Best New Diffusion Fabrics and Materials?

[Trent Watts]

Considering the new innovations in every other part of production, and the phasing out of high-heat tungsten/hmi lights for low-heat LED's (at least in the low to medium output range), I'm amazed at the lack of innovation in diffusion fabrics in the last 2 decades (other than Zylight's active diffusion).* There are other parallel industries (i.e. shower curtain manufacturers) whose goals of creating lightweight materials that provide maximum light diffusion combined with maximum light transmission would seem to be aligned with the video/photo lighting industry.* Even on Matthews' website, they imply an aversion to diffusion fabric innovation in the first sentence, stating a preference for always using their same supplier*https://www.msegrip.com/fabric-specifications/

I'm curious if anyone has found any fabric/material innovations that have tested to have a better combination of diffusion and transmission properties than what current industry standards are.* It seems obvious to me there would be huge demand for better diffusions (even if they would tolerate less heat), given the the continued growth of high-output LED lights.* With the industry's seeming aversion to using pvc/plastics, I feel like the $20 frosted shower curtain I bought on amazon has been a great bargain, and I've considered sewing this material to collapsible flexfill frames, but I think they'd get stretched and have weak durability.* I also wonder if a manufacturer might be interested in producing some sort of double-layered diffusion material, with a slim cushion of air in-between, maybe 1/4" to 1/2" wide, so you've effectively got 2 layers of frosted diffusion but only have to rig one.**

Has anyone come across diffusion materials/fabrics that the film industry could possibly adopt?* Or have I just missed some obscure diffusion innovations recently?* I'm still thinking of replacing the crappy fabrics in*my collapsible flexfill frames, and would love to find something great to use.* Anyone have ideas?

 

[Kenneth C Merrill]

Not diffusion in the traditional sense of the word, but I have been looking into the CRLS Lightbridge reflector system, and it actually has me more intrigued and excited than any other gear has in a long time. It's not a replacement for large rags over 6x6', but it seems to be a unique tool that could really help out workflow in a lot of situations. I kind of had to do some digging to learn exactly what it's about, but the whole system is very interesting. You should check it out.

 

[Ulf Krentz]

Take a look at "the rag place". They offer a wide range of different stuff. I found some nice gems there. Regarding the use of other material (like the mentioned shower curtains) you should be aware that they might not be heat resistent and may be dangerous to catch fire.