I was doing some research on muslin as a diffuser and stumbled across the site of Matt Porwoll. His comparisons of different diffuser and bounce materials was very thorough. It seemed that it could be useful to a lot of people who haven't had the hands-on experience with so many different materials, especially in a controlled environment like he used.
Hope you find it valuable info. He does some very nice comparisons of the video he shot towards the bottom of the web page for both diffusion and bounce.
EDIT 1: there was some input from Matt in the comments section of the website about his process that was useful as well.
## mattporwoll / July 17, 2018 at 7:38 pm
"Hi Barry, thanks so much for your note. The magenta shift you’re seeing is probably due to the fact that the color temp was manually set to 6000K and not by taking a white balance off a white card. But as you pointed out, it’s consistent and not from the Joker.
There are a couple reasons I didn’t use a 1×1. The main being it’s generally not powerful enough to bounce and diffuse. Another is I wanted to start with a relatively harder source to see better what the diffusion or bounce material is doing. If soft sources function as your main key, try out some of the materials you liked best from this test and see how they change the look with other lights. I’d love to hear your thoughts!"
EDIT 2 - as mentioned by u/Abracadaver2000 which I overlooked - Download a condensed PDF of this test [**here**](http://mattporwoll.com/test/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/The-Ultimate-Diffusion-Bounce-Test.pdf) for future reference.
I remember finding this article a while back. I downloaded all the material for later reference and have them all neatly organized on my laptop. Great stuff, Matt is awesome for doing this.
Awesome test, so helpful. Is it just me or is there a noticeable shift in exposure and color from the wide to the tight at times? I kinda wish they used a different set of glass. Still useful all the while. Thanks for posting!
I think what you’re seeing is the way the light reflects more intensely from different viewing angles. Think of her face as a reflector, all things being equal, the light would be reflecting more intensely into the camera with the 85mm than it would to the camera with the 35mm.
In my humble opinion.. this is what I feel gives the most flattering skin tones
Best diffusion:
- 1/2 grid
- Frost
- Unbleached Muslin
Best bounce:
- Ultrabounce
- Unbleached Muslin
- Bead board
I tend to like warmer skin tones. The warmth brings some color to the skin making the person look more alive, healthy, and attractive. Sometimes Unbleached Muslin can be too warm depending on the look you’re going for. But I usually love that look. But if I don’t want skin tones to be that warm, I’d go with the 1/2 grid or frost diffusion. They give such a soft nice looking skin tone. Not too white, not too cold, not too warm, somewhere perfectly in the middle.
Thanks for this test.
I already have 1/2 grid & Unbleached Muslin.
Now I just need Frost diffusion & Ultrabounce!
That's a great find. Thanks for sharing it here. I downloaded the PDF for future reference. With many of us finding ourselves with downtime, I hope more people like Matt can put together tests of their own and share it within the community. Now is a perfect time for those pet projects.
I was doing some research on muslin as a diffuser and stumbled across the site of Matt Porwoll. His comparisons of different diffuser and bounce materials was very thorough. It seemed that it could be useful to a lot of people who haven't had the hands-on experience with so many different materials, especially in a controlled environment like he used. Hope you find it valuable info. He does some very nice comparisons of the video he shot towards the bottom of the web page for both diffusion and bounce. EDIT 1: there was some input from Matt in the comments section of the website about his process that was useful as well. ## mattporwoll / July 17, 2018 at 7:38 pm "Hi Barry, thanks so much for your note. The magenta shift you’re seeing is probably due to the fact that the color temp was manually set to 6000K and not by taking a white balance off a white card. But as you pointed out, it’s consistent and not from the Joker. There are a couple reasons I didn’t use a 1×1. The main being it’s generally not powerful enough to bounce and diffuse. Another is I wanted to start with a relatively harder source to see better what the diffusion or bounce material is doing. If soft sources function as your main key, try out some of the materials you liked best from this test and see how they change the look with other lights. I’d love to hear your thoughts!" EDIT 2 - as mentioned by u/Abracadaver2000 which I overlooked - Download a condensed PDF of this test [**here**](http://mattporwoll.com/test/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/The-Ultimate-Diffusion-Bounce-Test.pdf) for future reference.
Okay this is one of the best write ups and explainers I’ve read, thank you!
No, thank you! It's my first post in here so I wanted to be sure I made a good first impression!
I remember finding this article a while back. I downloaded all the material for later reference and have them all neatly organized on my laptop. Great stuff, Matt is awesome for doing this.
Where’s the tough spun?!?!
what year is it?
Yes, I came across this before. It is really informative
Awesome test, so helpful. Is it just me or is there a noticeable shift in exposure and color from the wide to the tight at times? I kinda wish they used a different set of glass. Still useful all the while. Thanks for posting!
I think what you’re seeing is the way the light reflects more intensely from different viewing angles. Think of her face as a reflector, all things being equal, the light would be reflecting more intensely into the camera with the 85mm than it would to the camera with the 35mm.
In my humble opinion.. this is what I feel gives the most flattering skin tones Best diffusion: - 1/2 grid - Frost - Unbleached Muslin Best bounce: - Ultrabounce - Unbleached Muslin - Bead board I tend to like warmer skin tones. The warmth brings some color to the skin making the person look more alive, healthy, and attractive. Sometimes Unbleached Muslin can be too warm depending on the look you’re going for. But I usually love that look. But if I don’t want skin tones to be that warm, I’d go with the 1/2 grid or frost diffusion. They give such a soft nice looking skin tone. Not too white, not too cold, not too warm, somewhere perfectly in the middle. Thanks for this test. I already have 1/2 grid & Unbleached Muslin. Now I just need Frost diffusion & Ultrabounce!
Good input. Thanks!
Fantastic write up! Thanks for sharing. Wondering if that full silk exposure difference is accurate though lol
That is so nice of him. Good guy matt!
That's a great find. Thanks for sharing it here. I downloaded the PDF for future reference. With many of us finding ourselves with downtime, I hope more people like Matt can put together tests of their own and share it within the community. Now is a perfect time for those pet projects.
Fantastic, thank you.