Softpanels announced on April 8 that it had launched a Kickstarter campaign for its new lighting fixtures, designed to cater to those in the production business. Specifically, the campaign is promoting LED soft light fixtures, which can instantly read existing ambient light color conditions to create the appropriate illumination.
The products are available in three different sizes, and each one is designed to consume a low amount of power. Additionally, the fixtures themselves are slim and lightweight, making them easy to transport and adjust accordingly.
"Not only do the patent-pending Softpanels deliver a perfectly matched color temperature, [but] there's also a Skin Enhance button," said Kevin Baxter, Softpanels' CTO. "You simply press this second button, and instantly the light is warmed, giving skin a much more pleasing cinematic quality, via what is essentially an electronic warming filter. Importantly, many times video can produce unhealthy looking skin tones, and Softpanels 'easy button' skin enhance feature instantly makes this problem go away."
With conventional LED lights, producers have been forced to use their eyesight to "eyeball" color temperature. This technique is typically flawed, especially in situations where there is a mix of outdoor and indoor light. The Softpanels products greatly reduce post-production color correction time with their color temperature-reading technology.
Users can manually set multiple fixtures to the same fixed color as well — anywhere between 2700 degrees Kelvin and 6500 degrees Kelvin — to create more consistent lighting while filming scene-to-scene.
The fixtures may also be helpful to photographers who desire a continuous light source. The ultra-thin soft box design of the Softpanels fixtures make the devices ideal for everything from tabletop to still photography.
The Softpanels Kickstarter campaign will end on May 8. It has a pledge goal of $30,000, and it's reached more than $19,000 as of April 11. Baxter is a Primetime Emmy award winner for his work in LED lighting in film and video.
The production of Softpanels fixtures is now in the final phase. Fixtures will begin shipping in May, but additional funding is needed to finish "tooling," according to the Kickstarter campaign page. Backers are eligible to receive discounts on future products.
See how Softpanels works:
