Randy Panado got his hands on a new low-cost pre-production Cinevate Atlas slider design, and has been blogging and posting about it. He’s made some really pretty pictures and is sharing all kinds of info over at DVinfo. Never mind, the Dvinfo thread seems to have vanished without explanation. Odd. Go straight to Randy’s blog instead for pictures and info.

This new design has been dubbed the Atlas 10. It looks like this slider design is a single beam setup similar to the DP Slider and the Glidetrack, along with a few other features brought down from the higher-end Atlas designs, like leveling feet with non-marking pads. The Atlas 10 will also do the vertical slider moves, and appears to have a few hat tricks in regards to that feature…check out that cord and pulley on the rig in one of Randy’s pictures…looks like a counter-balance to me. Interesting…

Here’s another reason why every surfer should have a GoPro camera. Watch below…

Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.

Really cool footage that Chuck captured! As a side note, I shot some scuba footage in Cozumel recently with my shiny new GoPro HD, and I was really impressed with how it performed. I used the Eye of Mine flat-port housing mod, as GoPro’s housing is currently soft on the edges of the frame underwater (they have stated that they are working on update to the housing design for underwater shooters). However, with the flat-port mod, my GoPro Naked performed beautifully in the reefs and walls of Cozumel, even at 85ft depth. I’ll be posting footage when I get a chance to do a quick edit.

Full disclosure: FreshDV is now a GoPro affiliate (because we think they make cool gear), you can shop via our link here: Official GoPro® Store. You should also be aware that GoPro will soon be selling a 960p version of their camera for a chunk of change less, so for those who don’t require 1080p output (web and SD delivery, etc), it might be a good option at a lower price.

I’ve seen a lot of filmmaking apps posts, but this one by far has been the most useful. These are excellent apps, I’ve purchased and used several of them and am now looking hard at a few others on the list. Check it out.

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.