WTF? GoPro acquires CineForm

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Dark Side of the Camera
:Drogar-Shock(DBG): WOW! Didn´t see that comming.

Frank


“We’re extremely excited to welcome the CineForm team to GoPro,” exclaims Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. “CineForm is an industry leader in video codec technology and is famous in professional circles for their HD and 3D content creation tools. As GoPro is focused on making it easy for consumers to capture professional quality content, we’re eager to incorporate CineForm’s technology and passion into future GoPro products.”


The first new GoPro product to incorporate CineForm’s technology is the soon to be released 3D HERO® System, an expansion accessory for GoPro’s 1080p HD HERO line of cameras. The 3D HERO System allows consumers to combine two 1080p HD HEROs into a single housing to capture synchronized 3D photos and video. A synchronization cable joins the cameras via an expansion port on the back of each camera.

“GoPro has come out of nowhere to become a leading HD capture solution for professionals wanting to capture new, never before seen perspectives,” says David Newman, CineForm’s co-founder and CTO. “We were very impressed with the 3D HERO System’s ability to rival cameras costing 10 times as much. We’re looking forward to putting CineForm’s content creation tools into more hands than ever before thanks to GoPro’s global brand and distribution.”
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http://gopro.com/gopro®-leading-act...o-compression-software-company-cineform®-inc/
 
Adobe has been asleep at the wheel when it came to this one...

I am interested if they can put a cohesive 3D solution together this year at NAB...
 
holy crap, could u imagine cineform being the native recording codec for a gopro? throw in their 3d muxing... it would be SICK. i can see crank 3 being shot on 50 go pros on cineform... 3D.
 
There is a lot about GoPro that I kinda go "WTF."

Essentially I wonder how a niche market (POV isn't really that wide-spread, right?) can be getting so many big names to try out their cameras & wear their Go Pro logo. Maybe the market is big enough. Maybe they think that people will do more than sports with the Go Pro cameras (hell, that is what I plan on using my Hero for).

Though everything I see from them I think they're doing it the right way. Info on their products is easy to find, vs (for instance) the last time I went out to purchase an external hard drive I couldn't find the RPM anywhere on the box or their website.
 
This can't be good news. I was hoping for a sub-$1K 4:4:4 12-bit Cineform recorder. Guess that'll never happen now.
 
zijital said:
Maybe they think that people will do more than sports with the Go Pro cameras (hell, that is what I plan on using my Hero for).
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Some of the news photogs I work with are buying these on their own dime because they're able to get some unconventional shots with them (like tying it to an oar being used to paddle down a flooding river... try doing that with an HPX3100 :) )
 
ideally, with the financial support of GOPRO now, I'm hoping they'll make cineform a completely free open codec... it might be pipe dreams, but I"ve been hoping for that for years now. Cineform by themselves couldn't make it a free codec cause they are a boutique company that needs to pay their workers. but with GOPRO as a backbone, maybe they'll make the codec free, and then start offering up really high level version of their cameras recording directly to the codec...
 
J Bellari said:
Adobe has been asleep at the wheel when it came to this one...

I am interested if they can put a cohesive 3D solution together this year at NAB...
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Tadaaa!

GoPro to release housing for 3D action videography

go-pro-hero-3d.JPG


http://www.gizmag.com/gopro-expansion-kit-3d-actioncam/17502/
 
zijital said:
There is a lot about GoPro that I kinda go "WTF."

Essentially I wonder how a niche market (POV isn't really that wide-spread, right?) can be getting so many big names to try out their cameras & wear their Go Pro logo. Maybe the market is big enough. Maybe they think that people will do more than sports with the Go Pro cameras (hell, that is what I plan on using my Hero for).

Though everything I see from them I think they're doing it the right way. Info on their products is easy to find, vs (for instance) the last time I went out to purchase an external hard drive I couldn't find the RPM anywhere on the box or their website.
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Your kidding me aren't you, The market for these cameras is huge. GoPro have sold hundreds of thousands of GoPro HD cameras. The new LCD BacPac attachment just released a month ago - 75,000 were shipped.

I run a GoPro User Forum http://goprouser.freeforums.org with over 3000 members but the non member hits to the site is huge. There is enormous interest in these cameras.

Yes Pro photographers and film makers are using these products because they are cheap, expendable, 1080p/720p/960p/480p, 4 different frame rates, waterproof, 170 degree and 110 degree wide angle etc. They have been used on Top Gear, BBC, Discovery Ch and hundreds of other top shows. I've personally used these cameras for 5 years dating back to the first SD model. Unreal fun and add a new perspective to any production.

