The Luxli Timpani is gaining a great deal of popularity, and the reason is simple: everyone in professional video production needs a bicolor 1x1 panel, and the Timpani offers bicolor, RGB color, gels, effects, and remote app control, all in one, and at a price that’s a steal. Simple. The first batch sold out in about a week. 1x1 panels are the most commonly used lights in video production because they’re the easiest to match to other lights, thanks to their bicolor aspect. Their form and portability also play a huge part.
What makes the Timpani even more special is that it features a 672 RGBAW LED matrix, which includes not only amber but also white LEDs, in addition to red, green, and blue, meaning that both amber and white are used to create white light, ensuring substantial daylight color accuracy in comparison to simply using amber. And the Timpani isn't just a soft light, but a soft light with a hardened edge, allowing for better shadows. Those who need soft light can always use a diffuser, whereas hardening a soft light is not so simple.
In CCT mode, the Timpani features a color-temperature range of 2800K all the way up to 10000K, adjustable in 50K increments, and a TLCI/CRI rating of 97/95. There are also green and magenta controls for adjusting for color shift when matching other LED lights or fluorescent lights, whether professional ones or standard room lights. Plus, the built-in gels can be applied over any selectable color temperature, which is very rare. With this mode alone, one could walk into most video-production sets and match nearly any light. Moreover, the included Luxli Conductor app for iOS and Android allows complete remote control of the Timpani, with a few small exceptions. This capability is especially useful when the Timpani is in a tight space or when you're tuning multiple Timpani lights.
In RGBAW color mode, just about any color can be chosen, and saturation can be fully adjusted. Achievable from the 672 LED color matrix instead of physical gels, and selectable as precisely as in 1-degree increments, the colors look very rich and can be used to change the background effectively in almost any setting. For those who usually shoot in locations where there's no room for color, the option is still good to have at your fingertips. However, with such a vast choice of colors, you might be surprised at where you can pull off some color and probably double or triple your production value, or more than triple. For music-video shooters, there's no need to even read on. The Timpani will be at home on any music-video shoot. The same can be said about film and documentary shoots. Those in news will love how lightweight and efficient the Timpani is. Vloggers, this can be the light for you. You get beautiful white light, you can match your studio’s room lights and natural light, and you can change the look of your studio in every episode with the colors and effects. Event and stage producers can also do a whole lot with the Timpani.
In gel mode, the Timpani has 150 Lee-equivalent digital gel filters. Why use gels when you have the color mode? While color mode lets you choose a precise, rich color, the gels are preset; classic looks. The first two on the list are Chromakey Blue and Chromakey Green. With these gels, you can match a blue screen / green screen background matte and highly saturate it for optimal results. Or you can very successfully turn a keyable surface, such as a white projector screen, into a blue or green screen. The gels can also be used to create different moods, whether in scenes already lit by other lights or not. Gel mode is very convenient to use. Just scroll down the list and try out each one instantly. Gels are often a must to have, and if you have them built in, you don't need to carry them in a box and physically attach them one by one.
The last mode is special-effects mode. Here, ten effects, such as Explosion, are adjustable in timing, duration, color temperature, hue, and saturation. Some of the effects can be used to change a scene completely, while others can be gentle additions in the background of your existing setup. For example, the Strobe effect can turn a simple room into a raving party scene, while the Fire effect can simulate the light of a calm candle. (Fire can also be adjusted to simulate a campfire or bonfire in wind conditions from no wind at all to an all-out storm.) Other effects include CCT Chase, which provides a continuous loop between two color temperatures; Color Chase, which loops between two selected colors; and Siren, which simulates police, ambulance, or fire truck flashing lights. The effects are especially great for someone on a budget. In fact, the Timpani’s combined feature set and versatility are great for someone on a budget.
As you use the different modes of the Timpani, some good lights to add into the mix are the Timpani's predecessors, the Luxli Viola and Cello on-camera lights—the lights that began the whole Orchestra series, the lights that made the fairly young Luxli brand famous. These lights started the multicolor concept for Luxli, they mix well with the Timpani, and they're great for on-camera, as well as stand- or grid-mounted use.
The companion Luxli Conductor app, in addition to providing remote control, has an impressive eyedropper feature that brings a whole other dimension of flexibility in matching other lights. You can literally match the color of any light or object by simply taking a photo of it and importing the photo into the app. After importing, you get to drag a target crosshair to a specific part in the image to select a specific color. Following that, the Timpani will replicate that color from the RGBAW matrix nearly instantly. This color sampling feature also works to match natural light, and it can be used as an alternative to most of the other ways of matching color mentioned above, including perfectly matching your green screen or blue screen matte.
Completing the overall design, the Timpani features 4,650 lumens of brightness, a V-mount plate, continuous power, a metal back that provides a powerful heat sink and allows for fanless and silent operation, a large color LCD, DMX control, 1.4" slim and sleek design, and a total weight of only 7 lb.
Considering adding a Luxi Timpani RGBAW LED panel light to your lighting kit? Take a look at this quick overview of the Timpani, delve a little deeper into the Timpani’s LED specs and features, or check out 10 creative ways to use this panel light. Read on to learn more about your choice of 150 Lee gels in filter mode.
Need the flashing lights of a patrol car for your episodic police procedural, a flickering firelight for a camping-alone-in the-woods horrorfest, or the strobing of a ravenous paparazzi mob? The Timpani does all this and more in its integrated Special Effects mode. Get some tips on how to build a light kit with the Timpani and learn about its four operating modes, DMX features, and physical build in this broader Timpani overview.
We’d love to know what you think of the Timpani. It’s is a long-awaited light two years in the making. How do you imagine using it? How do you see yourself matching it to other sources? Please feel free to share in the Comments section, below.
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