The upcoming Criterion release of Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” has an interesting featurette on the disc that talks about the Red One camera, and how it was used in production of this film.

You can watch the featurette “Che and the Digital Cinema Revolution” in the video playlist below. I’ve also posted a few thoughts on some of the interview quotes over at PVC.

Che and the Digital Cinema Revolution

Hand Held Hollywood caught up with Cinemek’s Jonathan Houser at DV Expo, and he had some interesting updates on what’s coming in future versions of Hitchcock. Jonathan also spoke to some of the interesting ways new customers are using the iPhone app. Check out the video embedded below.

DV EXPO ‘09 - Interview with Jonathan Houser, Creator of Hitchcock from Hand Held Hollywood on Vimeo.

 Lentequip Production Power Solutions [7:16m]: Download

Lentequip was exhibiting at Cine Gear 2009, and I was very excited to see their power and battery solutions for the Red camera. I’ve complained previously about the frustration of changing batteries on Red shoots, every battery rotation requires a time-wasting reboot, and inevitably needs to happen when everyone else is ready for the camera dept. Lentequip’s unique battery switching solution allows you to attach and switch to fresh batteries on the fly, with no reboot required. It’s a must have product for Red rental packages, in my opinion.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Cmotion Lens and Camera Controls [12:53m]: Download

At Cine Gear 2009, Cmotion gave us a very detailed demonstration of their full-featured camera and lens control systems. Far more than just a remote wireless focus solution, they offer a host of high-end options in a really well-integrated system. There’s even an autofocus solution for manual PL lenses.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Redrock DSLR, LEDZ Lighting, MK-V Stabilizers [6:53m]: Download

At Cine Gear 2009, Redrock’s Brian Valente showed off one of their new DSLR rig updates for cameras like the Canon 5D MK2, a slightly more affordable option called the Eye Spy rig. We also dropped by the LEDZ booth to check out their new Brute 30 LED lighting fixture, a dimmable 400-watt HMI equivalent unit that draws a fraction of the power. MK-V was also at Cine Gear, and we got a demo of their stabilizers, including the unique Revolution unit, whose absolute coolness cannot be explained in words. Just watch.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Matthews Studio Equipment [7:28m]: Download

Matthews Studio Equipment (MSE) was of course exhibiting at Cine Gear 2009, and we dropped by to talk with Ed Phillips about the Red Dolly, the Intel-a-Jib, and their new monitor mount. Watch below. They also have a few self-produced videos on their website that show the Red Dolly and monitor mounts in action, watch them here.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 ScriptE Systems Software for Script Supervisors [4:52m]: Download

ScriptE Systems had a cool product demo’ing at Cine Gear 2009, it’s a screenplay and production integration software package. ScriptE simplifies the process of pre-production by integrating with Final Draft, and eases the Script Supervisor’s job during shooting. It’s a unique software package, and we shot a demo of it on video. Check it out below.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Glue Tools 5D MKII, DPX, and Phantom plugins [7:21m]: Download

At the Glue Tools Cine Gear 2009 booth, Bob Monahan showed us a preview of the forthcoming Log and Transfer plugin for Final Cut Pro that allows simple ingest and seamless transcoding of Canon 5D MKII footage. He also showed off their Phantom camera plugin that enables realtime playback of RAW files from the Phantom high-speed camera in any Quicktime aware application. Finally, he demonstrated their DPX import tool that simplifies importing and using DPX files in FCP. Very cool stuff.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Garrett Brown on Steadicam, Transvideo 3D Monitors, and UniqOptics [7:42m]: Download

At the Steadicam booth at Cine Gear 2009, filmmaking legend Garrett Brown gave us a candid walkthrough of their stabilizer line, from the Clipper to the lightweight Pilot (flying none other than a 5D MKii DSLR). We also dropped by the Transvideo booth to get a demonstration of their unique LCD monitoring solution for 3D filmmaking. And finally, Kenji at UniqOptics gave us an update on their PL lens line.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Griplock Systems Fasteners and 8Ball Camera Slider [3:54m]: Download

Griplock Systems was exhibiting at Cine Gear 2009, we got a look at their unique quick-fasteners for aircraft cable. I can think of all sorts of unique filmmaking and rigging applications these sweet fasteners would be useful for. We also stopped by and took a look at the 8Ball Slider, a heavy-duty camera slider system for large rigs.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Cinemek Hitchcock iPhone Storyboarding App [4:37m]: Download

At Cine Gear 2009, Cinemek was showing off a beta of their new storyboarding software for the iPhone. We got an exclusive video demo of this exciting new app in action, check it out! And keep an eye out for the official release of Hitchcock in the iTunes App Store.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Kessler Crane gear [6:53m]: Download

At Kessler Crane’s booth at Cine Gear 2009, we got a peek at the new Pocket Jib and Pocket Dolly system, an integrated, lightweight package for HD camera systems in the sub-30lb range. Eric Kessler also showed us their coil-able rubber flextrack for their gear as well as for third-party dolly systems. Very cool stuff, allows you to lay down up to a seamless 50′ track relatively painlessly.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 Griptech Gear Support Systems [8:35m]: Download

Sydney-based Griptech was exhibiting at Cine Gear 2009, and we dropped by the booth to check out their heavy-duty Griptech Slider, unique Bazooka Base, and adjustable Hi Hat. I was truly impressed by the fit, finish and overall quality of this beautifully engineered line of gear.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 3D Film Factory tools for indies [5:54m]: Download

At Cine Gear 2009, we discovered several affordable tools for indie-minded filmmakers working in 3D at the 3D Film Factory booth. This video shows off their dirt-cheap beam-splitter rig for small HD camcorders, as well as side-by-side rigs and tools for monitoring and sync’d camera control. Very cool, and very affordable solutions.

Watch the attached video below and subscribe to our podcast feed. You can also conveniently watch our Cine Gear video coverage all in one playlist here.

 NAB 2009 Wrapup Discussion [13:16m]: Download

So we wrapped our video coverage of NAB 2009 back in April, but there was one remaining segment we haven’t posted yet. On the last day of the Expo, we took a walk around the Central Hall as four cameras (three on Steadicam rigs) circled like HD vultures. The idea was to capture a discussion that wrapped up the show, all while showing the event space as we strolled around booths and products. We initially had pitched the idea to Patrick of Stillmotion, he rounded up a few other Steadicam shooters and expanded on the idea creatively.

Thanks to Stillmotion, Shadowplay, Mindcastle Studios, Ray Roman Films, and Pablo Korona Moving Pictures for covering this wrapup segment from literally all angles. We greatly appreciate their collaboration on this effort. It’s also worth noting that none of our video coverage would have been possible without the generous financial support of our sponsors; Cinevate, CoreMelt, LetusDirect, Midtown Video, Redrock Micro, and Zacuto. These fine sponsors are genuinely interested in supporting the efforts of independent filmmakers and video producers, and we at FreshDV are proud to be associated with them. Also, our host MediaTemple stepped up to the plate and generously provided additional bandwidth when we far exceeded our anticipated allotment.

Now I must warn you, this 13-minute segment features a shaky plot, questionable editing decisions, and gratuitous Steadicam use. You could say it’s like our homage to every film Director Michael Bay has made. So just sit back and enjoy this, our last remaining video segment from NAB 2009. And stay tuned for our almost-ready-to-post coverage of Cine Gear 2009…we had to get this segment out of the way first, so expect that video coverage soon.

Watch below, subscribe to our podcast feed, or watch all of FreshDV’s NAB 2009 videos in one playlist here.