Disney is selling the Miramax arm and titles to Filmyard Holdings, LLC. It’s a $660 million dollar sale, and it appears that Disney plans to invest that money into blockbusters.

There’s a new firmware out for the Canon EOS 7D that fixes an aperture-change bug. No new features, just a few bug fixes. I’ve shot extensively with the 7D and haven’t personally seen this issue, apparently it only affects certain lenses. Get the 1.2.2 firmware update here.

Here’s a really handy app that simplifies production release forms. mRelease is a $2.99 app for the iPhone that includes built-in release templates for crew, appearance and location releases, these can be organized and generated on a project by project basis. When you need to obtain a release, simply snap a picture with the iPhone camera and have them sign with their finger on the screen. Their image and signature are automatically added to the release, and you can email a copy of the release directly from the app. You can read a more detailed writeup on this app at HandHeldHollywood.

Another option for release forms on mobile devices is Easy Release, a $9.99 app that also allows customization of the forms (mRelease does not currently) and additional options. Easy Release offers 13 language options and is also available for Android devices. Finally, there’s another $2.99 iPhone app called Photographer’s Contract Maker that offers some form customization options. So there you have it…one of those apps oughta cover your talent & personnel ass-ets.

Apple just updated a few products. Engadget has all the deets:

* Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999
* Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3
* Apple Cinema Display goes to 27 inches, 16:9 aspect ratio
* Apple Magic Trackpad official, shipping now for $69

Over at PVC, Mike Curtis provides his Patent Pending detailed specs analysis to answer the question “iMac or Mac Pro?”

Subject says it all. If you’ve got a Canon DSLR that is not equipped with a video function, you might still be able to capture HD video from LiveView with this open-source software. The software comes with all kinds of caveats of course, but hey, maybe it solves a problem for ya. Check it out.

The BBC is reporting that the UK Film Council will be abolished. The Film Council’s John Woodward responds.

Watching our Panasonic coverage from NAB 2009 and 2010, it’s clear that Panasonic is embracing affordable, easily usable 3D tech. Now it seems that a consumer camcorder model information has also been leaked, showing they intend to take it down to the soccer-mom market as well. Interesting development. The camera is reportedly called the HDC-SDT750.

Engadget has some info here, and more specs/pics have been leaked here.

Scott posted a nice review of the recently updated color correction and grading plugin for Final Cut Pro. The new color selection tools for secondaries look like they alone are worth the price of admission.

Speaking personally, I’m not a huge fan of current 3D technology. The only film I’ve personally seen that really used it subtly and effectively was Avatar. For the most part I avoid it when possible and just watch movies in 2D due to the eye strain and my opinion that in most cases it’s implemented as a gimmick, not as a visual storytelling tool. That being said, I think there’s a place for the tech, and I think we will continue to see more and more creatives using the tool more effectively and subtly. And in my opinion, once we can figure out these brightness and headgear issues, 3D will be a lot less obnoxious and a more subtle way to enhance a story.

We saw some amazing tools for 3D at NAB 2009, and that trend continued in 2010. And with 3D’s rise, inevitably comes the backlash. There seems to be a growing sentiment among some circles that predict the demise of 3D tech. I’m of the opinion that these are not much more than an attempt to grab some eyeballs with a sensationalist headline. “3D is dead!” may get some attention for the short term, but I don’t think it’s a realistic conclusion. As always in life, the answers are more nuanced and less black and white. Frank Capria wrote an blog post on this recently, and I tend to agree with his point of view. You should head on over and check out his post, Rumors of 3D demise greatly exaggerated.

For starters, let’s be clear…nothing can replace the value a good teleprompter operator and gear can bring to a production set. The ability of a professional to pace the text along with an individuals reading style is not something learned overnight, and when you are making script revisions on the fly a good prompter operator will make your life much easier. Also, there’s a reason professional prompter gear costs thousands…a good kit needs to work with any number of camera or rod systems. Bottom line; when I bid out projects with a lot of on-camera script, I always include a proper teleprompter op and kit in the budget. It’s a lifesaver and pays dividends in time savings.

That being said, there is a place for simple, more DIY prompter solutions. One of which is ProPrompter, an really solid $10 app that runs on the iPad and iPhone, and works beautifully for small jobs. We shot an interview with them at NAB 2010 (second half of the video at around 5:30). They’ve even built in integration that allows you to control the iPad or iPhone from the other i-device, swiping to control speed, and remotely loading scripts. It’s a beautiful thing to have in your toolkit, and it’s saved me in situations where the client was underprepared with their script.

ProPrompter offers a number of kits and brackets for the iPad and iPhone, but they’ve always felt a touch overpriced to me, given that I don’t see ProPrompter as a primary teleprompter solution, only as a backup to get me out of a jam. Now there’s another el-cheapo option for an iPhone running ProPrompter (or any other teleprompter software for that matter). It’s the Prompt-It kit, and it consists of a smartphone holder along with a small wedge of beamsplitter glass and a glare shield. This is a really small kit, intended for webcams and compact camcorders, but at $130 it looks to be a cheap way to get better results from your DIY-tastic prompter solution. I’m thinking about adding one of these to my kit for the next time an executive promises he can memorize his lines and won’t spring for a prompter in the shoot budget. Check it out here.

Hot on the heels of Sony’s announcement of the VG10 last week, it looks like the first E-mount lens adapters are already in development. And they are exactly what users would ask for…PL to E-mount and a Nikon G lens to E-mount. Very very cool.

I’ve been enjoying the Able Cine video series “At the Bench” with Mitch Gross, and the following video overview of Ianiro’s IANILED54 LED light/system is no exception. This is a seriously cool light kit, with a neat 3-in-1 hat trick. It looks extremely versatile. Check it out below.

Genus was one of our NAB 2010 sponsors, and we covered their booth at the tradeshow back in April. What they didn’t talk about at that time was DSLR LCD viewfinders, something that they are now offering. I’ve not had the chance to shoot with one yet, but they seem very reasonably priced. These are a sunshade type design that allow you to use your DSLR screen without an eye up to the body, at high and low angles. They’ve also shown an LCD loupe design that I can’t yet find in stock yet at B&H. I’ve been impressed with Genus products after I reviewed their perfectly-priced mattebox earlier this year, and look forward to a chance to work with their DSLR viewfinders.

As a side note, Genus is now in a partnership with Manfrotto, and you can find Genus products at your local Manfrotto dealership. We happen to prefer B&H. And any purchases there via these links help support FreshDV original content.

With the release of Canon’s XF300 and XF305 camcorders, no doubt forum threads and geek discussions will raise the topic of color sampling. These new Canon cameras are equipped to record in the venerable MPEG-2 codec at a bit rate of 50 Mbps and 4:2:2 color sampling (to compact flash media, no less). In contrast, cameras in this price range generally utilize a much lower bitrate and 4:2:0 (HDV & XDCAM EX) or 4:1:1 (DV) color sampling. Canon DSLRs also chroma subsample at 4:2:0.

So while the XF-series of cameras are in general an unsurprising solid evolutionary step for Canon camcorders, the addition of this high bitrate codec at 4:2:2 is a rather significant development! But what is color sampling? If you are a bit confused by all the colons and numbers, this blog post from Adobe should help dispel some of the myths and inform you for that next “who’s camera is better” geeky throwdown discussion. Enjoy!

Jim Jannard has posted some test charts shot by RED, comparing ARRI Alexa with the Red Epic MX. I’ve spent several hours looking over these charts and here are my opinions on what information they reveal about these two amazing camera systems.