.  

Indoors, diffusion panels are way cheaper than a second studio strobe, accomplish similar results and are consistent... but in larger setups, weaker battery powered strobes using this setup will not get you the shot as easily as the multi-thousand W/s setup with diffuser panels and what not.

Definitely another valuable tool to know how to use for people that are into this aspect of photography.


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## William Petruzzo (Nov 14, 2008)

You should run bungee material through the pipes so that they help snap themselves together during assembly, also keep from getting poles mixed up. That's the way my family's old tent was made.


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## RMThompson (Nov 14, 2008)

I've got a question.

How do you position them when shooting outdoors? Something like this:

SUBECT
.
CAMERA
.
DIFFUSER
.
SUNLIGHT?


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## JerryPH (Nov 14, 2008)

There are 360 degrees in a circle, so  would assume about 360 different ways... lol.

Assuming that you don't want to shoot straight into the sun (which you could, but anyways... bear with me), envision this scenario:

you are shooting 90 degrees to the sun, so the sun is to camera left.  Your subject is straight ahead of you.  The diffuser will be placed between the sun and your subject.  

That's a basic concept, you use the diffusers and place them either between your subject and your light source OR you place a scrim on the opposite side of your client (ie: lightsource, subject, scrim), so that light bounces past your subject, hits the scrim and bounces back highlighting the opposite side of your subject.


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## Mike_E (Nov 14, 2008)

RM, it's more like:

reflector.................                 reflector

                    ........................subject...........................                  camera

                         ...........................diffuser




                            .......................................sun

HTHs


btw, Jerry, the DVDs are worth the price for most just to get them thinking about specularity-  no matter how long it takes them to get it.  (and anybody with a triple digit IQ shouldn't take that long, experienced or not.  )



oh yea, if you'll notice the diffusers in the DVD had slits to keep them from being so unwieldy in the wind.


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## RMThompson (Nov 14, 2008)

Something like this:


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## RMThompson (Nov 14, 2008)

Now I am debating:

Shower curtains, or sheets?


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## Mike_E (Nov 14, 2008)

Yes, but you forgot the kicker in the back.  Makes for better separation of the Babe from the background.

And you 'll want to use ripstop nylon if you are going out doors with it.


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## RMThompson (Nov 14, 2008)

Yeah Wal Mart doesn't have the best selection of ripstop nylon, so I have to stick to one or the other for now!

Yes yes, the kicker, good idea.


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## Mike_E (Nov 14, 2008)

I would go with the shower curtain in that case, I don't think you will get enough light through a sheet with your SB.The sheet would be good on a sunny day at the beach though.


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## K_Pugh (Nov 14, 2008)

Mike_E said:


> oh yea, if you'll notice the diffusers in the DVD had slits to keep them from being so unwieldy in the wind.




yeah i did see that although as you'd need a sort of overhang so that the light source didn't shine directly through the slits i never bothered implementing something like that.. more cutting, gluing etc.


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## DeadEye (Nov 14, 2008)

Go to a fabric store to get the ripstop. I use JoAnne fabric. 
If I want real soft wrap around light , I fire an umbrella at the ripstop scrim. 
 At about 400 watt seconds with the ripstop about 4 or 5 feet away I will pop about F12


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## RMThompson (Nov 14, 2008)

DeadEye said:


> Go to a fabric store to get the ripstop. I use JoAnne fabric.
> If I want real soft wrap around light , I fire an umbrella at the ripstop scrim.
> At about 400 watt seconds with the ripstop about 4 or 5 feet away I will pop about F12


 
AH, JoAnn Fabric. 

What's the cost of that stuff, just curious and it's too late to call!


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## DeadEye (Nov 14, 2008)

Ummm I think it was around 7 or 8$ a yard


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## JerryPH (Nov 14, 2008)

Mike_E said:


> btw, Jerry, the DVDs are worth the price for most just to get them thinking about specularity-  no matter how long it takes them to get it.  (and anybody with a triple digit IQ shouldn't take that long, experienced or not.  )



The DVDs are ok... maybe because they are based on 20+ year old delivery methods, they could use some freshening up.  Lighting concepts 20 years ago are the same as today as they were 100 years ago, so that part is ok, I jst think they can dial down the disco a little... lol.

Specularity is likely the most complex concept to get right in the start.  Light Science and Magic has a TON of pages (indeed an entire chapter, if I recall), dedicated to just that.

Not that I know much of anything, but to a beginner, I would prefer to teach ANYTHING other than the intricacies specularity because it is so complex.  Of any lighting concept, that one is the one that most challenges me and more often than not, puts me on my butt. 

And an IQ doesn't mean knowledge that is directly transferable to photographic principals... else any physicist or doctor with a PhD could put Ansel Adams out of a job... lol    Look at me, I have an IQ of at least 3 or 4 on a good day, yet I can squeeze the shutter enough times to get a half-good pic once a year.  :lmao:


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## Mike_E (Nov 15, 2008)

Jerry, I think that someone just coming to photography and presented with the concepts of specularity would be able to get it a lot faster than someone trained at the UHK and mired in having to get everything that shows in the frame just right.  

The simple act of conceptualizing the ratio of highlights and relating them to shadow to depict a three dimensional object goes a long way to internalizing exposure and lighting in general.

OK, in English, to be able to show a curve by what percent of the light bounces off each part of it will give you an idea of not only where you need to have your light situated (or you need to be if you are the only thing you can move) but how strong/soft you need your light to be (turning your flash/strobe up or down or using Aperture/ShutterSpeed/ISO to adjust the light) so you can get the whole range of what you are trying to show in your shot.  And once you get this the rest is, as they say down south, gravy.  

BTW, thanks for taking the IQ thing in jest- it was meant that way.


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## photospherix (Nov 15, 2008)

For Diy Difusers, we found that the shower curtains at the local dollar shop worked best. Another not is that if you work real carefully, you can use pvc glue like what you use to put pvc pipe together to glue the shower curtains. This way you can make larger sheets. We have used an old awning that we found from a closed down Blimpie to make a "large soft box" and diffuser.  It ended up  7 ft wide and  12 ft long, but only cost about 60 bucks.


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## JerryPH (Nov 15, 2008)

Hey Mike, we're good.  :thumbup:

As far as which is better, white sheets or translucent plastic shower curtains, I say that each has value.  The translucent shower curtains make crappy reflectors but excellent diffusers and maybe bed sheets are too strong diffusers, but they do make superior reflectors.

Having both is not a bad idea.


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