Digitizing Light Adjustment
Slyyd, a lighting control platform from Creamsource, elevates on-set lighting control through an intuitive app designed for lighting professionals, cinematographers, and other creatives. Nomtek partnered with Slyyd to transform their expertise in cine lighting control into robust applications for iOS and iPad.
While you munch on popcorn, enjoying a thrilling subway scene where the hero pushes his way through the throng of passengers, the gripping realism of the scene keeps you hooked.
But there is no subway on the set. Flickering lights create the sensation of movement. And so, cinematic storytelling is all about light: its color, saturation, and dynamic effects. Light is everything: it makes the on-screen magic possible.
Tim Duff and Richard Ulivella, the co-creators of Slyyd, have worked in film and television for over two decades — Rich as a gaffer and Tim as a producer. Five years ago, we began collaborating with them on redesigning their first app, Lighticians, which aimed to simplify lighting control on set.
As Lighticians gained traction, Creamsource saw its potential and brought the project in-house. With Creamsource’s support, the team grew significantly — bringing in engineers, designers, and cine lighting experts to develop a full-featured app adapted to real production needs. That partnership laid the foundation for Slyyd: a modern, app-first lighting controller that blends user-friendly design with the precision required by professionals. Powered by Creamsource’s industry insight and resources, Slyyd evolved from an ambitious concept into a complete platform for lighting professionals and content creators alike.
One of the guiding principles of Slyyd that sets it apart from others is its app-first approach to UX. The competition in this space has taken the opposite approach of rebuilding existing hardware consoles into applications. Slyyd instead presents a more familiar set of interface patterns while simultaneously leveraging Apple’s SDKs.
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Scope of Work
Slyyd was a full-cycle project with frontend, backend, QA, design, project and product management included. Color science, the component responsible for smooth color mixing using multiple light sources, called for extensive logic. The management and distribution of fixture profiles led to the creation of an internal-only web application which is unto itself a powerful tool. Slyyd is compatible with the Standard sACN e1.31 protocol and is built to integrate with any fixture or network that adheres to that universal industry standard.
UX/UI Design
Our team worked on creating intuitive designs — the distribution of UI elements on screen has to facilitate intuitive, fast, and precise lighting adjustments. Convenient in-app navigation empowers the creative process. Crafting just the right color at just the right amount of brightness — and then changing it suddenly just a split second before the cameras roll is one of the most crucial moments in the movie production success. The UI had to handle these stressful seconds intuitively and effortlessly.
Mobile Development
Slyyd was developed using Apple SDKs for iOS and iPad to ensure maximum performance and reliability during film and television production. Professionals will be able to control complex light fixtures from their mobile devices while saving time in the prep.
Backend Development
Professional light fixtures have complicated control interfaces and every one of them is different. Building the backend in Ruby on Rails leveraged the framework’s capability to seamlessly manage a comprehensive database of light fixtures with a diverse range of complex parameters. The database enables Slyyd to interact in a reliable manner with light fixtures from a multitude of manufacturers which helps the app fit into a collaborative work environment.
Color Science Integration
Cameras used in professional cinema and television applications are some of the most precise tools on the planet. Producing accurate color is a challenge but in cine and television, it is critical to the final look of the project. Together with Slyyd’s team we integrated a robust solution that handles the color algorithm and ensures accurate color reproduction with light fixtures from different manufacturers. Meticulous work of a team of developers met the high and precise standards of the color science playing a vital role on set.
Scope of Work
Slyyd was a full-cycle project with frontend, backend, QA, design, project and product management included. Color science, the component responsible for smooth color mixing using multiple light sources, called for extensive logic. The management and distribution of fixture profiles led to the creation of an internal-only web application which is unto itself a powerful tool. Slyyd is compatible with the Standard sACN e1.31 protocol and is built to integrate with any fixture or network that adheres to that universal industry standard.
