Technology News

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Canon U.S.A. recently announced two updates to the Canon Digital Learning Center (CDLC).

A new dedicated mobile site (m.learn.usa.canon.com) has been launched to help make the CDLC's educational content and resources easily available from any smartphone or tablet. Access to Canons collection of technical articles, tutorial videos, image galleries, PDF guides, and Events Calendar can now be accessed all on the go, or in the field. Viewers can also register for Canon Live Learning workshops right from their phones. The CDLC mobile site is optimized for use with Apple’s iPhone along with Android and Blackberry devices.

Also new on the Canon Digital Learning Center is a library of Wireless Files Transmitter (WFT) setup guides. These guides will serve as a valuable resource to professional photographers who currently use, or are curious about, Canon WFTs.  These easy to follow step-by-step PDFs are fully illustrated and include instructions for all WFT modes, network configurations, and popular operating systems.

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Sony Professional Solutions is opening a new Digital Motion Picture Center at Sony Pictures Studios. Scheduled to open on May 1st, the center will serve as an industry-wide resource for training and education and will support transition to Digital Workflows for Filmmakers.

The Center will offer hands-on training for directors, cinematographers and other professionals in the film and television production industries on the use of Sony's  F65 CineAltaT digital motion picture camera and the production workflows supporting this new acquisition system.

Read more: Sony Professional Solutions New Digital Motion Picture Center

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GQC Entertainment and FM Grip & Lighting recently held an open house to announce the companies’ partnership and introduce new inventory and services. “We’ve definitely blown up this last year by doubling our inventory,” says GQC Entertainment CEO Steve Garrett.

Read more: Open House for GQC Entertainment and FM Grip & Lighting

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Read more: Dave Beanes named Executive Vice President and General Manager of Universal Operations Group

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NewTek a leader in 3D animation announced today a powerful new version of it's Emmy Emmy® Award-winning, professional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software LightWave™ 11. LightWave 11 fits into any studio pipeline seamlessly, offering support for Autodesk Geometry Cache and FBX, including pixel-perfect camera matching with Autodesk Maya cameras. It also supports the Unity game engine and Pixologic GoZ ZBrush workflow, making it ideal for all production environments, including smaller specialized studios and individual artists.

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The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) will honor Dante Spinotti with 2012 Lifetime Achievemnt Award on February 12 at the Hollywood & Highland Grand Ballroom. Also to receive tribute, William Wages, Francis Kenny and Fred Godfrey.

Spinotti's Career in the U.S. began in 1988 in Manhunter with director Michael Mann to the recent release of Tower Heist with Brett Ratner. He has compiled more than 60 venerable credits to date, collaborating with such ground-breaking directors as Bruce Beresford, Garry Marshall, and Michael Apted. His work with Curtis Hanson on L.A. Confidential in 1997 led to his first Oscar® nomination, followed by a second nomination for The Insider in 2000, on which he re-teamed with Mann. Both films also earned Spinotti ASC Award nominations, with an additional nod from ASC for The Last of the Mohicans. His body of work includes such memorable films as Crimes of the Heart, Beaches, Frankie and Johnny, Heat, Wonder Boys, Red Dragon, Pinocchio, X-Men: The Last Stand, Public Enemies, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Berlin Affair, Fotografando Patrizia, Il segreto del bosco vecchio, The Legend of the Holy Drinker, and The Star Maker.

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As Canon DSLR cameras become more popular in Hollywood’s entertainment industry, Canon U.S.A. has just announced the opening of a new support center to better serve its film and television production clients. The Canon Hollywood Professional Technology and Support Center, located at the historic Sunset Gower Studio lot on 6060 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, will provide a local site to foster support, research, service and training for camera owners/shooters and others interested in using Canon cameras.

Read more: Canon U.S.A. Opens Hollywood Support Center

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3ality Digital, a leading innovator of S3D production technology for the entertainment industry, has acquired Element Technica, a company long-known for its manufacturing expertise, accessories and mechanical engineering of motorized S3D camera rigs. 3ality Digital gains an in-house manufacturing and design capability and the opportunity to further expand its R&D infrastructure. The newly named 3ality Technica will provide the combined assets of both companies and product lines and will be located in 3ality Digital’s expanded headquarters in Burbank, Calif.

“As our primary competitor, we have always had great respect for Element Technica and their achievements,” says 3ality Technica CEO Steve Schklair. “The complete compatibility and lack of redundancy between the companies has made this an ideal acquisition, strengthening the company’s position to provide the most advanced and dependable S3D solutions to the market. Perhaps the greatest benefit of this acquisition will be to the motion picture and broadcast producers who will now have an unprecedented amount of tools and technology tailored to meet their specific needs.”

The companies’ combined engineering skills will help push the 3D production that’s becoming more prevalent in the movement towards better entertainment. Many of Hollywood’s upcoming blockbuster films have been shot utilizing the systems and technology of these two companies, including Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, and Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Killer, as well as The Amazing Spider-Man, Underworld: Awakening, Oz and The Great Gatsby (starring Leonardo DiCaprio). Additionally, companies like BSkyB, a leading 3D broadcaster, and the HBS feeds from the FIFA World Cup have based their live-event productions on 3ality Technica technology.

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This announcement about another Hollywood-China deal was just posted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website in the past hour.

Read more: Hollywood Production House Raises $220.5 Million for Chinese Studio

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Valley businesses learn to profit from exporting
By Gregory J. Wilcox, Daily News Staff Writer

Matthews Studio Equipment reversed a popular trade route to navigate the roiling economic waters.

"We make stuff here and ship it to China," said a smiling Robert E. Kulesh, vice president of sales and marketing at the Burbank-based company, which makes a wide array of products used in film and still photography productions.

Kulesh's simple explanation of how Matthews boosted its bottom line might set a good example for other San Fernando Valley area businesses struggling after the Great Recession.

At least that's what officials of local economic development agencies and the Port of Los Angeles believe....

Read more: Matthews Studio Equipment Recognized