GoPro is known for its versatile cameras that are perfect for shooting your sports activities, in good quality HD video and photos. Especially the HD HERO line is popular among professional athletes.

Now GoPro announced the launch of a new gear dedicated to the HERO cameras called Dive Housing. It features a large, flat glass lens (picture above) that allows for maximum photo and video sharpness underwater in all resolutions. It is also waterproof to 197ft / 60m, so it is ideal for diving, snorkeling and any underwater filming scenario. A great addition and of course this housing can be useful also in other situations when you don't want to wet your hardware.

The Dive Housing is compatible with all HD HERO cameras, GoPro mounts and accessories.

And here's the list of included items:

• waterproof Dive Housing
• protective lens cap
• tether string 
• assorted mounting hardware

According to the company, this new accessory adds to the HD HERO’s reputation "as the most versatile camera in the world". The housing is now available for order at GoPro's online store and retailers around the world. It is priced at $49.99, so it is really affordable. 

Source: http://gopro.com

Good Final Cut Pro X tutorials never get old and this one is quite new actually. It was recorded at a L.A. Final Cut Pro User Group meeting in April and it shows Michael Wohl describing some advanced techniques, tips and tricks on editing audio in Final Cut Pro X.
 

The event was hosted by Michael Horton. For more tutorials by Michael Wohl, make sure to visit this website.

Source: http://www.macprovideo.com

Canon's EF8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM interchangeable lens has been honored in Japan with the prestigious Camera Grand Prix 2012 "Lens of the Year Award." It is the second award to date for the Canon fisheye lens, which was also named "Best Professional DSLR Lens in 2012" in Europe by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA).

The Camera Grand Prix is organized by the Camera Journal Press Club, comprising journalists from major Japanese photography and camera magazines. Separated into four award categories, the 29th Camera Grand Prix honored Canon's EF8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM with the "Lens of the Year Award" based on a review of lens products introduced in the Japanese market during the past year.

The lens was also selected for one of TIPA's awards "Best Professional DSLR Lens in 2012." Canon can be really happy with these awards and the two awards confirm that right now Canon is indeed making great camera lenses.

And here is the description of the lens (via Canon):

Delivering both 180-degree diagonal angle of view and 180-degree circular fisheye in a single zoom lens, Canon's EF8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM enables a wide range of stunning imaging possibilities with unique and interesting perspectives. The lens was selected for this year's Camera Grand Prix award thanks to such factors as its 8-15mm focal length range,and its high-image-quality performance made possible by the incorporation of UD (ultra-low dispersion)-glass and high-precision glass-mold aspherical elements to correct for aberrations. The lens was also recognized for its Subwavelength Structure Coating (SWC), which minimizes the occurrence of ghosting and flare; its compact design delivering enhanced portability; and a dust-proof, moisture-proof structure for reliable shooting even in harsh weather conditions.

Source: http://www.canon.com

Is there a better way to learn how to make movies than to hear what the best Hollywood directors have to say? Back Stage gathered around a table some fine artists, such as James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino, and even though this video is not new, it is worth your time as they talk about, you guessed it, shooting movies;). You can watch the three parts below.
 

And here's the official description:

Film directors Quentin Tarantino ('Inglourious Basterds'). Peter Jackson ('The Lovely Bones'), James Cameron ('Avatar'), Kathryn Bigelow ('The Hurt Locker'), Jason Reitman ('Up in the Air'), and Lee Daniels ('Precious') discuss whether they consider themselves Hollywood "insiders" or "outsiders."

Source: http://www.backstage.com

If you're not sure yet if you want to buy the new Adobe After Effects CS6 or upgrade and you don't have time to install the trial version, you might want to see the video below. It shows and describes the most important features in just... 6 minutes!
 

If you prefer to download the free trial version, you can find it here. The authors of the video above also made useful After Effects CS6 tutorials, that you can check out by following this link.

Don't forget that some third-party plug-ins, such as Imagineer Systems mocha and mocha shape, Foundry Keylight, CycoreFX, and Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse LE and fnord ProEXR, are not included in the trial version of After Effects.

If you decide to purchase After Effects CS5 after the trial period, support for these plug-ins and other codecs will automatically be added via a simple update once you enter a valid serial number.asd

Source: http://adobeaftereffectscs6.com

Some months ago we wrote that Apple acquired C3 Technologies (you can find this post here) - a company that created an amazing tool to present maps in 3D. Apple is working on an improved version of a traffic service and as we know the company also purchased Placebase and Poly9, another 3D mapping company. We also wrote, that we think that Apple will drop Google Maps and introduce its own system. According to 9to5Mac this can be the case and the website even states that iOS6 will bring the new application to Apple's devices and it will also result in dropping Google Maps. The new technology is simply awesome - just check out this image below - it is not a photo of San Francisco, it is San Francisco generated by the C3's technology!

