Deposition apparatus incorporating either a single or multiple filtered cathodic arc (FCA) source for depositing coatings such as tetrahedral amorphous carbon (TAC); metal oxides; compounds and alloys of such materials onto various types of substrates, such as metal semiconductors, plastic ceramics and glasses. Substrates are moved through the plasma beam(s) of the FCA source(s) and beam scanning increases deposition area. Macroparticles are filtered by a double bend filter duct.