CineSkates

What's the difference between a compelling, immersive short film and a throwaway piece of sub-viral crap? Not video resolution: nowadays, when every cat-filming schmoe has an HD video camera in his smartphone and the DSLR revolution has unleashed a tsunami of bokeh onto Vimeo.com, you need more than sharp pictures and good lenses to make an impact. According to Justin Jensen, an engineer-cum-amateur photographer/filmmaker who studied Computational Photography at the MIT Media Lab, "I realized that video quality is no longer limited by resolution, but instead by stabilization."

Because Jensen couldn't afford a SteadiCam, he invented CineSkates: a tiny, inexpensive, portable, expandable camera-movement platform based on Joby's Gorillapod.

Jensen sought funding for his invention on Kickstarter, and apparently he struck a nerve with other indie filmmakers, because he exceeded his $20,000 ask in just one day. Since then he's collected nearly $300,000--all for a homely looking little tripod on skateboard wheels.

The CineSkates platform is small enough to fit into a backpack, and Jensen has designed an expandable interface called Cinetics Connect into the legs, which will let filmmakers attach awesome-sounding (but as yet unreleased) accessories like robot-controlled wheels to their camera rigs. "We're working on new clamps that will enable CineSkates to work with other tripods," Jensen tells Co.Design. "We're working to have a complete system for filmmakers that will all fit in one bag."

Source: fastcodesign.comAdded: 6 October 2011