Aputure, creators of LED lighting for filmmakers, announced three new products: the Aputure INFINIMAT line, Sidus One, and Sidus Link Pro.
INFINIMATs add a popular new form factor to the Aputure ecosystem: they build upon the popular flex light mat form factor, but add full-color tunability, pixel-mapping, inflatable diffusion, and the ability to be connected together to make larger panels. Likewise, Sidus One and Sidus Link Pro expand the Aputure ecosystem by giving all Aputure users console-level cue-based actions and now the ability to control even non-Aputure lights through CRMX with the same app.
Aputure will showcase these new products and more at its NAB 2024 booth in Central Hall (C6719), where attendees can visit for hands-on demos of the new products as well as exclusive “Light the Set” presentations from video professionals and lighting technicians like Tyler Kaschke, Tenzin Lazerson, and Ambria Cornelius.
“With Aputure, we designed a new way of lighting that gave creatives full wireless control without the need to read a console programming textbook,” explains Ted Sim, Aputure co-founder and President. “We have built our brand on reinventing the traditional fixtures and methods of film lighting. With INFINIMATs, we finally have the weatherproof, full-color flexible light mat that the industry has been asking for. With Sidus Pro, Aputure users finally have the single app that allows them to control any fixture, Bluetooth or CRMX, with the same intuitive user experience that has made Sidus Link the most popular film lighting app of all time.”
Aputure INFINIMAT
INFINIMATs build upon the already popular light mat form factor, adding the option to configure them in the conventional thin mat form or expand using the fixture’s built-in inflatable diffusion. These fixtures also can be utilized as individual units or connected together to create a larger shape. Regardless of how they are used, each panel also features pixel color control and the ability to control multiple lights from a single control box. This multi-light versatility combined with each panel’s singular high output allows them to be both an everyday workhorse for small spaces or patched together with pixel-mapping to be a film set’s largest specialty light.
INFINIMATs offer a mat system that is quick to set up, can be grouped or used individually, can be used in inclement weather with an IP65 weather rating, and can be expanded upon as needed. For the documentary filmmaker, they can serve as portable soft light solutions with easily transported options from 1’x2’, 1’x4’, and 2’x4’; for bigger productions, they offer large controllable soft sources of 4’x4’, 8’x8’, and an expansive 20’x20’.
Sim states, “INFINIMATs are the light mat system that we have all been waiting for. Brighter, lighter, full weatherproofing, full color, full pixel control, inflatable diffusion, and infinitely expandable configurability with multiple sizes that can all be powered from one control box.”
The Sidus Ecosystem
Sidus Link Pro builds upon the already popular Sidus Link app, which utilizes an intuitive graphical user interface instead of the dense command-line computer programming methods utilized by traditional lighting consoles to give creatives control of their lighting. With this new rendition of the app, Aputure users now have the ability to perform instantaneous cue-based controls across multiple lights with zero delay, a feature that was previously only possible through console control, and the ability to connect to any CRMX-enabled fixture (a capability expanded by Sidus One). This means Aputure users can now use Sidus Link as a single app to control even non-Aputure lights.
Sidus One is the hardware component that makes this possible: a powerful yet portable universal transceiver that connects any CRMX-enabled lights to a control system with simplicity. It also allows Bluetooth-enabled lights to communicate over CRMX systems, seamlessly integrating them into Sidus Link Pro. A single Sidus One creates one control universe, and up to four units can be linked together for four universes of lighting control.
The Sidus Link Pro app joined with the Sidus One gives smaller facilities and independent filmmakers a latency-free, intuitive, and powerful integrated control system without needing to spend huge amounts of time learning console programming. Both products have been designed with a software and user-first mentality for faster setup and ease of use without requiring a deep knowledge of computer programming or complex lighting control systems.
“Sidus Link Pro does away with old command-line lighting board controls to introduce a task-based, intuitive lighting control app that is simple to use yet powerful,” Sim explains. “It can control all your CRMX lights, and when paired with the portable Sidus One transceiver, it can even control lights without CRMX built in. These are tools to help you get past the technical annoyances of lighting and programming so that you can get back to what actually matters: the art, the storytelling, and your creative vision.”
