New fixtures: SoftPanels

traviswears said:
I have yet to back a Kickstarter product that didn't over-promise and under-deliver. The main reason I backed this one was because of the success and good reviews of the Veydra primes project created by Ryan Avery. But it looks like he wasn't involved in this at all. So...
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When's the last time you watched the campaign video? Watch it from 1:30 in... that's why I feel so entitled to better communication than we've had up to the last update. At this point I'm comfortable riding it out with how long it's been, and with the latest update, but the lack of communication and vague phrasing of each update has been almost comical... especially in light of the sales pitch and team behind this.

Ryan: "What assurances do we have that you'll actually deliver a product on-time?"

Kevin: "Our team developed LED lighting lighting for this industry almost 15 years ago... we've worked out all the technical problems of this light already."

Ryan: "With your help we can deliver the Softpanels product shortly after the close of this campaign."

*eye roll*

David W. Jones said:
It's because these kickstart folks view you as just an income stream, not investors in their company.
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This is probably the last Kickstarter I'll back unless I know who's doing it... or the project is "cheap".
 
Nothing here... I was one of the early backers, then when Kevin offered the 2-light deal, I canceled my other order and "backed" the 2-light 1x2... that put me at #69. Still reasonably low on the list... first "third" of backers. I'll post when I have an update.

What number are you?
 
I'm number I haven't ordered one and was just curious about general updates since this topic has been dormant for the past couple months.
 
Email on the 5th of this month: "The first completed sets of lights are leaving the factory, and moving to the distribution center. These first units will start shipping out to our backers next week", accompanied by pictures of boxed units on pallets.

There have been a number of communications in last few months from their team.
 
If they can deliver what they say they can deliver... it really WILL be a revolutionary product... a game-changer. I work with Astras all the time... and it's obvious that every cam op is basically setting the temp by sight on the monitor. If these can "one-button push" match the ambient... well... it'll be a big deal on the shoots I'm on.

I can't wait to see how they compare to an Astra. By the specs, these should land somewhere between an Astra and a SkyPanel... which, at the price, would be impressive. Beyond that the real "test" will be how they're performing a year from now.

As a guy who nearly went down this road... of location led production... I have a unique perspective on this... and I can't wait to see one of these in person. Hopefully #69 is low enough to get a look soon.
 
ozmorphasis said:
Why do the specs say "2900 lux/269 FC at 4ft [.8m] ?"

4ft does not equal .8 meters.
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I'm assuming that's one of the many (many) grammar mistakes/typos that I've read on the various updates. Even the box says "Design and Engineeried in USA".

The one thing I take some comfort in... for "backing" this project... is I'll be surprised if these don't end up costing even more than projected (for future buyers). It would seem that he found an IC for this auto-color thing... probably some company that pulled this IC design straight out of a Sekonic color meter, and put it in a prototype light. Then (again I'm alleging here) Kevin said "awesome! it works! let's do this!"... and then the reality was that there's likely a reason a Sekonic color meter costs so much... and trying to mass-produce lights with that built-in revealed those challenges.

Mass production and assembly lines are great once a product is fully worked out... and you can plan for the actual labor time and build cost... and it would seem that these calculations were WAY off. So... hopefully they have it all worked out now, and everyone can soon get the lights they "backed"... and hopefully for everyone else, this really will be a revolution at a great price... but I believe there is not only, no free lunch, but that even a cheap lunch has a catch. In this case I think they'll either raise the price as soon as they have their investment made... OR... (I hope not) that other corners will have to be cut in order to make the product profitable.
 
Update on Soft Panels coming

Update on Soft Panels coming

Hi all, just a quick note to let you know that there will be an announcement with proper information on the progress and delivery of Soft Panels in a few days. Ryan Avery has stepped in to assist getting this process to home plate and has asked me to assist him in letting people know what's up. So, info coming very soon, really just as soon as we can accurately gather it for everyone.
 
I hope the lights are much better quality than the customer service, updates and endless set-backs indicates.

I understand manufacturing delays but the communication throughout this campaign has been a complete fail.
 
Here is what was just posted to the SoftPanels Kickstarter Update page. The update has been posted for all to see, so I figured it can't hurt to replicate it here.


To our patient Kickstarter Backers:

SoftPanels apologizes for the delays in delivering your lights. We wish to be completely transparent as to what has happened so far, what we are doing about it, and the schedule moving forward. So here’s a long update.

SoftPanels is committed to producing highly innovative LED light fixtures with superior build quality, bright & even output, high color quality, innovative color control features and efficient power management -- all at excellent prices. All of the delays have come as a result of our striving to reach and maintain these goals.

