News roundup: VILTROX, disguise, Godox, Wise Advanced, SAMYANG, AVID, and Westcott

This week we look at some of the latest announcements from VILTROX, disguise, Godox, Wise Advanced, SAMYANG, AVID, and Westcott.

VILTROX DC-550 Pro & DC-550 5.5″ portable HD monitors

VILTROX has announced two new entry-level and budget-friendly 5.5″ portable HD monitors, the DC-550 Pro and DC-550. Both of the monitors come with the same specifications and features, except the DC-550 Pro version comes with a touchscreen. The monitors feature a 5.5″ 1920 x 1080 1200nit LCD screen that has a contrast ratio of 1200:1. You can load up 3D LUTs via an SD card and its inputs can receive up to 4K signals 30p. Both of the monitors come with the usual array of video assist monitoring tools. The DC-550 Pro and DC-550 can be powered via an NP-F battery (included), through USB-C, or a DC adapter.

The DC-550 Pro is now available for £198.98 and the DC-550 retails for £168.76.

disguise and XPLOR launch UK Virtual Production Accelerator course

disguise and XPLOR have announced a new partnership to bridge the skills gap in virtual production. Together they are launching the first UK Virtual Production Accelerator, a learning program that gives trainees hands-on experience with the latest real-time technologies and advanced LED volumes.

Hosted at XPLOR's recently launched £7m+ Production Park facility in West Yorkshire, featuring a 340 square meter virtual production volume and xR studio with ROE Visual LED screens, the program is suitable for both students and industry professionals. Over the course of four days participants will ramp up their skills in volume control operations, virtual art department integration and practical shoot elements through a combination of online, classroom and on-set learning.

“In just under three years, virtual production has changed from something only a few are experimenting with to a global phenomenon that allows filmmakers to tell even more ambitious stories. However, this growth in adoption has left a huge skills gap. disguise, just like XPLOR and Backstage Academy, shares a strong passion for education. After launching our Virtual Production Accelerator Program in America last year in partnership with ROE Visual, we now hope to bring the Accelerator’s focus on the practical to Production Park for VP enthusiasts in the UK and Europe,” says disguise Chief Experience Officer, Alex Wills.

You can sign up for the Virtual Production Accelerator course here.

Godox KNOWLED TP2R/4R/8R RGBWW tube lights

Godox has unveiled its new KNOWLED TP2R/4R/8R RGBWW Tube Lights that are available in 2′, 4′, and 8′ lengths. They are a direct competition to the newly announced amaran PT2c/PT4c RGB LED Pixel Tube Lights.

This set of tube lights comes with up to seventeen customizable special effects, and three built-in pixel effects to help to create unique lighting effects. Each light has an adjustable CCT range of 2000 to 10000K and it also comes with Gel, HSI, and RGBWW modes. You can control the lights via DMX, CRMX, or the Godox Light 3.0 app. They feature a proprietary rechargeable Lithium, 14.4 VDC, 3000 mAh battery, but you can also power them via AC or through a V-mount battery or similar with an adapter.

Find different sets of KNOWLED TP2R/4R/8R RGBWW Tube Lights here.

Wise Advanced announces new CFexpress Type B Mk-II Cards

Wise Advanced is refreshing its CFX-B series line of CFexpress media cards with its new Wise Advanced 512GB and 1TB CFexpress Type B Mk-II Cards. As a budget-friendly alternative to brands like SanDisk, ProGrade, and Angelbird, Wise Advanced is offering now a 2-3 times increase in minimum sustained write speeds with the new cards. This increase is made possible by using newer chips made in the 12nm process and NAND Flash memory technology.

This increase in minimum sustained write speeds should be a welcome one for shooters. This increase puts Wise Advanced in line with comparable CFexpress cards from AngelBird, whose 512GB and 1TB cards have a minimum sustained speed of 800MB/s and 1300 MB/s. There is not yet official pricing information for these cards, but the original models are currently priced at $179.99 for the 512GB card and $349.99 for the 1TB card. Look for availability from mid-March. 

SAMYANG AF 75mm F1.8 X for FUJIFILM X-Mount cameras

Samyang has released its second autofocus lens for the Fujifilm X-mount: The 75mm f/1.8 X. This lens seems to be a completely new design for the system since it is not made for full-frame sensors. This one has an equivalent focal length of 112.5mm, due to the 1.5x crop factor used by the X-mount camera range.

The AF 75mm F1.8 X is suitable for video shooting with its reliable autofocus performance and new “Preset Aperture Control” function on the “Custom Switch – Mode 2”. This means that Fujifilm X-mount camera users can control the depth of field more smoothly without noise or vibration when they are shooting videos.

You can purchase the AF 75mm F1.8 X here.

Avid Technology highlights subs growth

AVID's financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of December 31, 2022 are in and seem to point to its pivot to a subscription model paying off for the company. Paid cloud-enabled software subscriptions increased by approximately 23,100 during the quarter to around 506,000 as of December 31, 2022, an increase of 23.2% YoY.
Subscription revenue was $151.3 million, an increase of 39.5%. "We ended 2021 with strong fourth quarter performance and good momentum heading into 2022," said Jeff Rosica, Avid’s CEO and President. "During the fourth quarter, we continued to exceed our expectations for adoption of subscription solutions by our enterprise customers, and we continued to see solid growth in subscriptions for our creative tools." 

Westcott releases FlexiGels for the FJ400 strobe

Westcott's new FlexiGels are a new custom-made accessory for its FJ400 400Ws AC/DC Strobe. FlexiGels are basically reusable silicone color gels that fit to the glass dome of the FJ400 adding a pop of color to photos. This 8-pack of reusable color gels includes red, orange, light orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink. These reusable gels are heat- and tear-resistant. And , unlike film-based gels, they do not require gaffer’s tape or clips to hold them in place.

The FlexiGels are available in a pack of 8. To learn more about the FlexiGels head here.