Home made Soft box

So you want to make your own homemade Softbox for under $20 because you don't want to pay $60 for one. Perfect, I have been waiting for a guy just like you. Because there are no speed ring, they will always be a little flimsy, but they work really well. This is a formula I used to light a well known sitcom's pilot episode.

I always advocate you try this with a piece of paper, and a razor blade to see how it is done before trying blindly.

Parts list:

1. Foam core/poster board (ie: an 8'x4' sheet is under $10)
2. Diffusion, be it waxpaper, tissue paper, etc
3. 4-6 Wire hangars
4. Some kind of strong and wide tape
5. aluminum foil (optional)
6. You can replace the Foam core with hard poster board, hope it has one white side or you need the aluminum foil.
7. Straight edge, ruler, and razor blade

Ok, let's get started.

Determining shape is the first step. Measure twice, cut once, this is just drawwing lines, not cutting. For the 8' length, measure every 2' and do this on both sides, then draw a line from top to bottom connecting these segmenting, the board into 4 equal size rectangles.

On the two rectangles to the left, measure down 1 and 1/2 foot (18") from the edge of the board on both sides, mark this point. Draw a line from the corners of the board to the marks you made from the top. Do this from the bottom too, it will look like two peace signs doing a little 69.

You can now cut the board along the centerline making two 4'x4' squares. On the one with the peace signs, cut it along the long center line making two 2'x4 boards, and then cut along the other lines, thus leaving you with two trapezoids and 4 little triangles.

For the rectangles on the right, make one mark 18" from the edge of the board on the centerline, and on the corners. Draw a line across these marks making the top half into a pair of 18" x 2' rectangles, cut them off, these are your 'baffles' and put them on the side. With what remains, cut it in half making two 2' x 30" rectangle, making the sides.

Assembly of the pieces. Take a side and a trapezoid and make the long edge of a side and put is flush against the angle cut of the trapezoid, it will match up perfectly. Repeat the process with the other two pieces. Where the two boards meet, run some tape to join them. Set them up on the 4' face of the trapezoid and let the side flop over. When looking top down, it will form an 'L' shape.

Do the same with the other piece and join with tape, you will then have a pyramid without a top. Take one of the 'baffle' pieces and it will be a little larger than the opening and join to to the box, depending on the strength of materials, you may need to pit it inside to box itself and ring tape around the outside to small opening to keep the pieces better grip.

The extra triangle pieces from before can be cut into strips that will go inside the box to reinforce the joints. You can now take the coat hangars, put them in the box and tape them down, using the hooks to attach to your lamp head, or: stretch them out. Put on end into the baffle, bend at an angle and tape down, wrap the free ends around the head of the lamp.

Shiny/Diffused. You can take aluminum foil and tape or spray glue and put it inside the box, I suggest glue and that you use the satin side of the aluminum facing up, too shiny causes 'water rippling' effects. You can use your diffusion across the front of the box as you could expect.

How the hell did I come up with this?:

I was taught this by an old grip at MGM/UA studios in Santa Monica. He did it by sight, I came up with the preceding to make sense out of it.