ARRI Skypanel Now Makes Fire, Police Light & Matches Lights

by Graham SheldonMay 2^nd, 2017

The ARRI Skypanel, though pricy, is proving to be a gift that keeps on giving. Its latest firmware update (v3.0) introduces impressive new hard-to-achieve lighting effects such as fire, lighting and “cop car”, and that’s just for starters. 

Image Credit: Graham Sheldon

Many of the lighting effects shown below are tricky and require gaffers and DPs to use many different “hacky” tricks to get the job done. Watch the great video below to see DP Julia Swain go through a few techniques for achieving some of the looks available in the v3.0 update for Skypanel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CsAyMn5DLI

The ARRI Skypanel will now do a wide variety of effects with a few simple turns of a knob. Here are all of the new programmed lighting settings now available on the Skypanel:

Image Credit: ARRI

Simply select “Lighting”, for example, and you can change different characteristics of the effect such as intensity (100% = massive storm) and frequency (space between flashes). It’s surprisingly simple and with the great output of the Skypanel, it’s easy to send lighting flashes across a room on set. Presto, you now have a scene that looks like something out of Young Frankenstein.

For me, the ARRI Skypanel is steadily creeping up my list of “buy-soon” gear.

What about you? Will the ARRI Skypanel find its way into your kit now with the added special features? Comment below!