NEW PRODUCTS

ARRI expands Orbiter line-up with new accessories

ARRI has expanded its accessory range for the Orbiter LED luminaire with the introduction of the Orbiter Docking Ring, the new Orbiter Bag-o-Light, Orbiter Glass Cover and Orbiter Dome Mini.

The Orbiter Docking Ring is an accessory enhancement which expands the lighting designer and DP toolbox even further. With its Quick Lighting Mount (QLM) system and the large number of different optical lighting accessories from ARRI, the Orbiter is a versatile luminaire.

Since the Docking Ring allows the Orbiter to be compatible with third-party equipment, it helps to minimise new investments. Its optical design helps to boost the performance of older tools in output, optical performance and homogeneity. Now, users can apply their already-owned optics on the Orbiter as an alternative to ARRI optics, while still benefiting from the ARRI lighting. The adapter connects without any additional tools onto the QLM of every Orbiter. The Docking Ring is automatically recognised by the luminaire and the light output is automatically adjusted for the performance.

The tool allows the attachment of a wide range of compatible optics from various manufacturers, including projection optics, Fresnel and Cyc-optics, up to a weight of 7.9kg. The Docking Ring is lightweight (~1kg) and very compact (246mm x 225mm x 86mm), which makes transport easy.

Orbiter Bag-o-Light can be attached to Orbiter’s 15° Open Face optic and is designed for close-up applications in motion picture and photography. When inflated, it is 2m long with a diameter of 22cm and weighs less than 0.86kg. It transforms the light output from the standard 15° ARRI Open Face optic on the Orbiter into soft light.

The Orbiter Glass Cover is a compact, lightweight optical accessory. With its ultra-translucent glass, the Glass Cover allows full, unrestricted light output without impacting colour temperature or quality. It is suited for near-distance applications with limited available space where much light is needed.

The Orbiter Dome Mini provides omnidirectional light at a high intensity. Compared to the Dome optic, the Dome Mini is smaller and lighter.

www.arri.com

Sennheiser launches HD 400 Pro studio headphones

Sennheiser has launched HD 400 Pro headphones designed primarily for people who are into audio production and audio mixing. They feature an open-back design and velour earpads, and the company claims they are extremely lightweight. The unit includes both coiled and straight detachable cables, to adapt to different user preferences.

HD 400 Pros have a frequency response range of 6 to 38,000 hertz, giving music producers complete control over their mix. Sennheiser’s 120-ohm transducers feature a diaphragm made of a special polymer blend, which combined with driver magnets produces a clear and well-defined bass. The distortion is less than 0.05% (measured at 1kHz, 90dB SPL).

In addition, the open-back design ensures a natural propagation of sound, unimpeded by the acoustic structures required in closedback designs. The ear cups have velour earpads and adjustable headbands that match the shape of the head.

HD 400 Pro headphones can be used with Dear Reality’s headphone monitoring plugins, which create a virtual mix room with carefully designed acoustics due to advanced spatial audio technology. They have already been integrated into the Spatial Headphone Compensation feature in dearVR MIX; dearVR MONITOR integration will be released by the end of this year.

HD 400 Pro headphones are available now and retail at $272.

www.sennheiser.com

Nxtedition announces flexibility with nxt|cloud

Nxtedition, a specialist in broadcast microservices, has enhanced its platform for production and playout with nxt|cloud, a full nxtedition deployment that runs on public clouds.

Previously, playout in nxtedition used the switching, layering and real-time rendering power of CasparCG to achieve high production values using COTS hardware. This latest development has seen nxtedition develop a fully containerised, Linux version of CasparCG, providing the same playout functionality, flexibility and quality as a scalable, elastic and secure microservice in the cloud.

The architecture of nxtedition is entirely built-in JavaScript. The developers of nxtedition were previously deeply involved with CasparCG, the open-source broadcast graphics platform now widely used around the world.

The nxtedition solution contains all the elements required for broadcast, from ingest and transcode through asset management and archiving to delivery to multiple platforms, automatically repackaging news stories for social media. The fully virtualised architecture means systems can be built to precisely match the individual workflow requirements, with the appropriate level of resilience and large reduction in complexity that microservices bring. This centralisation of content for users allows more productivity and speed with the content to repurpose it for broadcast, OTT, digital, social, podcasts and radio.

Adam Leah, Creative Director at nxtedition, said: “With nxt|cloud we can offer an identical experience in the cloud: the same quality, the same functionality, the same user experience, the same responsiveness. That includes sophisticated addedvalue features like localisation. Private cloud on-premise is the pragmatic choice for most broadcasters when it comes to production. We designed nxt|cloud to also provide new and existing on-prem clients with a hybrid cloud solution for disaster recovery. By using seamless replication, not only are the playout channels mirrored from the ground, but the scripts and media are mirrored too. If the client has an emergency, then the entire team switches to the cloud and carries on where they left off.”

www.nxtedition.com

Miro Cube offers more colour with the launch of Miro Cube 2

Miro Cube has launched Miro Cube 2, a follow-up to the original that Rosco announced back in 2014. These are small, lower-power draw fixtures that can be used for a variety of applications. The Miro Cube 2 is available in four models: 4C – RGBW, 4CA – RGBA, WNC – Tunable White, and UV365 – Blacklight.

The Miro Cube 2 4CA is an RGBA fixture that features a phosphor-converted amber chip for creating warm tones. The fixture also produces a warm white light – as low as 2,200K – that features a full-colour spectrum and a high CRI.

The Miro Cube 2 4C is an RGBW colour-mixing fixture for producing bright and bold colours, while the Miro Cube 2 WNC is a tunable white fixture that features a mix of warm, neutral and cool LEDs to produce white light with a colour temperature range of 2,700-6,000K and colour rendering (92+ CRI).

The Miro Cube 2 fixtures have a variety of options when it comes to beam spread, and all feature a Ludicrous Mode which intelligently redistributes the fixture’s power to maximise output. By using ROSCO’s patented Miro Cube heat management system, Miro Cube 2 fixtures in Ludicrous Mode can produce high output.

The Miro Cube 2 also features two dimming modes, Master Dim Mode and NO PWM Mode.

Miro Cube 2 fixtures can be controlled via RDM compatible DMX and 0-10VDC, and a mobile device using ROSCO’s myMIX app which interfaces with the new myMIX Connect accessory. Using myMIX and myMIX Connect, users can select a colour temperature, choose from up to 54 True Rosco Colour gel matches, or create their own custom colour.

us.rosco.com