Aputure Sidus Link Pro App Update to Version 1.1

Having been an adopter of the Sidus One - pretty much since release, I have been enjoying the use of the Sidus Link Pro app as it has been in Beta and is currently free (until it moves out of Beta). And one thing I have been waiting for is the inclusion of effects in the creation of CUES in the app. Something I did not expect, but am very happy about is that the user is able to access effects while in other modes (while communicating with fixtures over DMX). Generally if you wanted to access canned effects through a DMX board, you would have to set the fixture to an FX profile. With the Sidus One, the FX profiles are noticeably absent from the Fixture Setup menu and you can access those same effects while in other modes (like CCT and HSI). This is, in effect, like getting some free channels in your DMX universe! While that is a really cool feature, next I would love to see the ability to program custom effects.

New Features that matter to me in version 1.1 of Sidus Link Pro AND anything that seems not fixed or perhaps broken (I mean all are good, right? - these are the ones that stand out for me).

1. Bug Fixes - the Lock function

Previously the lock function was something I had been confused by and once I learned that it was behaving incorrectly, it all made sense. The lock is supposed to shield a fixture from being cleared from the stage AND maintain its current value(s). It ALSO shields the fixture from being added to a CUE. One thing that remains strange to me however - if you go to edit the CUE, it will show that locked fixture among the other fixtures you are controlling, but in reality, if you play the CUE it will play as expected (without that locked fixture) and if you unlock and then clear the fixture from the stage and THEN go and edit the same CUE - that fixture will not be present.

2. Addition of Effects to CUES!

I mentioned this above and it remains the biggest add for me to Sidus Link Pro (obviously I am not doing these in order of importance - haha). Previously trying to add effects into a CUE ended up having the fixture in the CUE with whatever “standard” setting it was in (CCT, HSI, etc…) and now with version 1.1 you can add the effect to CUES intuitively. I will say that when you edit the CUE, what you see is a little confusing as you will see an intensity value and CCT or HSI on the stage that is not relevant and just have to look to the top of the screen.

3. Drag & Drop GROUPING

This is pretty cool and saves a few button presses which is nothing to sneeze at. Also - why would you sneeze at anything? On the stage, you can now just drag a fixture onto another fixture (or onto an existing group) and it will create a group (or be added to the existing group).

4.Buttons for Preset Values/Adjustments

Version 1.1 of Sidus Link Pro allows the user to hit small preset values and adjustments. These have been added to the CUE creation windows so that you can choose like 0.5 and make adjustments of 0.1 up and down and similar. Just another tool to help speed up the process vs having to click and type or slide values. Seems like a little thing, but just super useful.

5. GDTF File Upload Capability

I have not had experience with uploading profiles via this method. Only custom fixture creation I have done has been manual entry so this may mean more to other users who have used this method for other things. It is also a standard format for containing other custom fixture information.

6. Live DMX monitoring for the universe

I really like this feature and it seems like a helpful tool in diagnosing issues. You can simply now see the entire universe and the DMX value that is being pushed out. You can also monitor channel by channel and analyze dynamic effects.

OPEN ISSUES (At least things I have seen):

Open Issues: Fixture View vs Channel View

I can’t imagine this is an intended feature, but I have noticed when changing from fixture view to channel view locked fixtures turn off (and the DMX monitoring reflects the same). Unlocking said fixtures turns them back on while in channel view. Also just going back into fixture view turns the same back on.

Open Issues: Color Crossfade

There may be a workaround for this and also possible that choice of fixture mode could be a factor, but if I generate a CUE with HSI values and start the cue, the fixture begins in what I assume is a default CCT value (probably daylight) and then crossfades into the color and continues as normal. If looping, that crossfade does not happen every time it passes back to CUE 01. In Blackout App, I have experienced this if there were multiple steps and a fixture say (as an example) was set to zero intensity (in step one) and then say (100% intensity PRIMARY RED). If step 1 wasn’t set to the same color as step 2 you could see those transitions happening as the fixture rose in intensity while “transitioning” to step 2. Hopefully all that made sense. Anyways - in the Sidus Link Pro example there is no “prior step” that might be hiding alternate values (in my personal example). So is it an issue or something I can set another way through maybe a default starting value?

Open Issues: Quick Shots

I don’t think this is any different with versions previous to 1.1, but I cannot get quick shots to function properly and it always locks up the app and I have to restart. The few times I have tried it, after reopening the app, the quick shot was recorded and has the relevant fixtures at the expected values. As far as returning those fixtures to the stage, my experience has been intermittent.

Overall I think this update to the Sidus Link Pro Version 1.1 is a really great add and fix to prior issues and I look forward to the next iterations. I am hoping that custom effects are something in the works and will be rolled out on future releases where we can group and control all values to the extent our creativity can imagine (that was a weird sentence but I’m leaving it).

I have used the Sidus One transceiver in professional settings and it has not let me down. Super stoked for future developments!

Check out our video all about the updated to version 1.1: