"Quite possibly, the swankiest dodecahedron this side of the galaxy."
This is a special one; I'm honoured to be the recipient of the first "final build" DeepLight 12 to be shipped, an art piece from DeepLight Labs. This unit is #14 of a limited run of 500.
There is no CGI or special effects in this video. Aside from some fade transitions and title screens, everything you see is real: the magic comes from 960 LEDs, and a dozen mirrors. I shot this video in my kitchen, with the lights off.
I chose to show some of the display modes I like. "Space mode" (with the sparkling stars) is probably my favourite. "Shooting Stars" (various colours) is pretty fun, too. "Lamp" mode shows a static scene, with many levels of brightness and numerous single colour options available.
I think this video gives an idea, but this is one of those things you really need to see in person to get the full experience.
The unit includes a handy remote control that allows switching of modes, brightness, cycling through colours and other things. It's network-capable and can receive updates online; more features are anticipated over time.
ℹ️ MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS ℹ️
Thank you to Jon Kennedy for allowing the use of tracks like "Boom Clack" on RU-vid.
• Jon Kennedy - "Boom Cl...
You can find out more about DeepLight Labs themselves, on their site.
deeplightlabs.io/
🎥 CAMERA GEAR / SETTINGS
I'm not a professional, but I had fun trying to think of ways to show this thing and also get the right light, motion and colour.
I used a Sony a7riii camera at 4K, 1/50s (24p), SLOG-2 profile (PP7), with a base ISO of 800. I had a mix of Sony 24-70 GM and Sigma ART 14mm lenses, stopped down to f/14 to get depth of field / focus across the whole unit if possible.
A Zhiyun Crane "V2" gimbal / stabilizer was used for some free-form walk-around and panning scenes. I need to work on "circling" the unit more smoothly, for sure. 😅
🚦EXPOSURE: S-LOG-2, COLOUR
With SLOG-2, it's advised to over-expose by two stops; I think I got this about right. Some of the red LEDs seem a bit white-ish in some scenes at full brightness, but overall I am pretty happy with how this turned out. I do think the SLOG-2 profile helped give a greater dynamic range for the colour and shades of light from LEDs in a dark room.
🔭 TRIPOD / "LEANING" SHOTS
For the "leaning" shots-which I admit, I over-did-I used a three-leg tripod with two legs planted at the front of the table. I'd start with the 14mm almost touching the glass of the DeepLight unit, and would then slowly lean back. The camera then follows a nice arc path, and I suspect the super-wide field of view makes this motion all the more interesting.
The feet slipped a lot, and I realized later that the effect might be smoother if you start from the lower position and go upward / inward.
That's all for now! Thanks for watching, and reading.
25 окт 2020