UX/UI Design
Our team worked on creating intuitive designs — the distribution of UI elements on screen has to facilitate intuitive, fast, and precise lighting adjustments. Convenient in-app navigation empowers the creative process. Crafting just the right color at just the right amount of brightness — and then changing it suddenly just a split second before the cameras roll is one of the most crucial moments in the movie production success. The UI had to handle these stressful seconds intuitively and effortlessly.
Mobile Development
Slyyd was developed using Apple SDKs for iOS and iPad to ensure maximum performance and reliability during film and television production. Professionals will be able to control complex light fixtures from their mobile devices while saving time in the prep.
Backend Development
Professional light fixtures have complicated control interfaces and every one of them is different. Building the backend in Ruby on Rails leveraged the framework’s capability to seamlessly manage a comprehensive database of light fixtures with a diverse range of complex parameters. The database enables Slyyd to interact in a reliable manner with light fixtures from a multitude of manufacturers which helps the app fit into a collaborative work environment.
Color Science Integration
Cameras used in professional cinema and television applications are some of the most precise tools on the planet. Producing accurate color is a challenge but in cine and television, it is critical to the final look of the project. Together with Slyyd’s team we integrated a robust solution that handles the color algorithm and ensures accurate color reproduction with light fixtures from different manufacturers. Meticulous work of a team of developers met the high and precise standards of the color science playing a vital role on set.
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Solution — Experimental Setup for Maintenance Work
Slyyd digitizes light control for lighting professionals and content creators, shifting from expensive console controllers to a user-friendly app-first modern experience. Slyyd enhances professionals’ workflows while also supporting newcomers to the craft, serving as an intuitive controller for a variety of light fixtures on the market.
Leveraging the expertise of Tim, Richard, and the Slyyd team in color science, we built an efficient architecture that ensures accurate color reproduction with great performance. Intuitive UI for quick and customized adjustments enables the app’s advanced color logic to produce the desired results every time, quickly and accurately.
Slyyd replaces bulky traditional controllers with a convenient and portable digital solution for iPad and iPhone. It helps lighting professionals and content creators craft their scenes with ease. The app’s intuitive controls enable effortless lighting adjustments, transforming lighting control just as smartphones revolutionized mobile technology.
Working with Nomtek has been a fantastic experience. Despite having no prior experience with professional lighting, they quickly became experts, picking up complex concepts with impressive speed. They truly owned the project—often going beyond our expectations, asking insightful questions, and pushing our ideas even further.They worked with a high degree of independence and accountability, consistently delivering on time without needing constant oversight. Their expertise in iPhone and iPad development was front and center, supported by strong backend skills, a solid grasp of design patterns, and smart use of CI pipelines and automation to keep everything running efficiently.Nomtek also showed a strong commitment to team quality. Even when a role was highly specialized and difficult to fill, they maintained a high bar and ensured every team member was fully engaged and highly professional.Reliable, proactive, and deeply invested—Nomtek felt like an extension of our own team.
Markus Winkler, Chief App Architect at Slyyd
Working with Nomtek has been a fantastic experience. Despite having no prior experience with professional lighting, they quickly became experts, picking up complex concepts with impressive speed. They truly owned the project—often going beyond our expectations, asking insightful questions, and pushing our ideas even further.They worked with a high degree of independence and accountability, consistently delivering on time without needing constant oversight. Their expertise in iPhone and iPad development was front and center, supported by strong backend skills, a solid grasp of design patterns, and smart use of CI pipelines and automation to keep everything running efficiently.Nomtek also showed a strong commitment to team quality. Even when a role was highly specialized and difficult to fill, they maintained a high bar and ensured every team member was fully engaged and highly professional.Reliable, proactive, and deeply invested—Nomtek felt like an extension of our own team.
Markus Winkler, Chief App Architect at Slyyd
Team Composition
The Slyyd project was driven by a cross-functional team with expertise in iOS development, backend architecture, UX/UI design, QA, and color science. Our team combined technical precision with deep understanding of on-set lighting workflows.
iOS Developers
QA Engineers
UX/UI Designer
Backend Developer
Product Owner
Project Manager
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