SICA new age lights workshop- Day 2!

SICA workshop which had good response on the day first and many suggestions where taken from the members, accordingly the day second was organized more precisely for benefit of the members.

SICA new age lights workshop- Day 2

Day Two- Aputure Lights /Sidus Link app workshop 9.30 to 5pm!

Beginning of the event started with Introduction by Mr. Ranjith Kumar Jayakumar who was very happy about his association with SICA after successful demo event conducted earlier march 2022. He introduced Aputure light as the product is made by Film Makers.

Ranjith Kumar Jayakumar stressed that all the Aputure lights fall into one Eco system is the major advantage for film makers.

He gave a insight to understand the line up of lights as LS  series as light storm which is for directional light, Nova series for Panel Lights, Amaron for professional and Indie film makers.

X – stands for bi color temperature, C- will have variable color temperature and color options, D- for Daylight

Session handed over to Resident  pro Mr.Vasanth Saravanan, who is a cinematographer and photographer  has many Advt projects to his credit.

First he started with importance of practical lamps in film Making…and showcased B 7c,

bantam fixture has a white light range of 2000 to 10,000K to blend in seamlessly in any ambient light situation, match other fixtures, or exercise creative expression. The light’s high CRI/TLCI rating of 95/96 is a testament to its advanced accuracy in color reproduction. Another color control feature is its RGB mode with hue, saturation, and intensity adjustment that gives image makers access to millions of colors. And the light is dimmable from 0 to 100%.

There are yet more benefits. The fixture is compatible with wireless Bluetooth control up to 164′ and has nine lighting effects, including Paparazzi, Fireworks, Faulty Bulb, Lightning, TV, Party, Pulsing, Cop Car, and Fire. Ready for worldwide use, the Accent B7c runs on 100 to 240V, but it also has a built-in rechargeable battery that will give you 70 minutes of runtime per charge.

with Aputure MC RGBWW LED Light is part of the Aputure M-series of lights and features RGB LEDs, as well as both tungsten- and daylight-balanced LEDs, creating a full hue controllable LED that emits up to 95% of the BT 2020 color gamut. This lightweight light fixture easily fits in the palm of your hand and can be mounted using the built-in 1/4″-20 threaded mounting hole or attached to metal items via its built-in magnets, Ranjith Kumar Jayakumar added  how this light is been beneficial and  referred recently Cinematographer  Sakthi Saravanan  experience shooting with these lights which was very useful at narrow paths of street during night and Tunnel sequence where he used as much as 32 MC small lights.

Vasanth went on to present advantages of Aputure light accessories like modifiers which saves time and man power, easy to mount.

LS series lights and Nova Panel lights where was presented with each of its salient features and all these lights was paired with the mobile app and controls was absolutely interesting.

Especially the Spot Light lens which has iris type blades allows to bring the light shape to a tiny point, impressive part was when a LS series light was placed as a Back light in front of the Model a thermocole reflecter was placed…Vasanth was able to cut the back light falling on the hair and allow it to bounce on the board all under precision in a few minutes of time.

Aputure LS 1200D was real powerful light of the whole bunch which can be the best one to create day light source match with outdoor lights.The Light Storm 1200d Pro is the flagship product…It utilizes a 1200W Daylight COB chipset to compete on the same level as industry-standard HMI Lights, with a staggering 83,100+ lux output at 3 meters with the Hyper Reflector (Narrow).

Amaron light tubes, led flexible fabric lights all are very unique on its application.

SIDUS LINK APP- 

• First, you’ll need to download the Sidus Link app to your phone or tablet from the PLAYSTORE . Then, go ahead and register your account details or login.

• Open Lighting Control System Click the pancake menu icon to reveal the full menu..Click on Lighting Control System.

• Create a Scene, Next, you’ll want to create a new scene. Click on the plus (+) icon to make a new scene…You can click on the three dot icon to rename your scene, as well as share it with other devices and users, or delete it…Scenes will be saved so you can use them again in the future…..Tap on the Scene to open it.

• Add Light Fixtures….To connect a light, tap on the green plus (+) icon.

• Reset Bluetooth on Your Aputure Light

  Now, power on your Aputure light fixture. In this example, I’ll be using the Aputure MC.

