For those needing a West Coast setting there's bound to a shot that will make your project a success Stephen Schleicher Problem: Your project has a scene where two characters are driving in a car and having a discussion. You don't have the budget to tow a car around town, and you certainly don't want to risk damaging your camera by attaching it to a moving vehicle and driving on a busy street. Solution? Artbeats Driving Video! Read More

Built in wi-fi support with "Real Time Broadcasting" David Hague If you are into sports video, you know that it almost a given that you need a decent zoom to get the action (and it goes without saying, a tripod as well). In still photography terms, my experiences in motor sport suggest a 200mm is the minimum and probably a 400mm the optimal. Of course you need to allow factors such as low light and depth of field to get the best of them. Panasonic has obviously realized this in terms of the video world and released the HC-V520M, a single CMOS hi-def camcorder that will sit easily in the palm of your hand, but sports a genuine 50x optical zoom and an "intelligent" 80x Read More

Starfields 2 HD is definitely worth picking up if you need a space shot for your next production! Stephen Schleicher If you are going to do any kind of sci-fi related project, chances are you are going to have at least one shot that shows off the vastness of space. For those on a budget, spending the time rendering a high resolution space scene may be out of reach. Fortunately, Artbeats returns to outer space with a whole new collection of clips that you can use. Read More

The HF G25 is a well rounded camcorder well suited to the documentary and short film maker David Hague And still they keep coming. Today we received a new Canon HF G25 for testing, and true to recent form for most of the latest camcorder releases, the features and functions are truly staggering. This camera is designed to be fully automatic or as manual as you like. Things such as Auto Gain can be adjusted as can focus preset and a manual focus assist. Zebra patterning is there as are white balance presets for daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten and by colour temperature. Read More

I love this camcorder - it is truly a step forward in design and has been carefully thought out towards its intended market David Hague Every once in a while, a piece of equipment comes out from a vendor that grabs you by the throat and gives you a shake as it yells, "Look at me!". The new JVC GC-PX100 is such a beast. In terms of camcorders, the GC-PX100 is quite different; the shape is different, access to controls is different and even some functionality is different. Read More

A production camera that will suit the needs of documentary maker and short film aficionado alike David Hague The power of a motor vehicle is usually measured in kilowatts (although still more easily identified by most in the "old currency" of brake horse power). Sadly this is not always an accurate measure of grunt as other factors should also be brought into the equation such as power-to-weight ratios and so on. Similarly, most non-professionals (and advertising blurb and salespeople) tend to measure how good a camcorder is by its zoom factor, number of megapixels or even its internal storage capacity. While all of these are a small part in the total power factor they are by no means anywhere near the be-all and end-all. Read More

Flyng the The Phantom quad-copter David Hague The Phantom quad-copter makes the most of its compact and highly integrated design fitting easily into a standard backpack. Phantom also has an integrated flight dynamics system, the Naza-M + GPS multi-rotor autopilot system, which results in a craft that is easy to fly as a beginner and flexible enough to please expert pilots. In a first for such a portable unit it utilises GPS to enable the Phantom to land safely from the exact point it took off from. Read More

I could see shooting a variety of projects with this camera Jeremiah Hall The AG-HPX255 is a hand-held 1/3 2.2 megapixel 3-MOS camera. It uses P2 cards. It records full 1920x1080, 10-bit 4:2:2. It is also capable of being used in a studio environment, thanks to a remote terminal compatible with Panasonic's AG-EC4 Paint Box remote control. Not bad for a camera that lists at $6,995.00. The BT-LH1850 is 18.5" monitor. It has a resolution of 1366 x 768. It's big enough for multiple people to look at, while being small enough to carry around to shoots. It has a built-in vectorscope, as well as a waveform monitor for RGB signals. Read More

This is an old-school bullet cam Douglas Spotted Eagle In the earliest days of sport POV production, photographers were excited about the advent of the "lipstick camera" for its small form factor and ease of use. The camera(s) could be mounted on a wing, helmet, or other foundation, cabled to a recorder, and used for new angles in production. These bullet wonders helped create the sense of "being there." They were also horribly expensive and fragile. In modern times, we've seen the camera shrink in size, and dramatically improve in image quality. In many cases, this size-shrink inspires kludgy form factors, and this is where the Replay XD camera shines. Read More

Animation for Flash or HTML5 Ko Maruyama MotionComposer is a new way to create and deliver HTML5 or Flash animation. Designed by French company Aquafadas, the software is available in both Mac and PC versions to allow anyone the ability to start animating right away. Although Adobe Flash animations have recently been the subject of scrutiny, there are many advantages to using HTML5. With MotionComposer, you can easily make your content much more engaging. Read More

Ambient Design's latest offering Ko Maruyama In time for use with your brand new Wacom tablet, Ambient Design offers a new version of their ArtRage software. Version 4.0 is packed with a ton of new tools that will help you work better, easier, and give you the ability to extend your creative works for an affordable price. You may also be using ArtRage 3 on both devices (iPad and computer), but if you haven't you might not know about the ability to move between iPad to desktop version and out to other software (like Photoshop's .psd format). Read More

Quick Power On The Go Lou Wallace Ok everyone hates their battery to die. How many times have you scrambled in restaurants, airports and hallways looking for a plug to power your phone, mobile handheld game or tablet? How many times have you stared at the tiny red sliver that indicates the last waning minute of power and wished for some way to charge it and no solution was at hand? Read More