Anyone ever tried a cyc

journeyman · Jul 30, 2006

just out of curiosity I was wonder if anyone's ever tried to build on and how it turned out for you. What did you use to make it and how did you light it.

I was just bored and wondering no real reason for asking other than curiosity.

j_mcquillen · Jul 30, 2006

What's a cyc?

journeyman · Jul 30, 2006

j_mcquillen said:
What's a cyc?

A cyc is where you make a curve in material and then evenly light it. It make an effect tht the object is floating and the is no distinction between the floor and wall.

Makes an effect like this

logikalone · Jul 30, 2006

I have done this many times and in the past and what I did was just take a large background of your choice, and use a studio strobe which is angled at the croner were the floor meets the wall. It takes some practice finding the precise angle of doing this, but it comes with experimentation.

df3photo · Jul 31, 2006

sure... you can use a large piece of paper, for small products that is... or large paper background rolls for larger things like portraits etc.. pretty easy...
just make sure the paper covers the floor for a large enough area then up a wall... it also helps to throw the background out of focus so it doesnt look like paper... or whatever material you use... the nice thing is if you use white you can make it anycolor you want with gells over your lights...

craig · Jul 31, 2006

I helped with building a wooden one and it was a 3 day project. Good thing the photographer had been a carpenter. It can get tricky with getting all the seams to line up. After the sanding, painting, etc was over it turned out to be an invaluable tool. We used it for everything from models to home entertainment centers. You can not believe how convenient it is not to roll out paper. I miss having it often. Also I think that financially wood is a better bargain.

The key to lighting is to keep the subject as far away from the back as possible. This creates that atmosphere of floating in space. Of course light the subject and block off the light hitting the background. Then light the background as you see fit. Blasting the background is most effective, but it is fun to add some directional light for at least a couple of frames.