The original hand-built prototypes worked great. But moving into production we have discovered several manufacturing issues that only occur when building in scale. To help keep them affordable, SoftPanels fixtures are designed in the USA, manufactured in Asia and then shipped by boat to our US facility. An issue discovered in China can add weeks of delay, but an issue discovered once the units arrive in the US can add several months. This is where we find ourselves today.

When we first moved into production, a power fluctuation at very low voltages when using certain batteries was discovered that led to a complete redesign of the power board. That problem was remedied and SoftPanels made an initial production run of fixtures that then shipped to the US. Upon arrival last week we determined an issue with the performance of the Autocolor function. Addressing this adds a major delay to our shipping schedule.

Here is where we stand. The initial production run went back to Asia to have the Autocolor issue corrected. More units are in production now that we believe will be functioning perfectly, and they will be rigorously tested before leaving Asia. SoftPanels expects to begin to deliver these units in January ’17. All Kickstarter orders should be delivered by February 15, 2017. Any Backers who do not receive their units by that date will get them soon after with a $100 rebate as an additional apology from SoftPanels.

A note on our communication: Kevin and his team are great guys who wish to manufacture the best LED lights in the world. To that end they have been busy getting everything working perfectly while attempting to project the actual arrival dates. We know this can appear as if we’re not paying proper attention to you, our Kickstarter Backers. Ryan Avery helped us launch the SoftPanels Kickstarter and he is stepping in now to make sure that all of the backers are kept informed of the progress. Last year Ryan launched the highly successful Veydra lenses Kickstarter and he has considerable experience bringing quality film & video products to market. Ryan has brought in Mitch Gross to assist in this communication. Mitch is an experienced industry professional with a background in communications between clients and manufacturers.

To that end, every one of you will be contacted personally by Ryan or Mitch in the coming days. This will be active outreach and we encourage you to reply back so that we make sure to address your needs and concerns. As Backers you made SoftPanels happen and we want all of you to see this to completion with both a great LED light fixture and a good feeling about your participation.

A last note – it works great, including the precision manual color! Backer #1 Charles Thatcher did receive his SoftPanels light and he is quite happy. There will be a separate post on this with pictures of the light, case, etc. Charles reports that his SoftPanels fixture is light weight with “phenomenal light quality” and fine incremental adjustment of color and intensity. The skin enhancement feature performs great and tracks correctly as color temperature is adjusted. Only the Autocolor function is disabled, which we informed him and which we will address for him once new fixtures are again shipping.

SoftPanels apologizes again for the delay and promises to improve our communication. Expect to hear more from us soon as we contact you each individually and then you begin to receive your lights.

- Kevin Baxter, Ryan Avery & Mitch Gross
 
I'm a backer for a 2x3 unit and its nice to see some actual communication. Its been a bit frustrating but I'm enticed at getting a skypanel quality light for a fraction of the cost. Its been exciting the prospect of having a 300w softlight source large enough to key most interviews I do without much further grip/diffusion needed. currently firing the average 55w-120w 1x1 fixture into diffusion kills much of the output limiting shot options.

I am glad to hear that Kevin and team are upholding the highest quality standards. I can't imagine how hard it is to co-ordinate globally while trying to push for new tech integration and keeping costs down. Now with Mitch and Ryan on board I hope to see proper communications. I know as a creator myself that it can be hard to come forward when things out of your control go wrong instead of trying to rush around and save things behind the scenes. I know I have been guilty of trying to save face rather than ask for help or let a client know the issues happening behind the scenes. Too many established companies even let tech go out unfinished or underspeced for what was promised so I'm more than willing to give Kevin a break as it appears the delays are due to quality control which as a purchaser it seems is top notch in and will not let anything go out less than perfect. I'm reassured that the product I do get will be professional quality.
 
Thanks for the note of support. These are great lights and they just need a bit of shepherding to the finish line. I wasn't involved in the product development, just coming in now to help communicate as the fixtures get completed and released. These are guys of integrity with experience making quality products. I look forward to seeing SoftPanels in the wild.
 
There is nothing about the delays in bringing this product to market nor the pitfalls that they have experienced in the manufacturing process that surprises me. This is the norm with startups and quite common with major manufacturers as well. Reading this thread over the past few months, I can only shrug that anyone was surprised that the product wasn't introduced on the original timeline.

Communication is another matter. I myself felt like I was getting updates in a way that was satisfactory but others didn't feel that way. However I have seen examples in message boards where the individual posts updates with a frequency that is going too far the other way--"the new boards arrived up today but my big toe is infected and I need to go have it lanced this afternoon at 2 pm so I'll test it later and post pics after I have a tuna sandwich" kind of thing. Generally a manufacturer doesn't have an obligation to reveal anything about their manufacturing process to the end user, but crowdfunding is a different process and I think one that is still evolving.
 
