FAQ

Of course! Cine Reflectors are high-tech surfaces which should be maintained like other electronic equipment in a lighting package or optical system.

Yes, it should be avoided – but we know how it is on set. It will happen and it’s not a big deal. BUT! We highly recommend that you clean the surfaces at the end of the shooting day with the C-Cleaning Kit. 

As the saying goes: YOU TOUCH IT – YOU CLEAN IT! 

Link: Cleaning Cine Reflectors video 

Best is to rinse and clean them after every shooting day. When fingerprints are left for a longer period of time they can result in stains. If you clean them regularly, it will take no time during wrap and give you a great start for each shooting day!

As the saying goes: YOU TOUCH IT – YOU CLEAN IT! 

TIP: NEVER put Cine Reflectors back into the Sleeve when still damp! (Just think of Butterfly rags!)  

Please only fill the pump spray bottle with ISOPRPOPANOL or (distilled) water. 

Use our C-Cleaning Kit when cleaning your Cine Reflectors. We recommend (distilled) water or for heavier stains ISOPROPANOL. 

Link: Cleaning Cine Reflectors video 

• For lighter fingerprints and marks, take your microfleece cloth from your C-Cleaning kit. Breathe onto the surface and wipe with your cloth. 
• If the marks and stains are still there, use the pump spray bottle, make sure to only fill it with ISOPROPANOL or DISTILLED WATER. Spray isopropanol onto the surface and give it a wipe. 
• When the stains are still there, use the C-Sponge. Spray the C-Sponge until it is damp. Then gently wipe the surface with the sponge. 

NOTE!!! Always allow the Cine Reflector and the cleaning supplies to dry before they are put back into their bags. 

Link: Cleaning Cine Reflectors video 

Only use a C-Sponge, DO NOT use a microfleece cloth. Spray the C-Sponge with plenty of ISOPROPANOL until it becomes slightly damp. Then firmly pass over the surface where fingerprints or stains are, be sure to not press too hard.

NOTE! Once the stains are gone, allow the reflector to sit and dry before placing it back in its bag. 

The C-Sponge will eliminate deeper stains from your Cine Reflector. To use, spray the sponge until it’s slightly damp with the isopropanol. Then gently wipe the surface with the C-Sponge. The C-Sponge is potent and strong, therefore you should be sure to not press too hard as it can take away the protection layer.

Yes, you can wash your Micro Fleece Cloth at 30 degrees Celsius or 90 Fahrenheit.  

NOTE: Always make sure the Micro Fleece Cloth is completely dry before putting it back in the C-Pouch Kit bag! (Think of wet butterfly rags after a rainy day). 

 Use your Cine Reflector’s Neoprene Sleeve as a shield! 

1. Slide the Sleeve down until you have enough space to slide the C-Wheel in and lock it.
2. Hold the Reflector by the C-Wheel and slide the rest of the Neoprene Sleeve off. 
3. Now you can use the attached C-Wheel as a handle without touching the surface.
4. Hang the Sleeve on the stand using the colored loops. 

TIP! –  When putting the Reflector back into the Neoprene Sleeve, position the Easy Access of the rail at the top, opening part of the sleeve. 

Minor scratches: 

• For the most part scratches are often more cosmetic than they are an effect to your reflective light quality. 
• Nevertheless one should avoid scratching them, larger more prominent scratches can cause observable effects on harder surfaces like DIFF 0 or DIFF1!

Dents: 

• AVOID all dents! 
• Dents can potentially cause your reflected light to go skew and make unwanted spill light. 

Take extra caution with Diffusion Number 0 and 1. The lower the number of your reflector the more possible it is that a dent or scratch can affect your light!

• Use the Sleeve as a shield while handling the Cine Reflectors.
• Always return the Reflectors into their Sleeves and to their cases whenever you can!
• Transportation: treat and store Cine Reflectors like your spare tungsten and HMI bulbs!
• You will sometimes need to touch the surface!
• Just remember: You touch it you clean it! Clean the Reflector at the end of every shooting day!

• Yes, of course!
• The Safety Wedge replacement kit is included in all grip bags.
• At .05 kilonewtons of impact, the Safety Wedge will break to prevent damage to your Cine Reflector.
• Special aluminum replacement Safety Wedges are available for rigging.

Explanation videos:

The Safety Wedge explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iNaRiUeq9E&t=45s

How to replace a Safety Wedge : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5zxuRZDfJ8&t=42s

• Cine Reflectors are able to sustain temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius.
• Use a photometric calculator app to find recommended safe distances between the lamps you use and the Cine Reflectors.
• TIP: If C-100 protection pads have been damaged by heat, they will be replaced free of charge. Please contact your local dealer.

