Do you ever wish you can add dynamic light effects to your videos, whether it’s a short clip on your Instagram Stories, a goofy dance video for your Facebook pals, or a short film for your YouTube channel? There’s a good amount of solutions in the market for that. If you want one that can handle a good load of lighting effects, though, you might want to check out the Colorspike.
Created by Bitbanger (the same guys behind the PixelStick), the light bar contains an array of multi-colored LEDs that you can set to light up in any combination of hues to recreate any scene. Even better, you can have it changing into different colors in any sequence you want, allowing you to recreate everything from the flicker of a campfire and the brief bursts of a lightning storm to police lights and any other lighting scenario.
The Colorspike houses its LED array in a rugged anodized aluminum body, so it should survive rough handling, whether you’re in location or inside a studio. The bar form factor allows you to hold it in a hand as well as set it down on a flat surface, while side channels on either end allow you to anchor it to any stand or mount with ease. The design, by the way, naturally enables heat dissipation, allowing it to stay cool without making any noise during operation.
Inside, it houses a row of multi-colored flicker-free LEDs that can change into millions of hues in any sequence you desire. They’re packed densely to ensure no accidental shadowing is created in your scenes, ensuring your lighting provides clean lines every single time. A rechargeable internal battery allows you to use it on the go, with runtime varying depending on brightness and usage. According to the outfit, using it in extreme cases (brightest setting with constant changes) will keep it running for around 45 minutes of continuous use. They also throw in a DC adapter so you can keep it plugged when shooting inside a studio.
The Colorspike is designed to be controlled from a smartphone app (iOS and Android), where you can create light patterns and sequences to recreate any lighting scenario. Yes, you’ll have to experiment and set up the sequences yourself, but investing a few hours of work should net you a good load of effects that you can use many times over. Hopefully, they also add common light effects upon launch, just so you can use it immediately right out of the box. The app, by the way, can control multiple light bars, so you can easily coordinate a large scene with the same lighting effects.
The device itself comes with onboard storage where you can upload saved patterns from your phone, allowing you to use the light bar as a standalone device. There’s also a small display and physical controls that allow you to cycle through the patterns and choose whichever one you want it to display.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Colorspike. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $299.