Lewis here with Fidevo and today I want to ask you a question. When you've been watching behind the scenes content for a feature film or a HBO TV show or even looking at behind the scenes pictures, how often is it that you see one of these? The softbox. Just think about it because it's not that often that you will find a softbox on a proper film set and instead you're going to see one of these. This is a 4x4 frame with a 3x4 top in it. They come in a variety of different sizes and fabric comes in a variety of different strengths. And while the softbox is incredibly popular for online content in feature films, you're typically going to see this doing the job to diffuse light. Why is that? Well today we're going to have a look at the differences between the diffusion panel and the softbox. So let's get to it. So this is a softbox. It's used to diffuse hard light. It's usually attached via a bowing's mount and the light will enter, reflect and refract from the inside material. Hit the diffusion material on the front and then offer a more flattering and softer image onto your subject. And because of the circular and octagon and square shapes that they come in, they help wrap light around the subject opposed to it just falling freely. And you'll often find because of the reflective material inside of the light, it yields a better output than just shining a light through a diffusion material. What could be seen as a detriment is that they of course have to be attached to the light, where the light goes, the softbox goes with it. But as a result of that, because of the fixed distance that the light is going to have from the diffusion material to the back of the light, you're not going to be able to soften the light any further, or you could with a diffusion sheet. So you'd have to bring the light in closer and of course, dependent on what type of focal length you're using, that's not always practical. I mean, there's not a lot to say about the softbox. It pretty much does what it says as it's title, it's boxed shape, light modifier which softens the light. So let's have a look at a few examples when this is useful to use. In this example, a young girl is playing an instrument in an apartment. For the harsh LED light is ruining the shot. So enter the aperture light dome, this is a 34-inch softbox that instantly transforms the shot. The shadows are less harsh, there's less contrast, and the softbox removes the light spill from the background. The difference is night and day. And at the start of the filmmaking journey, I think this is where you may initially gravitate towards using a softbox. However, keep in mind that while softboxes are great for interviews and creating more softer looking light, they may not always work in every situation. In this example, I feel as though it's apparent that a nearby light is illuminating the subject. I feel like it's slightly brighter on the subject's forehead, and this is due to the circular design of the softbox. The light is softer, it's fine, but in a narrative circumstance, where the audience needs to believe that the light is somewhat ambient, a diffusion panel may be a better option. So this is a diffusion panel, and perhaps on the smaller size in comparison to what you typically find on a film set, the common variety of different sizes, as well as a variety of different materials for the diffusion and a variety of different strengths. So you have a lot more possibilities in order to create softer light. It works in a similar way to the softbox. The idea is light will hit the diffusion material, refract, scatter, and offer a much more flattering and softer form of illumination, which is going to look a lot more natural than the softbox. Now, unlike a softbox, it is not attached to a light, and instead this will be attached to a C stand. So you are going to be working with more tools, which is going to take up more space, which may be a detriment if you're a one-man band, but it does offer something different. So let's have a look. So I would hope that you recognize a visible difference from the previous shot. Both tools have softened the LED hard light, but have done so in a completely different manner. The diffusion panel scatters the directionality of the light, but it's done so in a manner where there is no single direction. So the entire location receives a soft blanket of light. If you notice with the diffusion panel, even the back walls receive some of the illumination from the diffusion panel, whereas with the softbox, because the light wraps around the subject, it does not reach the wall. However, the light from the diffusion panel is certainly a lot more naturalistic looking. While yes, there are no shadows in the subject's face, which may cause her to appear flatter, it also doesn't look like that there is a light on the location, which in turn makes it incredibly more organic. So you can see why it's used more in narrative situations. However, if you did not want the light to reach the back wall, you would now have to set up a flag to block the light. So this with tools three seastands, two light to modify as one light. On the flip side, we can see that why online content creators typically stick to the softbox. So the diffusion panels and softboxes, they kind of do the same thing, but a little bit differently. With a softbox you're going to get better control of the light because of the directionality of the design, whereas the diffusion panel is going to be a lot more versatile on set, and it's going to be able to offer a much more organic looking softlight opposed to the softbox, as to which one I'd recommend. Well, it's going to depend on what your end goals are. If you're a content creator, I think you would probably want to go towards the softbox. If you look at the creative narrative work or music videos, I think the diffusion panel is going to be a better choice. So I've been lyrics with Fedevil and I'll catch you guys with another tutorial in a few weeks time.