New gizmos from NAB? How about the stuff we already have.

NAB 2014 is right around the corner, and no doubt it'll be chock full of all kinds of whizz-bang stuff that will make us all think, "I must have that thingy!  It'll make my career skyrocket!"
The tools won't make your career.  Sorry. What I reckon would be more worth all of our while is trying to figure out more cool stuff to do with what we already have.
Here's an experiment I did with my trusty old  Panasonic GH2, a very small mirrorless camera that shoot great video.  The newer GH3 is no doubt a bit better, and the GH4 looks like it'll rise above the crowd, but I don't think that will remove the utility of the old GH2.




If you're going to NAB, please stop by the Airbox Lights booth and see what inflatable softboxes can do for plain old LED panels. See the new Model 1x1 and Model 126!  Make ugly into beautiful! Games! Prizes! Gear! All your questions answered!

Tom Guiney
Airbox Lights & Conviction Films, Inc.

Customer questions answered about Airbox Inflatable softboxes

Customer questions about Airbox Inflatable softboxes for LED panels answered:

#1 most common question:

"Why is there no anti-backflow flap inside the inflation valve? This makes it harder to get my softbox all the way inflated."

People ask me this all the time.   I tried out prototypes with both types of valve, and I settled on the valve without a backflow prevention flap.  I did this for two reasons.  One, I wanted it to be faster to inflate and deflate, and two, with that flap in the valve, its hard to get the softbox all the way deflated.  I was concerned that people would possibly damage the softbox by slamming a case lid shut on it when it still had some air in it.  This may be unfounded, I have yet to receive an email saying someone popped their softbox. Really, this decision was mostly about the speed of inflation and deflation though- I wanted Airboxes to be very fast to inflate and deflate.  If you can't get it all the way inflated because you lose a tiny bit of air when you close the valve, guess what-  That's ok!  An Airbox doesn't have to be all the way inflated to make a unified soft source out of all those little LED beams.  The way an Airbox works is by moving the diffusion layer several inches away from the face of the light, so the beams can merge on the diffusion plane ad become a new soft source.  This still works fine even if your softbox is a little saggy- the diffusion is still several inches away from the light.  You also might have noticed that it gets more taut as you use it, since the light heats up and expands the air inside the softbox.

#2 Does it work as a flotation device?

Yes.  They float.  You can also use them as a pillow. If I had a legal department they would tell me that I have to say that we're not responsible for the negative consequences of using Airbox products for anything other than as light modifiers.

#3. Are you going to make one to fit lighting unit X?

Send me emails about what sizes you want, and I'll see what I can do.  There is a partial but not exhaustive unit compatibility chart on the website. The strap setup on the Macro, the Model 126, and the Model 1x1 allow those three units to work on a pretty wide range of sizes, but there are a few that slip through the cracks.  The Macro will fit on almost all the small units, from 4" wide at the minimum and 8" wide at the maximum, and then the next size up is the Model 126, whose smallest compatible light is about 10" wide. The Model 1x1 was designed specifically to fit on 1' x1' panels, but you can get it on to some smaller ones, like the Cool-Lights 600, which is about 10" x 10", and I've squeezed it on to another panel that was about 13" wide.

#4. Have you tried filling them up with helium so they lift the light or the camera? 

I actually did the math on this; for an Airbox attached to an on-camera light to lift your typical broadcast/ENG style camera weighing 30 or 40 lbs, the softbox would have to be gigantic, like an 8' diameter sphere. Helium gas, being such a tiny atom (remember your periodic table?) is mostly empty space, and to get that kind of lift you need a huge amount of it.

#5: Do you sell Airboxes in country X?

