iPad

Neal Ungerleider of FastCoCreate writes: What happens when a major film producer decides to create original entertainment for tablets? Canada’s National Film Board (NFB) is experimenting with a series of new tablet-centric projects that merge gaming, journalism, and cinema. The applications come in iOS, Android, and web-Flash flavors and are intentionally created to mash up movies and computer games once and for all. The National Film Board is a publicly funded film producer and distributor known for its legendary animation work and, lately, for becoming a pioneer of new, interactive forms of storytelling.

Hand Held Hollywood has released their latest manual, Filmmaking with the iPad and iPhone. Available in softcover and as an e-book, it covers everything from structuring story with virtual index cards, to shooting footage with specialized camera apps and accessories, to putting it all together with powerful editing tools.

You can save 35% off the cover price by ordering from here and using promo code HHH.

Digital Video magazine is now available on the iPhone or iPad. Get our latest issue every month digitally and read about all the latest tools, technology and what's hot on the big, small and every-size-in-between screen. As always, DV also features useful instructional articles to help you get the most out of your gear.

Download the Digital Video+ app right here.

The LinkTV World News app for iPad displays international news in a different way: by mixing in both mainstream news outlets, alternative outlets and curated raw eyewitness videos.

Frankenweenie: An Electrifying Book is a free iPad app that lets users go behind-the-scenes of the new Tim Burton stop-motion animated film with exclusive interactive content. The app contains interviews, initial concept art, an introduction to the characters and more immersive material as a new way to get users into the world of the film.

Download the app here.

"Love Synchs" is a short film from director Paul Kamuf which requires two iPads in the same location to view. The love story is about a couple who uses technology to share their memories and can only be watched if two people download it to their iPads and watch it in sync together.

Thanks to the proliferation of laptops and tablet computers and wireless internet access, the use of physical portfolios and demo reels to show your wares has been increasingly replaced by digital alternatives. The newest of these is Red Giant Software’s Arsenal, a mobile presentation app that lets you present your creative work to clients on an Apple iPad.

Avid Studio for iPad has been renamed Pinnacle Studio for iPad (following Avid selling its consumer business to Corel) and is available for free for a limited time at the App Store. The app now has 1080p support. Download it for free here at the App Store. (via Engadget)

The soon-to-be-released Padcaster and Lenscaster will provide iPads a sturdy way to both mount it onto a tripod and to use external lenses with it. Says Steven Sande of TUAW, "Anyone who is interested in using an iPad for filmmaking or broadcasting -- either as an amateur or professionally -- should consider getting the Padcaster. It's a brilliantly conceived and well-built accessory that should be extremely popular with the video and filmmaking crowd."

After 100 years of horizontal aspect ratios, filmmakers now have the option of creating iPad-ready vertical videos. Filmmaker Christop A. Geiseler gives his ten tips for using regular equipment to create vertical videos. He writes, "Vertical videos require filmmakers to improvise with equipment not designed to produce videos in this way."

Watch his vertical documentary "Curry Power" below and read his tips here on The Huffington Post.

App and software developer Matt Gemmell breaks down his favorite iPad productivity apps for getting work done on-the-go. He writes, "I manage to be very productive indeed with the iPad, and I don’t have to jump through many hoops to do so. With the right set of applications (and more are becoming available on iOS every day), you can get real work done - effectively, pleasantly, and regardless of where you happen to be."

Read more here.

The Padcaster iPad mount was on display at NAB this week. Says Ubergizmo of the $199 product, "The case itself is rather simple in design, but the beauty of it is that not only does it allow you to mount the iPad onto a camera’s tripod, but it will also allow you to hook up a variety of DSLR lenses that you might have lying around.

Forbes' Anthony Wing Kosner reports on the possibilites of interactive video that could be forthcoming on the iPad (and some that are already here). He writes, "It’s not hard to imagine...ways that movies and game play could merge in tactile and synesthetic ways. For example, in a heist movie, when the safe cracker is in the vault, the viewer would have to come up with the combination based on prior clues for the action to proceed.

The Padcaster is an upcoming camera rig for the iPad, set to be released on April 16th. Though there is little info on what the rig looks like or is exactly, you can watch a video that was made with it below. Says Cult of Mac, "As you see in the video, the rig seems to be using extra lenses to give a shallow depth-of-field and throw the backgrounds out of focus.