Sidus Link

The first time I saw Sidus Link working was with just a few Aputure MCs. Now that I’ve gotten used to working with 100% remote fixtures, I never want to go back. I use it with my Aputure 600ds, B7cs, MCs, and just ordered SGC Prism 120s that also support Sidus Link. Sidus Link also motivated me to preorder the new Aputure Nova p600c. I’ve used other wireless solutions (like Director for Litepanels) but they aren’t mesh networks, so they aren’t as reliable. Also, there is no other family of lights with so many options to be run wirelessly on the same network. I had three different Bluetooth lighting control apps on my phone before Sidus Link. I ran one for my panels, one for my RGB lights, and one for my tube lights. Having everything in Sidus Link is soooo much simpler. Instead of guessing at ratios and color temps, and dragging a meter everywhere, I just tell the crew where to mount the lights and can dial in everything in seconds.

I’m a huge admirer of Aputure for what they’ve managed to do. Their lighting products are stellar, at prices that are astonishing. This app is terrifically well thought-out, offering outstanding control of the various units. However, the fact that the user password expires is absolutely IDIOTIC. I can’t begin to express my fury at having to go through the password recovery/reset procedure on set, while everyone is waiting, just to adjust lights!! As another reviewer wrote, it’s not like this is a banking app conveying sensitive information! Aputure states that a password is needed for future cloud functionality, and that we users should use passwords that are easy to remember. Ummm…what if we have no interest in using the cloud? I certainly don’t! For those who will be using Aputure’s future cloud service, being instructed to use easy-to-remember passwords absolutely flies in the face of account security. Requiring a password to use this otherwise-outstanding app is an enormous, egregious mistake. Aputure needs to address this ASAP, and accommodate customers who won’t be using their cloud service.

Using this app on iPhone and iPad with 12 Aputure MCs on a 10 camera TV show in GA. The DP and Gaffer are enjoying the convenience and speed at which we can make adjustments to the lights using the Sidus Link app. We do have connectivity issues sometimes when a lot of cameras and audio all have their wireless transmitters on, but hopefully this becomes more reliable with firmware updates. It may just be the nature of having that many wireless transmitters in the same room. Another issue we are having is that when we bring up an individual light that is already set to a HUE value, it doesn’t always recall what the value was and instead the color wheel point resets back to the middle. If we did not note the hue number, then we are stuck guessing what the value was to try and get the light back to where it was. This happens also when we lose connection and regain connection, the app seems to lose memory of where the values are even if the lights maintain those values. All in all, we are impressed with the app and look forward to future versions of it.