Amazon.com ships to some countries;  I've seen orders go to the US, GB, CA, NZ, and AU and JP.  It doesn't seem to ship to mainland Europe.  For mainland Europe orders, Videobewerken.nl stocks our products, as does Proav.co.uk in the UK.  Proav says they ship worldwide.  IF you want Airboxes and it's not working for you through any of those channels, email me and we'll work it out.

yours
Tom Guiney
Airboxlights.com

Buying link

discount code:  XG273RVL

Realistically simulating ambient daylight when lighting video and still photography:

When lighting a scene, a commonly desired effect is to create a natural-seeming ambient light source through a window.  It's eminently achievable, but sadly it's more difficult that the usual tactic of plunk down a large HMI outside a window and put a 4x diffusion frame in front of it right at the window. That's a great source, eminently practical, but it doesn't really feel all that natural.  From the way the shadows spread out in a v-shape and from the rapid falloff of intensity (remember the inverse-square law!), it's obvious that the light source is close to the window, and it will feel "lit".

I am not writing of creating a direct-sunlight effect through a window; that's a different deal. This is about natural-feeling ambient daylight coming through a window, as if you're standing near a north-facing window.

To get a natural feel, think about what daylight is like: it's EVERYWHERE.  It's big.  It goes all over the place.  You're going to need a big source, an not just a flat one. The light needs to come from all directions at least a little bit.  One direction will be the brightest, where you're bouncing the unit, but its important that the light come from the full range of directions through the windows.  That's what real indirect light does; a bright sky outside your window is bright from all directions.

Make a big box of ultrabounces, griffolyns, beadboard, foamcore, v-flats, or whatever white stuff you have outside the window. Make it as big as is feasible for your shoot.  It doesn't have to be as big as the images here, but it does need to be big. Put a large head or two inside the box and bash it into the side, top, or back. If you don't point the light at a part of the box that has a straight-line path to the subject, it will feel even more diffuse, but you'll lose a bunch of intensity.

This is ideal- a 20x12 or 20x20 ultrabounce as the back,  a 12x20 ultra overhead, 12x ultras for the sides. If that's not feasible,   go a bit smaller- a 12x8 or 8x8 back, 8x sides and roof.

Still effective- two v-flats forming the sides and back with a 4x8 foamcore or beadboard on top. 

compromised: a couple of 4x4 beadboards out the window.

Your light will primarily be bouncing off of one spot, but to get that ambient feel, it's still very important to have the other white surfaces surrounding the one that you're hitting with the light.

You may ask, what about hanging some diffusion over the window as well?  I generally recommend against that for it to feel natural, because once you have a piece of diffusion right at the window, that diffusion becomes the source and it resets the inverse-square falloff, and once again it will be more apparent that the light source is close to the subject, indicated by flaring shadows and rapid falloff.
Interposing a 4x frame of diffusion between the hot spot of the ounce and the subject can be helpful if you are getting a funny double-shadow effect, where one of the shadows is from the hot spot and the other shadow is from the large general soft source of the box.  I do recommend not placing the diffusion right at the window for the reason mentioned above; put it out in the box somewhere, farther from the subject.  This double shadow can also be avoided by pointing the light at a spot in the box not directly visible from the subject.

Although this just shows the couch without any people in it, it gives you an idea of the overcast-day through a window feel that you can get with this technique.

When you don't have the means to make huge soft sources outside a window, like if you're a small crew lighting with LEDs, you can still get nice soft light. I manufacture Airboxlights.com inflatable softboxes for LED panels, ideal for tiny, fast moving crews.  They take the curse off of LEDs and make them feel softer and more natural.  Remember the basic concept of softening- the bigger the source, the softer it is.  Diffusion right on the face of the light is never going to get all that soft.

yours
Tom Guiney
Gaffer, DP, Bay Area
Inventor and Owner, Airboxlights.com

Funny commercial for Airbox Inflatable softboxes for LED panels.

With a little help from some friends, made this 30-second commercial for Airbox Inflatable Softboxes for LED panels. Really.  It's funny.  It does not exaggerate anything. Anything at all. It doesn't make any exaggerated claims about what our products can do for video lighting.




Doing a big sale for Cyber Monday- 20% off all our softboxes on Amazon!
Use this claim code:  9X43JTW5

Production discussion next time. Budget for whole commercial was under 2k.

yours
Tom Guiney
Airboxlights.com

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Off-topic, mostly nothing to do with video lighting or gear or LED panels or LED softboxes

This isn't about my usual topics, like cool video lighting gear or LED softboxes.