• Cine Reflectors are built to be used as a key light, not just an effect light.
• 15 years of on-set research and feedback from cinema and commercial working gaffers and cinematographers resulted in the CRLS, which is now available on the market.
• Lightbridge is constantly re-investing and researching in order to provide ongoing improvements.
• Hand crafted, built and engineered in the heart of Europe: Vienna, Austria.
• Excellent customer service. We would love to be in contact with you!
• Support@thelightbridge.com

• Cine Reflectors are made with a specially engineered aluminum surface that produces a precise range of diffused, reflected light without spill.
• The coating prevents color shift.
• Cine Reflectors range from Diff 0 (a real mirror replacement) to Diff 4 (a super white surface).
• Super white has an added white layer on top of the aluminum reflector which mimics a snowy white winter landscape (subsurface scattering).
• The C-Wheel grip system was developed on set for an intuitive workflow. It comes with standard baby pins and receivers.

RINSE

• • Rinse the Cine Reflector with distilled water after the shooting day. If distilled water is not available use bottled drinking water. 
  • If left without rinsing, rainwater and snow can harm the surface!! 
  • Sand should be thoroughly rinsed off before you wipe the surface!!

DRY

• • Use ONLY a clean microfleece cloth to dry the Cine Reflectors. 
  • Let them FULLY DRY before putting them back in their bags! 
  • Treat a Cine Reflector like a damp butterfly rag! 
  • Wet Cine Reflectors will corrode in their bags!

Yes, you can even submerge your Cine Reflector underwater! Be sure to always rinse and dry the Cine Reflector after your shooting day.

Note! Salts, acid, and chlorine can damage the surface of the Cine Reflector. Rinse and dry after EVERY shooting day. 

Limit the movement of your reflector:

• DIFF 0 and DIFF 1 will be affected more by wind than DIFF 2 and higher. 
• If mounting on cars you can use a 2nd C-wheel for extra stability. 
• With C-100’s use all 4 rope holes and tie them down well.
• Please choose your stand carefully! The beefier the stand, the less hassle you’ll have in windy locations. 

Cherry picker or Condor rigging tips:

• Only use DIFF 2-4 on cherry pickers. 
• The higher the Diffusion number you use, the less likely you are to see movement. 
• The wider the spread of the lamp, the less you will see the movement because the Cine Reflector will not shake out of the light. 

Check this clip of Jakob and other gaffers discussing CRLS and wind at Camimage 2019. https://youtu.be/jmPcUyV-LC8?t=2008

• The further light travels, the more natural it looks.
• In small and tight locations you can double reflect light to increase the travel distance.
• TIP: The first Cine Reflector used should be Diff 0, Diff 1, or Diff 2 because they give more punch onto the second Reflector.

• Gel the light source, if possible.
• TIP: If your light source is hitting multiple reflective surfaces and you want a color gel for only one CRLS, gel only the section of the lamp which is lighting the reflector.
• If you must put the gel on the Cine Reflector, make sure it’s as flat and taut as possible. If the gel is not completely flat you will get unwanted effects.
• TIP: Gel the reflector like you would a window.

• CRLS works with flash/strobe lights if the light is strong enough.
• For still life and packshot photography, highlight small or large details of your subject by using a Cine Reflector from as small as 7cm to as large as 50cm.
• For outdoor shoots, use Diff 2-4 to achieve more natural-looking light instead of the commonly used silver bounce.

• Zero emissions with cinematic results—no need to use electricity.
• Reflect and diffuse sunlight or sky light.
• Redirect sunlight into shady, dark places.
• Add contrast even on a cloudy day with a harder Diff.
• Too windy for butterflies and frames? Cine Reflectors are built for 70kmh (45mph) winds.

• Cine Reflectors give 100% color reflection and 97% light reflection. Other reflective surfaces like silver boards and mirror boards are unpredictable and inconsistent.
• Engineered consistency: When you have Cine Reflectors you will always have consistency in the 5 diffusion steps and sizes.
• The biggest misconception is that CRLS are mirrors; they are calculated reflectors, not mirrors.
• Reflecting light on set is nothing new. We were inspired by older techniques and DYI solutions. We enhanced the techniques into spill light-free surfaces with 97% total light reflection.
• CRLS was designed on set for intuitive and reliable use.
• Cine Reflectors give you controlled diffuse light in 5 precise steps (Diff 0 to Diff 4) and sizes (7, 15, 25, 50, and100cm), which are not available in industry standard bounce boards.
• Built for standard grip equipment. Cine Reflectors 7, 15, 25, and 50cm use the C-Wheel system, which has a baby pin or baby pin receiver, built for quick and safe set up.
• The C-100 is built with a junior pin and has lock leavers which keep the friction setting even when the C-100 is high above.
• TIP: Use the rope holes in the corners to adjust the C-100.
• Cine Reflectors can take 3G force and withstand winds as strong as 70kmh (45mph), great news for car rigging. They are also completely waterproof.

From as soft as a China ball lamp to as hard as an 18kw Arrimax, you can use any light with the Cine Reflectors! 

Cine Reflectors reflect exactly what goes in, plus the added level of diffusion from DIFF 0 (a real mirror replacement) to DIFF 4 (super white) with 100% color accuracy. 

