November 3rd

Redrock DSLR cinema bundles

Remember the accessory rack for the DSLRs announced by Redrock a week or so ago? Prices have now been announced. The DSLR Field Cinema Bundle is $1,995, while the DSLR Cinema Bundle is $2,445. The latter includes:

  • microSupport baseplate with 1 pr 12" 15mm stainless steel rods (lightweight configuration 60mm center to center)
  • microMatteBox (Deluxe Bundle including eyebrow and side wings)
  • microFollowFocus Unit
  • microHandle top handle for carrying, and low mode shooting
  • microSupport Cage


Ahh, if I only had the money...


YouTube auto-translation

If you have video's on YouTube with captions, now people can see the captions in other languages.
Google Translate adds real-time machine translation to any caption tracks you upload. Now you can enjoy this video spoken in Italian, even if you don't understand Italian.

Of course, if you're ever run things through machine translation, you'll probably not be that excited about it.


RED Camera update

On November 13th RED is promising an announcement for a new low-cost digital video camera (cancel those Canon 5D Mark II pre-orders.) It seems though, that they just can't help dropping hints, as Jim Jannard — Red's CEO - has posted a couple of pics of the upcoming announcement.




Western Digital WD TV

Finally, MacWorld has a review of Western Digital's WD TV, a box that will play back on your TV media (video, audio and photos) from any drive or device connected to it via USB. Think of it kind of like an Apple TV, with fewer features, though with support for higher resolution content:
the device supports MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, and WMV9 video at up to 1920 by 1080p at 24 frames per second (fps), 1,920-by-1,080i at 30 fps, and 1,280-by-720p at 60 fps. The Apple TV, by contrast, supports H.264 video up to 1,280-by-720 at 24 fps or 960-by-540 at 30 fps.


As luck would have it, I just got an Apple TV a week ago, so color me jealous. The Western Digital is cheaper, and you can simply plug in any USB hard drive. On top of that, it has a much higher video quality.

On the other hand, it doesn't appear to work over the network, which I find an advantage with the Apple TV. If I was doing the purchase all over again, I might be sorely tempted to get the Western Digital, but I don't regret getting the Apple TV.

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