Aputure’s long-awaited Sidus Link Pro 2.0 lighting control app is finally out of beta testing and has been officially released. Sidus Link Pro 2.0 is designed to put all the power of a modern lighting console onto your iPad.
Sidus Link Pro 2.0
The Sidus Link Pro 2.0 app is an easy to use yet powerful lighting control workstation that runs on your iPad. You can create, organize, and tweak complex lighting sequences with ease. It is also designed for speed so you can access your most-used functions with just a few taps. Sidus Link Pro 2.0 is compatible with DMX and wireless CRMX, the control protocol that all lights use.
You can pair your iPad with hardware like Sidus Four or third party transceivers. Sidus Link Pro is compatible with lighting control protocols sACN and Art-Net as well.
Auto-patching and auto-configuration
One of the headline new features of Sidus Link Pro 2.0 is auto-patching. This means that you can now automatically add Aputure lights to Sidus Link Pro. You can then send the configuration to the lights without the need for selecting a Profile or DMX address. This is a huge time saver. Aputure estimates that setting up 30 lights for DMX control normally takes at least half an hour. However, with Aputure Auto-Patching and Auto-Configuration, you can do it all in “5 moments.” This means that the more lights you have, the more time you save.
Individual pixel control
With Sidus Link Pro 2.0, you can control individual pixels on compatible fixtures. This feature works with Aputure’s Infinibar, Infinimat, Nova P600c, as well as some lights from third parties. As a result, you can create sky gradients, color and intensity chases and other visual effects.
Sidus Link Pro 2.0 also features real-time network health alerts. This means you can monitor your network live, including Universe status, power and other alerts, with Sidus hardware.
Sidus BT View
If you aren’t using DMX or cues, you can swap Sidus Link Pro 2.0 to Sidus BT View. With this, you can focus on your Sidus Bluetooth fixtures and functions only. Clear and Record are also hidden, and cues are replaced with a tray for Quickshots.
Sidus Link Pro 2.0 now comes with everything from Sidus Link for iPad. As such, you now get Diagram Master, Illumination Handbook and Magic Infinity Effects.
Ted Sim, President and Co-Founder of Aputure, said, “Our goal with Sidus Link Pro 2.0 was ‘easy power. The app had to do the work of an advanced lighting board system, but be useful to someone who had never trained on an advanced lighting board system. Plus, we wanted to cut down the time-consuming chore of connecting to and setting up each individual light. Sidus Link Pro 2.0 is incredibly fast and easy to use, and incredibly powerful as well.”
What we think
Sidus Link Pro 2.0 is a powerful app that gives you full control over your lighting setup. The automated patching and configuration will be a huge time saver when you need to control a large number of lights. You can also quickly design and control advanced pixel-level lighting effects that would be complex to set up with a regular console. It’s a remarkable achievement for Aputure to deliver all of this in an iPad app. Android tablet users will be disappointed that they don’t get Sidus Link Pro 2.0. Additionally, some people won’t like the subscription pricing model. However, for lighting professionals, Sidus Link Pro 2.0 is a great investment.
Pricing and availability
Sidus Link Pro 2.0 is available now in the App Store. The Pro Plan subscription costs $10 per month or $100 per year. If you want the Max Plan, that’s $20 a month or $200 a year.