  Press and hold the scroll wheel until the menu appears. Scroll to BT, then push down on the scroll wheel to select….Under BT Reset, select Yes, and then click down on the scroll wheel……A loading screen will appear. Once complete, your device should now show in your Sidus Link app……

  If this failed, make sure the Bluetooth is set to On on your phone or tablet.

  Select the light from the New Fixture list, then tap Set up……The Sidus Link app will run diagnostics and connect, then tap OK

• Repeat to Add More Light Fixtures

  Now that you have your first device connected, repeat the process on your other Aputure lights by resetting their Bluetooth connections and adding them to your Scene…

• Control Your Aputure Lights

  You now have the ability to control your Aputure lights. You can tap an individual fixture to control that one light or, if you have multiple lights, you can select All Fixtures to control all of them at once….Depending on the type of Aputure light, you’ll see controls for power, intensity, white balance, gels, colors, and/or effects.

• Certain Aputure lights (like the MC) also feature tools like Color Picker, which uses your phone or tablet’s camera to match colors, or Sourcematch to match with other lights on set.

Sidus Link provides a new solution for film lighting control, based on our Sidus Mesh™ Technology, that allows the user to connect up to 100 fixtures with a smartphone or other smart device.
There are most popular and professional functions to control fixtures in our App, including CCT mode, Gel mode, Color mode, Effects mode and unlimited Presets.
a new way to control film lighting through  Sidus APP  would help cinematographers, DPs, gaffers, and filmmakers quickly set up the scenes and lighting with a minimal workflow.
Make filmmaking easier
Features:

1. Compatible with all new Aputure fixtures including LS C300d II, MC, RGB panel light etc.etc
2. Up to 100 connected fixtures with a smartphone or other smart device…Approx distance up to 300 meters
3. CCT mode, Gel mode, Color mode, Effects mode
4. Fixtures Console, quickly adjusting the intensity of all fixtures
5. Allows the multi smart iOS device to control one lighting network
6. Lighting network encipherment protection
7. Create a scene and add fixtures, then you can control all fixtures in the scene
8. Link fixtures as a group
9. Smart Battery Regulation and Battery Life Feedback
10. Smart Fixture Parameter & Information Feedback
11. Quickshots function, save the scene lighting looks and quickly reset up
12. Unlimited Presets
13. Free Cloud Synchronization for Scenes, Presets, and Lighting Effects
14. Collaboration CC Group Regulation
15. Collaborating the scene to CC Group member
16. Casually sharing scenes with the verification code
17. Color Picker allows fixture match the color with picking up any color and color light
18. Sourcematch allows fixtures to match the color temperature from scene and light source
19. XY Color mode provide tri-Color Gamut: A gamut(similar BT2020), DCI-P3 and BT 709
20. Manual lighting effect
21. Fixture OTA update support
22. QuickShots Synchronization Support

In between the workshop Ilavarasu introduced to young generation veteran DOP A.Ramesh Kumar his contribution to Tamil Cinema, remembered OOmai Vizhigal was released after censorship battles, hence it had Censor certificate as Poster design, Ramesh Kumar cinematography set a new era of bringing Cinemascope format with vertical bokeh,horizontal flares, more important Ilavarasu admired was a film with night sequences without having a blue light.

FEFSI President and Ace film director R.K.Selvamani was welcomed by Ilavarasu and Karthik Raaja  at the  workshop Venue.

R.K.Selvamani was very appreciative about SICA efforts of bringing awareness about changing technology to its members by educating them with hands on program. This  will inspire other crafts also, He put important note that film creators should approach their projects with much responsibility to save production houses.

R.K.Selvamani shared his fantastic shooting experience with Cinematographers M.V.Paneerselvam and Ravi Yadhav.

Post Lunch session was open to all members to have a hands on to light fixtures and mobile app features.

SICA members had a very good learning time, especially Senior members was  nostalgic about their olden days how difficult to achieve the effects in Lighting…which these Aputure Lights has made things easier.

Ilavarasu thanked all of them who had made these two day event successful and also said more technical programs will follow up in near future.

Article by

CJ Rajkumar

Author/Cinematographer