What's the right thing to do, when you're loading up your car with equipment for the day's shoot on a dark rainy morning, when all of a sudden you find someone pointing a gun at your chest? It's a funny feeling, surreal as much as anything else.  Like it doesn't make sense. Just finishing loading all the Jokers and Kinos and LED panels and and stands and everything else, and then you see someone walk up your driveway. You wonder who this stranger is, what they want, whether they need help with something, and then you see the silver shiny barrel of a handgun pointed at you. You might shout, you might run, you might freak out. You would certainly be late for work. You might shout once, but find that it sort of strangles in your throat, because you're not sure what this stranger is like,  this stranger with the bandanna over their face up to their eyes and the wool cap pulled down low over their forehead, the stranger with black-gloved hands aiming a gun at you, might get upset about you raising a hue and cry and shoot you down outside your daughter's bedroom window. It's an awkward thing, having a gun on you at 6:42 AM in the rain.

You might just hand over your wallet; what's worth getting shot for?  But how do you know what state the person is in, whether they're really in the mood to kill someone, or whether there are even bullets in the gun.

You might be pretty grateful that they just took your wallet and the 4$ that were inside, and didn't tell you to open up the vehicle and take something very expensive. OR even your phone, which would cost you a bunch to replace but he could only get a few bucks for an iphone 4s with a cracked screen.

So what do you do?  You hand it over, even though you're thinking what a pain it will be to cancel all the cards and get a new ID. Do you buy a gun?  Mace? Taser? Keep a baseball bat in your car? What good would that do, really? When there's someone on your, threatening you, are you going to have the presence of mind or the cojones to pull out a bat and attack them?   Install a bunch of outdoor lighting perhaps. Security cameras?  If you're not safe at home, then where?

The stranger was very professional, very fast, in and out.  He came in very fast, everything about him was covered up, no way for me to identify him. Other than that he was black, adult, maybe in his 30s, 5'10", 180-200 lbs.  If you can be this good a robber, why not do something useful?

The good news is that I got an email that the first batch of Airbox 1x1 Inflatable softboxes for LED panels are in the air on the way here. And I got another email that B&H is interested in selling them. And I wasn't hurt, nor did anything bad happen to my family, in bed just a few feet away from where this guy threatened me.

I think he was mad that there was only 4$ in my wallet. But once his back turned on me, I split.  I didn't stick around to find out how he felt about his take.

I love Oakland, but that sucks.  In my own driveway in my own house. What are you gonna do.  Get over it and move on. And install some motion-sensor lights and things like that. Very soon. Not a nice feeling to not feel safe at home.

And: this is a pretty cool video, an ad for a really good kind of rum. http://youtu.be/8Vv_M2jBDf4
They don't pay me, I just like their rum. And I saw this video. And it's pretty neat.

Airbox Lights going solo! Inflatable Softbox for 500 LED panels now on Amazon...

It's been a nutty few days-  made the agreement that I wasn't going to sell the 2 new Airbox Inflatable softboxes for LED panels through my distributor for the two smaller units, and all of a sudden a load of stuff is my problem, right now.  You've borrowed a lot of money to get the inventory, now sell it.  Sell it fast. Go.

So that's what's going on here- The new Model 126 is up on Amazon, and we're doing an early-adopter sale, 10% off.

http://airboxlights.com/products/model-126-page

Ok, we're doing it now. Business is getting real. No longer a hobby.

Holy Crap! Here come the 1x1 Airboxlights.com Inflatable Softboxes!!

The factory inflates them all before they ship.  That's quite a pile of awesome Airboxlights.com inflatable LED softboxes!

 

We shot a commercial for Airboxlights.com Inflatable Softboxes this past weekend also, it's going to be wicked funny.

Not to give it away, but here are two stills:

We're going to be selling the new units, the Model 126 for (6"x12"/6"x13") 500 LED panels and the Model 1x1 (for 1x1 LED panels, obv) directly now on Amazon. Store should be ready for business in a couple of days! Link forthcoming.  You can also email us to order.
yours
Tom Guiney