MUNICH—ARRI today unveiled a Software Update Package (SUP) 2.0 for its cforce mini and cforce plus lens motors, improving the time it takes the motors to respond to user input, making them twice as responsive.
All cforce mini and cforce plus lens motors in the market can benefit from the free software update. Increased performance is not affected by the choice of hand unit, the company said.
Any ARRI ECS configuration using the Hi-5, ZMU-4, SXU-1 or the legacy WCU-4 can take advantage of the motors’ halved latency and a pronounced enhancement of the first AC’s direct connection to the lens axis, it said.
Introduced in 2014, the small, lightweight cforce mini motor is widely used in many productions, except when exceptional torque or speed is required. However, the SUP 2.0 firmware upgrade re-invigorates the cforce mini motor, making it appropriate for additional use cases, the company said.
When working with a low-friction lens, the new motor firmware delivers particularly improved performance when coupled with the larger 50t CLM-4 gear (K2.72108.0). The combination delivers 25% faster speeds than when used with the default 40t but with a slight reduction in maximum torque, it said.
The cforce plus motor, used widely for high-torque applications, is now the fastest-accelerating motor in ARRI’s product lineup. In focus pulling situations where reaction time is critical, the cforce plus will help ensure marks are hit consistently, the company said.
The Software Update Package 2.0 also offers a new Encoder Mode for the cforce mini motor, which permits the lens axis held by a lens motor to be rotated manually while still allowing data from custom lens files to be recorded and displayed, it said.
Encoder Mode enables a cinematographer to adjust the iris value directly on any lens without removing the motor. The T-stop position can then be displayed in the status overlay on all monitors and hand units and streamed to virtual production systems. This mode is not available for the cforce plus motor due to its greater torque, which elevates internal resistance, it said.
SUP 2.0 for cforce mini and cforce plus is available on the ARRI website.
More information is available on the company’s website.
