Whether you're working on studio projects or roughing it out in the field, having portable, powerful, and versatile lighting equipment is an absolute necessity if you want your images to look professional.
Rotolight was certainly aiming at checking those boxes when designing the newest member of its growing family, the new Titan X1 1x1 LED panel, which not only boasts best-in-class power but is also chock full of pioneering features that filmmakers can get excited about.
Rotolight Titan X1
Key Features
The Titan X1 comes with a lot of the bells and whistles you'd expect from a top-tier LED panel, including a rugged chassis built to aerospace standards and great performance across the CCT spectrum from 3000K - 10,000K. RGBWW capabilities allow you to harness over 16.7 million different colors, as well as six lighting modes, like CCT, HSI, RGBWW, XY, Filters, and an award-winning suite of CineSFX, that includes all of the most widely used lighting SFX (Fire, Lightning, TV, Police, Gunshot, etc.).
For hybrid stills/video shooters, the Titan™ X1 provides the world’s first High Speed Sync RGB flash (1/8000th) with a powerful output and zero recycle time so you never miss a shot.
Shoot at any color temperature across the CCT spectrum, for a significant performance boost over continuous light performance, or in any one of Titan’s RGB color options.
Rotolight Titan X1
It also comes with an intuitive touchscreen display with quick-start icons to save time on set, 50 user presets, built-in Bluetooth, wireless DMX and Lumenradio CRMX capabilities, and a vast library of over 2500 industry-standard gels.
Speaking of gels...that's actually a great segue into what is perhaps the X1's most intriguing feature, and one that is sure to make this 1x1 even more attractive to indie filmmakers. Rotolight has outfitted the X1 with the world's first electronic diffusion technology, SmartSoft, which allows you to adjust diffusion, focus, and spread electronically. VFX veteran Stefan Lange, who has worked on projects like Mission Impossible, Tomb Raider, and Skyfall, has compared the X1's SmartSoft technology to "216 diffusion on an adjustable dial." But, does that mean you don't really need gels anymore? Yes... yes, it does. DoP Roy Wagner ASC, renowned for his work on Nightmare on Elm Street, Ray Donovan, and Elementary, commented: "It’s incredibly exciting to have a light where you can shape and control the light withoutany modifiers”
Case Study: Peter Neill
Music industry photographer and videographer, Peter Neill, who has worked with clients such as U2, Justin Timberlake, and Queen, decided to put the Titan X1 through its paces on one of his latest projects. Filmed at London's Beltcraft Studios, Neill lit a music video for the band BRIDGES entirely with both the Titan X1 and X2 over the course of a single day.
He used two main setups, so let's break them down to see how he utilized the functionality of these LEDs to serve his project.
The first setup featured a ring of Titan X2s around a single member of the band. Using the X2's ‘chase’ SFX capability, Neill was able to create high-impact strobing effects that were in sync with the beat of the song. The X1s were used in RGB mode to add color fill and creative interest to the shot.
"One of the things that surprised me is that we were able to achieve all these effects without needing a desk or an operator because all of these effects are built into the light," Neill says. "To be able to flash in RGB means I’m not having to waste time with gels, it’s phenomenally convenient."
The entire band was involved in the second setup. Neill used Titan X2s for backlight, as well as X1s to not only illuminate the scene, but to also cast the brick walls in vivid colors.
“Thanks to features like the electronic diffusion," he says, "we are able to have these powerful lights close to the members without needing bulky modifiers which would have made the shot impossible in the space that we had.”
Pricing & Availability
Rotolight Titan™ X1 is shipping November 2020 and available to order now from Rotolight.com, Adorama, and other leading retailers. Save up to $1000/ £600/ €650 (25% off) on regular retail price with launch promotions starting from $2999/ £2399/ €2649 excluding tax, valid until December 31st, 2020.
