I’d like to introduce everyone to one of my personally favorite sites, Motiongrapher. I find it to be a very informative site for all of us video enthusiasts looking to get into motion graphics and animation. You can also share your work with others, as well as research certain design aspects. There is also a “Cream of the Crop” section for highly recommended links that each and everyone of you should take a look at, just to gain more knowledge about the industry.

If you ever wanted or needed any influence to sway a decision to use certain technologies of just need the random inspiration I highly recommend this site.
Be sure to check it out for yourselves.

Reprinted from a Panasonic press release:

Panasonic today expanded its 2009 High Definition (HD) camcorder line with six new full-HD models, ranging from introductory to semi-professional. Three new models, the HDC-HS300, HDC-TM300 and HDC-HS250, are more advanced and feature a newly developed 3MOS chip system, while the three other introductory models, the HDC-HS20, HDC-TM20 and HDC-SD20, offer features ideal for first-time users wanting simple but powerful video capabilities.  All six High Definition models feature Panasonic’s first camcorder touch-screen that allows icons displayed on the LCD to be easily operated by touching them with a fingertip.

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Reprinted from a Panasonic press release:

Panasonic today expanded its 2009 camcorder line with the addition of two Hard Disk Drive (HDD) models, the SDR-H80 and SDR-H90; and one SD Card model, the SDR-S26 – all of which feature the world’s first and most powerful 70x optical ultra-zoom lens*.  All three models also include an advanced Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) system which helps reduce blur caused by a shaky hand and Panasonic’s proprietary Intelligent Auto (iA) technologies, making the camcorders easy to use.   

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JVC professional has released an interesting new professional camcorder, the GY-HM100. This camcorder is the first to record directly into Quicktime format for immediate and transcode-less editing in Final Cut Pro. Using a 35Mbps MPEG 2 based codec, (HDV uses 25Mbps) in full 1920×1080 should result in some stunning image quality.

Unlike other professional flash memory based camcorders, this JVC model records directly to standard HDSC cards, that are very affordable and widely available for consumer camcorders, and DLSR’s.

The GY-HM100 has 3, 1/4 CCD imagers,  a 10:1 zoom lens made by Fujinon, and a full compliment of professional controls.

In addition JVC Pro dropped some hints at a full sized, shoulder mount model based on the same technology, called the GY-HM700

The GY-HM100 is scheduled for delivery in April 2009, with a list price under $4,000.

The GY-HM700 is scheduled for delivery in March 2009. More details will be released in February 2009.

We’ll fill you in on more details soon when we get our hot little hands on in. In the meantime there are more details in JVC’s press release below.

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Sony announced today it’s consumer camcorder line-up for 2009, here is a listing of what to look for.

SONY HDR-XR520V 240GB HIGH-DEFINITION HARD DISK DRIVE HANDYCAM® CAMCORDER

Available in March for about $1500
Full 1920×1080 high-definition video recording and 12-megapixel still image capture
Large capacity 240GB hard drive holds up to 92 hours of video
New back-illuminated “Exmor-R” CMOS sensor improves sensitivity in low light conditions
Photo and video geo-tagging using built-in GPS receiver and Navteq maps
Improved Optical Steady Shot with Active Mode stabilization for smooth video and photos
Smile Shutter™ automatically takes photos when subject smiles, even while shooting HD video
Face detection technology recognizes up to eight faces and automatically corrects focus, exposure and color control

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Canon announced today it’s consumer camcorder line-up for 2009, updating some old favorites and releasing some exciting new models.

Of immediate interest to Videomaker readers is the Vixia HF S10/S100 model. This is Canon’s top of the line AVCHD camcorder, and deserves serious consideration even by professionals. The engineers at Canon have included a 8.59 MP CMOS chip, and the DIGIC DV III processor, as well as allowing compression at AVCHD’s upper limit of 24Mbps. What does all this technical goodness get you? 900 lines of resolution, that’s more resolution than their professional line of HDV camcorders. I was able to see some sample footage from the Vixia HF S10/S100 on a recent trip to Japan, and the image quality was outstanding.

Also updated was the successor to Canon’s popular Vixia HV-20 and HV-30 HDV camcorder, the Canon HV-40. The key update here is the new abiltiy to record in native 24p mode, similar to their professional products. This addition is perfect for this model, one that has found wide acceptance in the low-budget movie making market. In addition the HV-40 sports a new custom key setting, that allows you assign your own functions to a physical button on the camcorder.

Another update was the Vixia HF-20/200 AVCHD camcorders. These are the smallest camcorder’s in Canon’s line up, and have a 15x lens, and the new Video Snapshot feature. This new mode is accessed via a button, and it simply takes 4 seconds of video each time you press record. So what’s the big deal with this feature? Well, if you’ve ever had to sit through hours of boring home movies, you will appreciate Video Snapshot. In addition to limiting shots to 4 seconds, you can use the camcorder to arrange your 4 second clips in any order, and assign a piece of background music (you can upload your own tracks to the camcorder), and play them out straight to the TV from your camera. It’s automated editing for those who can’t be bothered to edit, and seems to work very well in practice.

This is just the announcement, pricing and availability aren’t  set yet. So stay tuned to the Videomaker Blog for further updates.

Press Release Below:

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