CharlesPapert said:
There is nothing about the delays in bringing this product to market nor the pitfalls that they have experienced in the manufacturing process that surprises me. This is the norm with startups and quite common with major manufacturers as well. Reading this thread over the past few months, I can only shrug that anyone was surprised that the product wasn't introduced on the original timeline.
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Charles... I've always admired your laid-back personality on DVXuser. There are a few DPs I work with who share this "Dude-like" quality... and those are my favorite gigs.

I can certainly understand your point with pitfalls and delays in bringing a new product to market. I'm definitely not surprised larger-scale production caused delays, but I am surprised that the CTO (Chief Technical Officer) for LitePanels has had several technical problems causing delays, the first of which being a power board(?) LitePanels has been making battery powered location lighting for over 10 years(?)

The history of the team eliminated any of my concerns, while the video itself is responsible for backer expectations;

K: "These 3 fixtures are all available right now, a fraction of the price of existing soft-light technology"... (this implies units are almost done... why not say, "will be delivered at a fraction..."

R: "What assurances do backers have that you'll deliver your product on time?" (why go here? why put this idea out there?)

K: "We've worked out all the technical problems of this light already." (Kevin looks down after he says this... I noticed it back in April, and now I see that and *ugh*...)

R: "With your help we can deliver the softpanel lights shortly after the close of this campaign."

And it says right on the page, "Estimated delivery, May 2016" ("shortly after the close of this campaign")... so I don't blame anyone for expecting them to do what they said they would do... however, I'm not a lighting guy, and I don't have a major use for quality lights, yet. I'm hoping to have a really great studio in the basement, which can be quickly moved to my garage... for a few pet projects. So the delay on the lights doesn't really affect me, however... the disjointed and infrequent communication has bothered me. Some questions (and requests for an update)... are so basic... so simple... yet the response is vague and dodgy... even the updates have been full of safety-nets... paraphrasing here... "we expect to have better insight on estimated... by [insert 2-4 week period]"... and then that period passes with no update. Now if this happened once, that would be okay, but it has been every time.

A manufacturer isn't obligated to reveal anything about the manufacturing process, but they should be forthright in answering "When will I get that thing I paid for?"... and if there are delays or issues that negate the previous answer to that question... well... they should give a reason... in an update (without being coerced into one).
 
Travis... I sure have my fingers crossed!

I'm bummed about this whole deal... I wish I'd never seen the campaign. While I admire Charles' laid-back attitude about this... I feel like they've jerked a lot of people around. It's funny that anyone posts a defense of this campaign... considering I don't think "the creators" actually care about the backers at all. Earlier in this thread here, somebody posted that Kickstarter Creators don't think of "backers" as investors... but as a faceless revenue stream. In this case, I think that's correct.

My interpretation is that Kevin has his fingers in a lot of pies. I'm baffled that they only needed $30K to "finalize tooling and finance the initial production run"... and then getting over 10x that didn't solve those finalizing details.

Check out Sportsbeams.com

Kevin and Fred could likely make a million bucks per venue with that product (who knows? speculating)... and a quick Google search on those guys shows they're involved with a lot of big money projects. I think the Softpanels project is just one of many... and that Kevin is spread thin... and I don't think he has much passion for this. I think he expected it to sort of run itself after he got things in place... but that's ALL speculation of course.

So... if you could get a full refund, would you?

For me that's still a tough call... what are the other lights (for a little more) that you were talking about?
 
MattinSTL said:
So... if you could get a full refund, would you? What are the other lights (for a little more) that you were talking about?
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I bought two of the LiteGeat LiteMat 2Ls recently (second gen) and they are just fantastic. Beautiful, soft light. Dimmable down to 1%. They have several feature modes (firelight, flash, etc...) are extremely lightweight and can run off a brick. Also, their customer service was flat out excellent. Super responsive and friendly, helped me out a ton. I don't see what the SoftPanels can really offer that will compete with them, outside of the auto-color mode, which only does so much w/out any RGB LEDs.

Also, picked up some Aputure LS1Cs that are great for small, portable solutions that also run off a battery and have a remote control feature. At this point, over the SoftPanels but I am curious to see how they'll perform if they ever arrive.
 
traviswears said:
I bought two of the LiteGeat LiteMat 2Ls recently (second gen) and they are just fantastic. Beautiful, soft light. Dimmable down to 1%. They have several feature modes (firelight, flash, etc...) are extremely lightweight and can run off a brick. Also, their customer service was flat out excellent. Super responsive and friendly, helped me out a ton. I don't see what the SoftPanels can really offer that will compete with them, outside of the auto-color mode, which only does so much w/out any RGB LEDs.

Also, picked up some Aputure LS1Cs that are great for small, portable solutions that also run off a battery and have a remote control feature. At this point, over the SoftPanels but I am curious to see how they'll perform if they ever arrive.
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Do you have any BTS shots of the lights in use?
 
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