Popout Reflectors, Filters and Chroma Screens

Reflectors, bounce boards, pop outs all can be quite expensive. Using the common substitutes of foam core board and sheets is a good solution. However, the bought pop outs are great because you get a lot of reflector in an easy to transport package, but generally they are quite expensive. Did you know that to make a inexpensive pop out is completely in your reach? Follow along as I show you some alternatives to your reflector needs…

First let’s cover the standard alternatives:

This is your standard 30"x20" Foam core board

Foam core board is great but you are stuck with the standard hobby shop size 30″x20″, I am sure you can get larger but generally it is not easily accessible. You can get this stuff at any standard hobby shop or Michaels. This solution does not travel that well and gets beaten up pretty quickly. With the standard size of 30″x20″ it is not something you can put in a backpack, duffel bag or rubber-maid container. However, there is a little ninja trick to make them slightly more portable. Cut the board on one side halfway down the length  just through the first layer of paper not going through the foam. Now you can fold it in half and make it slightly more portable. Lets take into account the biggest consideration on this one is cost. These boards will cost you around $5-10 dollars compared to a pop out reflector that starts at $50.00 on eBay.

Here is a foam core board with the ninja fold and the tin tape applied to one side

The white foam core board is all you can get that will work well as a bounce board but it may not reflect as much light as you may want. There is a really easy fix to this. Some people have had some success with spray painting the boards silver or gold but I personally have not had much success with that. What I do is get tin tape at the hardware store and cover one side with it. Now you have a great silver reflector inexpensively. You can get Tin tape at pretty much any hardware store like Home Depot in the furnace and heating section. Another thing I thought of but haven’t tried is getting spray glue and coating one side of the board and putting down some tinfoil from the grocery store.

Here is some foam core with the tin tape

Coroplast is a more durable solution to foam core board. Coroplast is a plastic that looks like corrugated cardboard that you can get at Home Depot or building supply stores and comes in sheets of 4′x8′ and 4′x4′. You know, the stuff our politicians use for signs that litter the landscape every election. TIP: at the end of an election you can get tons of this stuff for free just tell the politician you will go and clean up the neighborhood for them . It is a good substitute for the foam board as it has a much longer life expectancy, and you will not have to mourn the loss of your foam core boards again. I still struggle with the loss of bouncy, my first foam core bounce card, just before his retirement he was hit in a ugly accident by a stunt driver and never recovered, he worked so hard and loyally for me…..sniff, but I digress. This can be bit more expensive but in the end you have more size options and a more durable product to use. Along with the tin tape trick you can have a robust two tone reflector in any size from 4′x8′ down to smaller sizes like 30″x20″. But this lacks in portability just like the foam core board.

You can always use a white fabric sheet and build a PVC frame (coming up in a post next week) or have a friend or two play contortionists to hold the sheet and look like some new age performance art to hold the sheet at the right angle to get the bounce light you want. This is a great method to use but it suffers from a few faults. First the sheets, they get dirty over time and just don’t give the vibrant bounce light you want. Washing them is an option but if you are anything like me when doing laundry, it will likely come out of the wash grey, pink, blue or any other color than white…. No good.

Note: Windy conditions with these suck big time! A PVC frame can help a lot in the wind however. And like I said easy PVC frames will be covered in a future post, but in the mean time…

Now the really cool, pro looking portable solution:

Two of my DIY 40"x40" reflectors

Finally, if you have a sewing machine or can borrow moms, you have the tools to make an inexpensive pop out reflector! If you don’t have a sewing machine handy. Ask around, your friends may have one and could help you out with the sewing or lend you their machine. Or you could check out eBay, Kijiji or any second hand store to get one. You can get them super cheap and it is an awesome tool to have for the DV Rebel. Check out another episode of my video podcast MechanicalMashup (Episode 7) below on how to build them. You can watch the entire episode but the pop out reflector/chroma key build starts around halfway, at time 6:54 and that is where I have it autostarting in the video below. I have also gone into detail on how to build them at instructables here is the link: Here are step by step instructions with full details on how to make these bad boys

Now, how much will you save by making one of these? Well if you search eBay for pop out reflectors you will find a few that cost around $50.00 for a 40″ diameter reflector and that is about as cheap as you can get them. Building them will cost you around $15.00 not including your time.

I mentioned chroma key in the beginning and this is as easy as getting a green or blue foam core board, coroplast, or fabric. Voilà, a portable chroma key! These chroma pop outs or cards can make it easy to pull off a special effect. Filters are as easy as getting some transparent fabrics to partially block the light and make some more pop outs.

There are my three cheap solutions to making reflectors. If you have any solutions that you use please leave a comment below.

~Ben