We're getting BAMBOOZLED! Major ARRI S360 issue! 

Great rant. I work in a rental house and I'm going to pass it on to everyone that is part of the 'prepping' process!

Hi Jeff, I work in the maintenance department of rental house in Canada called William F White, that has a large amount of Skypanel including the S360 and I thought I could add some information. First, note that the S360 has had an update on the light engine, because Arri was not able to get supply for the components they were using. So they ended up coming up with a new light engine that is, as you notice a bit brighter. However, it is NOT possible to mix match light engine on a fixture, after installing the light engine, the fixture will simply not turn on and the screen will light in red if the light engines are not matching. What you are seeing in the menu is a small glitch that is happening in the S360 menu with Firmware 4.2 (with any light engine inside) but this does not have any impact on the output or the function of the fixture. Where I work, as we were trained by Arri to do these repair, if we wanted to put a L.E version 2 on a fixture, we would have to upgrade every single engine (12) as well as all the drivers (6). We are hoping that this glitch will be gone on the next update of the fixture, however, I’m not sure if this is really worth releasing an update for it just for that. Regarding the output difference you are observing, you are just looking at 2 S360 with different version of light engine, but not mix matched. This is why where I work, after testing and resting every fixture, we unable the LE compensation in the menu. The will make every single Skypanel, no mater what engine it has, match at full intensity, and avoid you some head ache like you had. I really advise any user who has many fixtures on their set to turn that on, unless they know for sure that all their fixtures have the same engine. Finally, I really agree with you about firmware, I’m not going to lie, it is a huge load of work on rentals to stay on top of it, especially with Astera that has a new firmware almost every month, but this is why at the location where I am, we have a team of 10 people test, and updating the equipment. Feel free to ask any question, I hope this helps!

Good to know about this. I'm actually sharing with people who may have this issue.

Same here, updating all Asteras and ART7 boxes in every rental house every time... (Berlin, Germany)

Was fighting with an array of Creamsource Vortex 8s recently, thank you so much for the help with spotting a firmware issue, these fixture have so many checkboxes in menu that affect everything. No idea why there is a checkbox for Color ballanced and not output that affects the color diagram between fixtures. Dmx smothing. And after version 1.2 there’s that “High speed” button. It affects color curve of dimming. When I made a running blue strip across several vortexes I noticed that while dimming down some of fixtures ran into purple instead of being blue - that was exactly that checkbox “high speed”. Just why do We have to be aware of so many specific details of each and every light, like there is nothing else to have a headache for.

Yes, as a gaffer, this is something I have to check for even from large companies. Fix it in prep! If the lamps are not the same, they don't leave the warehouse.

Well, you can update the tablet and art 7 once you charge the battery, which is dead, and the right charger wasn’t included.

Great advice! Always smart to check firmware versions and do factory resets on not only all your lights but dimmers and wireless products as well.

thank you for that information… had the same problem one week ago and spent 3 hours without finding the problem…

Just putting this out there: I ran into this issue mid April but I'm pretty confident that at least three of the S360's we had this issue with were new from the Factory. I don't think it's just the rental houses

Great rant ! keep em coming

Thanks for the great video. ARRI has an issue too, but it is definitely rental house`s responsibility to update the firmware and take care of their lights which we are paying for.

absolutely correct ! updating all firmware is on my side ... thank you so much for the videos

in 2024 this is still an issue, i work as a repairman at a big rental house, problem is arri doesnt sell any older gen panels, and a new gen panel cost almost 500 bucks each, this is why mixing is somethimes done, now we dont actually do that, instead we would rather use a panel from a sc120 lets say thats also older gen and then replacing the sc120 panels with the newer gen, more cost effective than replacing all panels on a sc360 In my experience skypanels have lots of issues, mostly led drivers going bad, but compared to a creamsource vortex the arri is still more reliable, vortex have tons of issue mostly the ballast going bad and second buttons going bad, now only after 1-2 years the leds are starting to also go bad The best fix cost wise for a skypanel, is to solder a new led on the panel , but this is a skethy route as if not done properly it will cause the led to fall of after a time and on older gen the panel is covered in a insulation layer wich you have to gently remove with a heater, and almost imposible to put back properly, not to mention you risk burning the leds aswell

Really great video. Your specifics are dead on and great to find your channel for feeling the heartbeat of our industry from the people that work with the tools..... to the people that work with the tools. I personally subscribed because I support.

Hit the nail on the head there Jeff. I deal with the same thing on all of my shows too. And trying to explain these kind of things to non lighting department personnel is problematic cause most of them just care about if it works and is it consistent.

100% we have to constantly update firmware and so forth on our shows. Nothing ever seems to be updated or match anything else.

THAT'S RIGHT, SPEAK ON IT!!

Its the same in the camera world brother lol

I’d didn’t even have to watch the video to know what issue you were gonna bring up. I could never understand how Arri is getting away with this I would understand putting an entire fixture with 1 type of light engine being old or new but mixing the engines is beyond stupid

For the day rate on those fixtures they better be perfect. Out with the old in with aputure.

Great video. Small tip, keep the mic closer to your mouth for less echo.

The mixed light engine issue isn’t necessarily the rental house. The handful of s360s that I’ve used brand new from the box have had this issue straight from the factory.🤷🏻‍♂️ The 360 is a very problematic head on a number of different levels. 🤦🏻‍♂️