The main reason to use hard lights or a (parabolic or lensed) beam is not to have too much light loss if the Cine Reflector is further away from the light source. 

• Control and shape soft light using the lower DIFF numbers. Keep unwanted spill away from set.
• Increase the wrap of various soft lights by placing the Cine Reflector on the side of the fixture to catch and return the soft light. 

The rules of thumb are:

1. The softer the Cine Reflector, the less you will see the light source’s shortcomings (for example an uneven field of light or color fringing).  
2. The more distance between the lamp and the Cine Reflector, the less likely the original light source’s flaws will be seen.
3. All the colors that go in will come out. Cine Reflectors will reflect the exact same colors that you light into them with 100% accuracy.

With large hot lamps, like the Arri M90 and bigger, we recommend using a Photometric calculator to measure safe distances.
E.g.: Arri Photometrics calculator.

• Jo-Lekos, ETC-Source 4 adapters and projection mounts. Single source LEDs like Aputure with Spotlight Minizooms are excellent for control. For more output use HMI’s like K5600 Jokerbugs.
• Practicals. The Cine Reflectors work great with on-set practicals to extend the light that is already available. 
• Any lights already in use. You can always borrow some light from the lights in play (even practicals!) and redirect it.

• For daytime, the stronger, the better. Molebeams, Fresnels, Arri M-Series, HMI Pars, punchy LED light panels like Creamsource Vortexes, etc.
• For night shoots, any light source you normally like to use. Cine Reflectors are also great for extending already existing lights like streetlights, etc. 

• Fresnels can give a nice even spread for larger surfaces like butterfly frames.

• With a Fresnel and a Cine Reflector you can achieve a fill and key/kicker combination all from one light by placing the Cine Reflector in front of the butterfly. Decide the level of wrap to punch by spotting the light into the Reflector or flooding the Fresnel into the butterfly.

• Use a frosted lens for the longest throw. The more distance between your lamp and the Reflector, the more natural the daylight will look due to falloff.
• TIP: Make sure to keep a safe distance between the lamp and any gel frames.

• Similar to a Fresnel, you can use the flood and spot to adapt the amount of fill to key when placing a Reflector in front of a butterfly. 

• TIP: You can eliminate any unwanted effects from the M-Series by choosing a higher Cine Reflector DIFF number. 

• Control and shape your punchy HMI’s on interior sets! 

• The Leko’s blades allow easy control of unwanted spill. You can precisely shape this hard light to only hit the reflector. 

• TIP: Defocus the Leko or mount to avoid color fringes on the edges.

• Add spot mounts to gain control of the lamp’s spill. (There are a variety of spot mount options available for lights, such as the Aputure Lightstorm.)

• TIP: Defocus to avoid color fringes on the edges.

• They have a large surface which increases the quality of light when you are trying to replicate daylight. 
• With harder panels like the Creamsource Vortex series, you can fill a C-100 and have a great punch.
• By redirecting soft panels like Skypanels into Cine Reflectors, you gain control over your soft light. (We recommend DIFF 1 and 2.)

• Keep your lamps and cables on the ground and put your Cine Reflectors up high. 
• Examples of these types of lamps are: Molebeam, K5600 Alpha 4k with a Spacebeam, Cineo R15, Dedo DPB70, and FilmGear Power Beam. 

• Use a grip head with a baby pin for a C-Wheel receiver or just a grip head with C-Wheel pin for beefy setups.
• TIP: On car rigs with bigger Cine Reflectors, the use of two C-Wheels is recommended. 
• For situations where you need more pivoting control use Matthews Infinity Arm, Manfrotto Magic Arm, Gobo Arm, or pivoting lockable ball heads like a Matthews Magic Finger.
• TIP: Make sure the grip equipment is in good condition so you can really lock the Cine Reflector into the desired position.

• To add Reflectors, you can grip onto the main stem of the light stand. Flood the light source if needed. We recommend stacking smaller Reflectors in front of bigger ones if the beam needs to stay narrow. 
• TIP: You might end up casting the shadow of a lower Reflector on the bigger one above. If the smaller ones have a bigger punch, you won’t notice the light loss.
• Build a T-Bar tree with a Gobo Arm in the horizontal position. Slide the desired amount of grip heads into the Gobo Arm. Determine if a Magic Arm or Matthews Knuckle Head is necessary.  

• Use a C-Stand with a grip head.
• Place the Cine Reflector with its C-Wheel into the grip head. 
• Grip your lamp onto the leg of your light stand with a Mafer or Matthellini Clamp. Point the lamp upward into the Cine Reflector.
• Tilt and pan the Cine Reflector to your liking and then tighten the grip head to hold it in place.
• TIP: For more flexibility try using a Gobo Arm to give your Cine Reflector more distance from your light stand.
• Try different variations of the Reflectors before mounting them.  

• CRLS are lightweight and safe to rig overhead. They require less time to set up and less beefy boom arms.
• Keep your lamps on the ground for easy placement and adjustment.
• TIP: Always use the provided safety.