Blackmagic Design released DaVinci Resolve 9 Beta and a new Manual

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You can download it from their web site right now. It is available for Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems.

They have had a significant user interface re-design, automatic 3D eye matching, multi layering timelines, additional xml support, log grading, 16 channels of audio, automatic audio sync, and the ability to have multiple frame rates in a single sequence (if you click a check box). You can read the press release or just download it now.

I built a DIY PVC Tabletop/Skate Dolly with help from DIY Photography

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Here it is in all it’s Glory, a bit different than the one they show, but perfectly adequate and can’t wait to start using it. It seems to roll pretty smoothly.

Check out the article and instructions by Martin Taylor at DIY Photography.

Now I tried following his instructions directly but at Home Depot I could not find a few of the pats, mainly the 4x connectors and the 4 x 3″ risers threaded on both ends (though now I am thinking maybe they are in the sprinklers sections instead of the PVC section).

Anyway, I did it with a couple of pieces of 3/4″ PVC pipe and a hack saw. My cuts weren’t straight, but when I glued them in they were perfectly straight, so it worked fine. It is a little bigger than his example (I had to get connectors for the caps since my 3/4″ didn’t have threads on the ends). And I had to get T parts without threads on the bottom, as I didn’t have the threaded extensions. Luckily having a bigger wheel base might make it a bit more stable.

Also I would change the screws to 1/4″ and 2 inches long instead of 1.5″ long. You could make them smaller with washers, and you could put more washers to make the whole thing more stable. These screws worked, but didn’t leave much space, and I had to shave the whole in the top piece to allow the screw to stick out at all.

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And I had gotten my scooter wheels years back to build a dolly (actually got 8 of them) at the dollar store for $1 for 2. Wish I had bought more now! Overall including a hack saw, the parts, the wheels, the pvc, screws and the glue cost me around $32, but that was with only $2 for wheels, and it could be more like $20. Looks like you can get them at Amazon for $4.99 with $5.34 shipping, though hopefully that would cut down if you ordered more than one set, though not sure. And this obviosly still needs a head, but you can get this one at Amazon for $12.99, or this one with a quick release plate for only 22.95.

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Am already thinking of building a low mode one, that would only go straight (this one can turn either set of wheels) byt taking out the elbow pieces and just going to the middle T, and that way the camera would be lower.

MacMatrix Updates SideEffects to work with Mountain Lion

MacMatrix has updated SideEffects which combines SIMBL and and ColorfulSidebar to return colored icons to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. The best part is having your custom drive icons back (as they really do help you hit them).

The only thing that did not work for me was the finder restart added to your Users startup items, and I had to use my own I made with Automator, but I am back to color icons.

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Don’t these look so much better, and I love my custom icons as well!

I am still have some SIMBL crashes though, but have been in contact with the creator to see if we can clear them up, as I love my color finder icons!

Apple releases Mountain Lion OS X 10.8 for Mac

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So Apple has released Mountain Lion OS X 10.8 via the Mac App store for $19.99! Sure are undercutting Microsoft there, and with a year between released they can really add in the near and the short term.

So far my favorite part if that Contacts has returned to a 3 pain view so you can see the groups and contacts at the same time as you could before lion. Still hate the B&W icons in the Finder Sidebar, and the stupidification of the OS (such as hiding the User/Library folder).

Also had some issues, lost the icons in the sidebar and had to dump the sidebar preferences to fix them. The finder also ground to a halt after the upgrade, but I fixed it with Diskwarrior. And I have had some scrolling issues where I would scroll and it would instantly jump back to the top. And Launchbar had to wait for the OS to re-index with Spotlight before it worked (wow, I can barely function without Launchbar at this point). Had to change the settings to allow all apps to launch, so I could install apps from anywhere to get everything working though.

The Canon EOS M Mirrorless Camera

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Canon has officially announced the EOS M Mirrorless Camera, and DP Review has an excellent Hands on Review.

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And with an Adapter it can use any EOS EF or EF-S lens with it’s APS-C sized sensor, and includes full video capabilities, though it doesn’t look to have as many controls as their normal DSLRs. Sill for small and fast and compatibility this is awesome. I TOTALLY WANT ONE!

It’s stats stand like this:

  • New EF-M lens mount (optimized for APS-C sensor size)
  • 18MP APS-C ‘Hybrid CMOS’ sensor
  • Continuous autofocus in movie mode with subject tracking
  • 14-bit DIGIC5 processor
  • ISO 100-12800 standard, 25600 expanded
  • 4.3 fps continuous shooting, 3 fps with autofocus tracking
  • 1080p30 video recording, stereo sound (with 25p or 24p options)
  • External microphone socket and adjustable sound recording level
  • 1040k dot 3:2 touch-sensitive ClearView II LCD (capacitative type, multi-touch support)
  • Standard EOS hot-shoe for external flash (no built-in flash)
  • ‘Creative Filters’ image-processing controls, previewed live on-screen

This is an exciting camera, though it sure took Canon a while to get it out (well it comes out in October) as every other manufacturer has one, but the adapter to Canon Lenses makes this so much more versatile! It is $799 with a 22mm, though you will want to spend a little more for EF Lens Adapter!

Surgery Update, Insurance Hell, though really it is the hospital that is the problem!

Can I just say that not only is insurance totally messed up, but honestly it is the hospital billing that is even worse.

Basically we had to pay for the surgery before the surgery or they would not give me surgery. We paid what we thought was the rest of the of the out of pocket maximum (though it seems we are off by about $80).

And now we are getting bill after bill from the hospital. It seems that UCLA Billing has not bothered to talk to the insurance or figure out how the insurance is relegating the money. They just put our payment wherever they pleased, and didn’t tell the insurance that we had made they payment.

And they are billing us for all the bills where we pay 60% and the insurance pays 40% instead of talking to insurance and seeing that after another $80 payment from us, we have hit our out of pocket maximum and the rest of covered by the insurance. And we are talking thousands of dollars in additional bills they are trying to get us to pay.

No AETNA is being helpful and is even trying to talk to UCLA to try to get it cleared up, but meanwhile we are getting robocalls from UCLA saying they are going to take action unless we pay these bills! WTF! It is there mistake.

They have applied the money incorrectly, and are trying to get more money out of us because of it.