How LEDs Continue To Add Value To Broadcast

By Rod Aaron Gammons, Managing Director, Rotolight.

The aim of technology is to make our lives easier; whether that's the use of smart devices for mobile working in the corporate environment, or cameras that offer better resolution in the broadcast industry. The advances in technology ensure that professionals in the field are able to able to work more quickly, more efficiently and often, more cost effectively.

Looking at the broadcast, media and entertainment industry as a whole, it is easy to see just where these advances are taking hold. One of the prevailing trends of the moment is the move to adopting IP across the broadcast workflow, using standard networking infrastructure to transport video, audio and data. This delivers a number of benefits to broadcasters, such as flexibility, scalability and cost savings.

While that presents a high level view of the industry, looking at specific innovations within the production side, for example, helps drive home the point. When it comes to filmmaking, videography and even photography, there are a number of elements that help make a shoot more effective and productive, while serving a functional purpose too.

Lighting is one of those elements; a critical feature in any shoot, it helps filmmakers create atmosphere, set the scene and draw viewers into a story. In today's dynamic filming environment, however, increasingly these lights are being used for so much more.

Award-winning British LED manufacturer Rotolight is leading the charge in the lighting market, bringing this added functionality and value to the fore. One of its recent innovations, the AEOS location and studio light, combines High Speed Sync (HSS) flash capability with continuous light.

This hybrid light makes it ideal for the crossover between photography and film. Photographers can easily acquire focus in dimly lit situations and optimise composition, benefiting from the 'shoot what you see' functionality that continuous lighting offers. It also offers the flexibility of HSS flash, able to flash at 200% of the continuous light output with no recycle time.

For filmmakers and videographers, however, the AEOS offers even more benefits. Designed to bring versatility and flexibility to any shoot, the bi-colour LED provides powerful light output with high energy efficiency. It is one of the most portable lights on the market, and its overall combination of cost, versatility and industry-first features, allows users to unleash their creativity in a way no other light can. It features integrated aluminium handles, making the light easy to handle, hold and manipulate. Making it even more versatile is the fact it features a ball head, instead of traditional yoke. The ball head provides a full 360-degree range of movement and 200 degrees of tilt when mounted to a light stand.

More than this, the AEOS features a built-in Elinchrom Skyport 2.4Ghz HSS wireless flash receiver. This eliminates the need for a standalone flash receiver, and ensures rock-solid reliability and flexibility for controlling multiple off camera lighting setups. It also enables users to wirelessly control the colour temperature and brightness of every light in the setup, saving time on shoot.

Elinchrom's Skyport enables users to wirelessly control up to 10 lights, in four groups at up to 200m (656ft) with the new Rotolight HSS transmitter, optimised for Rotolight by Elinchrom. This feature will also enable mixed light setups, for example with the AEOS as a key-light and the award-winning NEO 2 as a backlight, from a single transmitter.

And, in keeping with the rest of Rotolight's product offering, the AEOS includes a host of patented features, unique to the company that enable users to be more efficient, effective and creative. This includes: Designer Fade™, a production tool that allows users to programme a customisable fade up or fade down to start or finish an interview, eliminating time and effort needed in post production; as well as CINESFX™, a powerful suite of customisable lighting effects helps users simulate various types of light to add drama to productions. This feature can be remotely triggered, using the built-in Skyport with the Elinchrom trigger, giving directors and lighting gaffers that added functionality and efficiency during a shoot.

This includes strobe, fire, sirens, TV and gunshots. The main benefit is that having this functionality built into the light eliminates the need for a costly flicker box, which must be hired additionally and takes hours to set up.

From efficiency through to creativity, the humble LED light is having a definite impact on the broadcast industry, as well as users across filmmaking, videography and photography. It is clear that from a technology and innovation point of view, these lights will continue to add value wherever they are used and help users get the most out of their shoots.

www.rotolight.com

This article also features in the November edition of Broadcast Film & Video.

(JP/LM)