Look out for some great future products from these guys, the CEO is a pretty smart cookie.

View from rear of case

gopro3d3.jpg

R
 

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Incredibly smart move from go-pro. I was wondering when/if they woud 'go' 'pro' and now I guess they did. Congrats to them. I'll be a buyer.
 
I just got back from a skydiving holiday and tonnes of the wingsuiters were using these. From what I could tell first hand. They love them. I'm getting one for my next trip!!!
 
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GoPro is a great camera for the money. I wonder if they will start offering Cineform codec now? I would expect it would require more then just a firmware upgrade.
 
If you have any doubts about a Gopro capturing great footage, then check out this lap in an F1 car at Bathurst with a Gopro mounted on the front Wing. The 720p version is awesome



 
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OK,

That was friggin" awesome!!

I want one... (car and camera...)

rambooc1 said:
If you have any doubts about a Gopro capturing great footage, then check out this lap in an F1 car at Bathurst with a Gopro mounted on the front Wing. The 720p version is awesome
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I think this is great news. Think about this. Cineform is a software company. Their codec is software based. They were just acquired by a hardware company. GoPro makes capture hardware. Do you see where I'm going? To implement Cineform's codec into their cameras, GoPro will have to create a hardware version of the codec. This is fantastic! This opens up all kinds of hardware applications for the codec. This is going to be huge! Cineform RAW cameras! Cineform HDMI and HDSDI recorders! Guys, this is what I've been waiting and hoping for....

I've used Cineform for years. I've used an HD Hero in a number of different ways in both commercials and as a POV camera in my newest feature film. This is a fantastic partnership and I can't wait to talk with these guys at NAB.
 
Chad Haufschild said:
I think this is great news. Think about this. Cineform is a software company. Their codec is software based. They were just acquired by a hardware company. GoPro makes capture hardware. Do you see where I'm going? To implement Cineform's codec into their cameras, GoPro will have to create a hardware version of the codec. This is fantastic! This opens up all kinds of hardware applications for the codec. This is going to be huge! Cineform RAW cameras! Cineform HDMI and HDSDI recorders! Guys, this is what I've been waiting and hoping for....

I've used Cineform for years. I've used an HD Hero in a number of different ways in both commercials and as a POV camera in my newest feature film. This is a fantastic partnership and I can't wait to talk with these guys at NAB.
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This has been out for a couple years now: http://www.cinedeck.com/content/#/?type=serial
 
Tzedekh said:
This can't be good news. I was hoping for a sub-$1K 4:4:4 12-bit Cineform recorder. Guess that'll never happen now.
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What makes you say that? In my mind, it brings that much, much closer to reality. As someone above said, a software manufacturer was just acquired by a hardware manufacturer. A hardware manufacturer that specializes in cheap, affordable systems. Now that they own Cineform I'm sure in the coming months/years we'll see them integrate that market mindset into the software side with Cineform with eventual cheap recorders, complete capture systems. etc. This brings cheap cineform recorders much closer to reality than lets say, someone like Arri acquiring Cineform. Exciting times for digital cinema! Even if they only get around to having the Gopro acquire directly to cineform, that would be effing awesome
:bath:
 
i love my gopros and use them alot. im just waiting for them to put a white balance setting on there for tunsten balance.
 
Fohdeesha said:
Tzedekh said:
This can't be good news. I was hoping for a sub-$1K 4:4:4 12-bit Cineform recorder. Guess that'll never happen now.
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What makes you say that? In my mind, it brings that much, much closer to reality. As someone above said, a software manufacturer was just acquired by a hardware manufacturer. A hardware manufacturer that specializes in cheap, affordable systems. Now that they own Cineform I'm sure in the coming months/years we'll see them integrate that market mindset into the software side with Cineform with eventual cheap recorders, complete capture systems. etc. This brings cheap cineform recorders much closer to reality than lets say, someone like Arri acquiring Cineform. Exciting times for digital cinema! Even if they only get around to having the Gopro acquire directly to cineform, that would be effing awesome
:bath:
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What makes you think GoPro would be interested in producing a standalone Cineform recorder? If anything, they will develop and use Cineform in the service of their own products. Maybe a low-cost 10- or 12-bit recorder will fit in there somewhere, but GoPro isn't known for high-bit products. I hope I am wrong.
 
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