Lens Hood
A lens hood is a rigid shade attached to the front of a lens to keep light from outside the frame off the front element.
What this is about
Where a matte box is a system, a hood is a single part with one job. It weighs almost nothing, needs no rods and costs a fraction of a filter stage, which is why it rides on B-cameras, drone rigs, crash cams and long-lens units chasing action from a distance. The tradeoff is that a hood cannot be aimed. It cuts the same fixed angle all day, whatever direction the offending lamp happens to come from.
A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.
What runs differently here
In planning terms, that means:
- Petal-shaped hoods are cut to the frame aspect so they shade more without appearing in the corners of the image.
- A hood belonging to a longer lens will vignette when fitted to a wider one — hoods are matched per focal length.
- Even without visible flare, stray light lifts the blacks; a hood protects contrast in shots where nothing looks wrong.
With TillyGen
TillyGen's equipment list treats hood and matte box as separate lines, so a lightweight B-camera is not billed a full filter stage it never needs.
Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.
Frequently asked
Hood or matte box for a small rig?
A hood, unless filters or aimable flags are needed. On gimbals and drones the weight and wind profile of a matte box work against the shot.
How long does it take to get started with TillyGen?
A first project takes under an hour to set up. There is no configuration phase in which templates and fields have to be defined before the tool produces anything.
Can the results be exported?
Yes — as PDF for the crew, CSV for downstream systems and through the API for anything automated. The plan stays the source; the exports are views of it.