All Things D reports that "sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tentpole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, “blow your head off.” I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies."
 

Rumors say that Apple will provide some information on the matter during the WWDC conference that will take place in San Francisco in June. What's more, sources claim that the company might debut the app during the keynote. We'll keep you posted!

Source: http://allthingsd.com | http://9to5mac.com

Steve Jobs was a genius, we all know that. When he unveiled the iPad many thought that it was a bad idea - the device was often described as a bigger version of the iPod and many criticized it. Now tablets are on the rise and are selling like hot cakes. Apple was right when it was telling that the tablet is the best way to experience the Internet and a study made by Adobe reveals that tablet devices will generate more Web traffic than smartphones by early 2013 and that consumers find browsing websites on tablets nearly as engaging as on PCs!

The results indicate that tablets have become a channel very distinct from smartphones. While apps have proven a highly valuable and important component of a mobile strategy, companies would be well served to invest in optimizing mobile Web pages for the growing tablet demographic.

Here's the list of key findings:

• The share of website visits from tablets grew approximately 10 times faster than the rate for smartphones in the first two years after market introduction and grew more than 300 percent in the last year. This rapid growth is driven by both higher rates of tablet shipments and a disproportionately higher number of website visits per tablet than smartphones.
• Tablets’ share of website traffic will exceed smartphone traffic by early 2013 and reach 10 percent of total website traffic in 2014.
• Although consumers consider the tablet website experience to be nearly as engaging as that of PCs, they use PCs to visit websites three times as frequently as tablets.

This study significantly expands on the findings from the initial Adobe Digital Index report on the value of tablet users to retail companies released in January of this year, which suggested that in 2011 tablet users spent more per purchase than other online customers. This study analyzed 23 billion visits to the websites of 325 companies from the North America, Western Europe (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) and Asia (China, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand).

Source: http://eon.businesswire.com

Planet5D just announced a new short narrative film which was entire shot with Canon 5D Mark III and Zeiss CP.2 lenses. The film is based on the true story that happened at night on November 12, 2011 when police were called to the house on Marmont Ave.

This is an example highlighting the features of the DSLR camera and showing that you can realize complex project with a shooting budget less than $5.000 per day. All the film was shoot in two days.

Barry Andersson from Deodand Entertainment, director and co-producer, said: “The film was designed to fit a budget that many filmmakers and still photographers can afford. My team tailored our shooting schedule, equipment and techniques to be accessible to all budget levels. My goal was to show that people can get absurdly good results with a DSLR camera with a smaller price tag than they realize.”

More technical details about this project can be found at planet5d.com.

Source: http://blog.planet5d.com/

There are films that changed filmmaking forever. Just one frame from 2001: A Space Odyssey is enough to return the mood created by Stanley Kubrick. Here is a two-part interview with Douglas Trumbull, the man who worked on special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Douglas Trumbull headed up the VFX team on films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Blade Runner. In AIN'T IT COOL with Harry Knowles, he speaks not only about the past projects but expresses his opinions on the future of cinema as well. He sees several problems with conventional cinema like an outdated screens and a slow frame rates. On example of new productions like The Hobbit and Avatar 2, he discusses the impact of frame rates. One solution that Trumbull is working on is a hemispherical high-gain screen, with movies projected at 120 frames per second.

Douglas Trumbull says: “I think the movie industry now has to rethink itself, and develop a new kind of spectacle and showmanship to get people back into theaters – if that’s what they want. If they want to get people into theaters, it’s going to have to be truly spectacular and unavailable in any other form.”

Source: http://www.nerdist.com

You can find this note on Canon’s web: “… the chassis is built of lightweight and rigid magnesium, and the camera's seals are built to resist water and dust. This combination makes the EOS 7D ready for anything.” The DigitalRev TV team decided to see if this is just a slogan. Watch “Hardcore Durability Test” if Canon EOS 7D can survive a set of crazy tests and still take picture at the end.

Their verdict is: “We have proven it: the Canon 7D is immortal. Kind of. In this video, we find out how durable the Canon EOS 7D (with serial number 580516676) is by: hitting it with a car; dropping it down some steps on a wheelchair; freezing it, soaking it, and setting fire to it.”

Do not repeating any of the tests to check is yours camera as tough as that one in the video!

Source: http://www.digitalrev.com/