We’ve all heard the hype. DSLR cameras are the new darlings of Indie and DIY filmmakers. The gods of technology have allowed us to take a still camera and use its high-end lens and gorgeous shallow depth of field to make videos that rival the look of big budget films.

The biggest advantage of using a DSLR over a camcorder is the shallow depth of field. When filmmakers talk about depth of field, they are referring to the amount of the image in frame that is in focus at any one time. When the depth of field is deep, everything in frame is in focus, and it is very difficult for the filmmaker to highlight the parts of the shot that are important to the story. The shallower (or narrower) the depth of field, the more ability you have to pinpoint the crucial parts of a scene, and draw viewers attention in. Most camcorders, including the highest end, have deep depths of field. Now, with the new DSLR cameras, videographers can achieve a cinematic look without needing to break the bank or lug around a huge piece of equipment.

Deep depth of field on left, shallow depth of field on right.

Sounds great? Before you go out and buy a DSLR, you might want to learn about the downsides of going with an instrument that was designed for still photography rather than video.

Beyond the fact that DSLRs give you a beautiful image, they are pretty hard to use as video cameras, particularly for shooting a moving body and even more so if the camera is moving too. This is because they lack some of the basic components that most video cameras have. Their beautiful shallow depth of field is somewhat of a hollow promise when you find that it is incredibly difficult to keep the camera in focus, or pull focus as the subject moves (as dancers generally do). DSLRs don’t have autofocus, which is essential when you are shooting on the fly. Most advanced camcorders come with zebras and peaking tools that let you see the areas of sharpness and overexposure as the subject is moving, but with DSLRs you just have to hope that the subject won’t move out of the preset area.

A DSLR camera decked out for shooting video

The biggest drawback to the DSLR is that it lacks an articulate LCD screen and an electronic view finder (EVF). Almost all video cameras have the ability to look through a view finder while your shooting, as well as move the LCD screen so you can watch the image from different angles. To be able to see what you are shooting with a DSLR you either have to get down to eye level with the static LCD screen (not easy if you are moving or trying to get a low angle on the subject) or you need to buy an external EVF and monitor. These add-ons are not cheap. Most cost around $2000-4000, and many EVF packages are more expensive than the camera itself!

Furthermore, DSLRs have very poor audio recording capabilities. Most are very noisy, and the internal mics are ineffectual. To make matters worse, most DSLRs don’t have XLR cable inputs for external mics, or a headphone jack to hear what you are recording. To get around this, you will need to record the audio separately and sync it later. There is software out there to help with this, but it adds an extra step to the post-production workflow.

Another problem with DSLRs are that they are much more prone to the jellocam effect also called shutter roll, when the subject is moving quickly or the camera is moving. This is obviously not great for shooting dance. Most editing software has pretty good filters to remove jellocam, but if your footage is full of fast movement, you could have major problems shooting it with a DSLR.

Finally, DSLR cameras can only record a maximum of 15 minutes of footage at a time, making them a poor choice for taping a performance or live dance event. They are great for taking beautiful stills in combination with documenting short scenes.

All of these issues aside, I have to say DSLR cameras, even the cheapest ones take stunning video. Jacob Krupnick’s highly anticipated feature-length music video, Girl Walk All Day was shot using DSLR cameras, and the footage looks great. There doesn’t seem to be jellocam problems, and the subject doesn’t go out of focus that much. Audio wasn’t an issue for this piece because it is completely set to the music of Girl Talk.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The bottom line is, DSLR’s can’t completely replace video cameras yet, especially for the purposes of shooting dance, but they can be a highly valuable addition to your video tool kit, especially for capturing close-ups or intimate scenes that advance the story or require conveying emotional depth.

Below is a list of popular DSLR cameras on the market now, and their average price (from B&H):

Canon 5D Mark II – $3200

Famously used to record the final episode of the 6^th season of House.

• 21.1 Megapixel Full-Frame Sensor
• 3.0″ High Resolution LCD Display
• Live View Mode
• 1080p Movie Mode
• Dust & Weather-Resistant
• Self Cleaning Sensor
• Broad ISO Range (50-25600)
• 3.9 fps Burst Mode

Nikon D7000 – $1500

• Includes NIKKOR 18-105mm DX VR Lens
• 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Sensor
• EXPEED 2 Image Processor
• 1080p HD Video Capture
• 3″ LCD Display
• RAW + JPEG Still Image Capture
• Twin SD/SDHC/SDXC Card Slots
• RGB 3D Matrix Metering System
• i-TTL Flash + Speedlight Compatibility
• Works with 60+ NIKKOR Lenses

Canon 7D – $1859

• * All-Purpose Zoom Lens
• * Optical Image Stabilizer
• * Lens 35mm Equivalent of 29-216mm
• * 18.0 Megapixels
• * 3.0″ LCD
• * HD Video Recording
• * Selectable Video Exposure + Frame Rates
• * Dust & Weather Resistant
• * 100% Viewfinder
• * High Sensitivity (ISO 12800)

Canon T3i – $1100

• SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card Slot
• 18MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
• DIGIC 4 Imaging Processor
• 3.0″ Clear View Vari-Angle LCD
• 100-6400 ISO
• Full HD Movie Mode w/ Manual Exposure
• Wide-Angle 18-135mm (29-216mm Equi) Lens
• 3.7 Frames/Second Continuous Shooting
• 63 Zone Dual-Layer Metering / 9-Point AF
• Intelligent Auto Mode

Lumix GH2 w/ 14-42mm Lens – $1000

• 16.05MP Live MOS Sensor
• 3″ Free-Angle LCD W/460,000 Dots
• 1920×1080 60i HD Video
• MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer)
• Fastest Level of Light Speed AF
• High Sensitivity Up to ISO 12800
• Touch Screen Control for Stills/Video
• iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode Stills/Video
• Dust Reduction System
• Dolby Stereo Sound W/Video

Here are links to other articles and websites for further research:

Zach King’s Camera Buying Guide

“Video DSLRs vs Camcorders” on Luminous Landscapes

Video examples of a Canon T3i vs Sony HDR-FX7

National Conference
Pavilion Dance, Bournemouth (UK)
8-10 September, 2011

Digital Futures in Dance is an opportunity for artists, promoters, producers, venues, academics and creative and digital companies to come together to discuss future possibilities for dance and technology. With an increasing growth in interdisciplinary practice, Digital Futures in Dance investigates how new digital technologies create new conditions for choreographing and presenting dance. The conference is structured around three interrelated themes explored through presentations, workshops, performances and installations:

The Expanded Stage: Stage, screen and bodies – What will be the stages for dance in the future?

New Body Intelligence: Body data as raw material – How will new intelligence of the body influence choreography in the future?

Social Interaction: Mobile and interactive technology devices – How will increased interactivity influence the creation and reception of dance in the future?

The programme will feature international artists and researchers across the dance, technology and media spectrums including Jonah Bokaer, Billie Cowie, Marlon Barrios-Solano, Harriet Macauley | Pair Dance, Johannes Birringer, Renana Raz, Mark Coniglio, and Marina Tsartsara.

See the full programme here.

Today at 4am USA Eastern Standard Time, and 6pm in Brisbane Australia, the interactive Waterwheel platform will launch with a crew of collaborators and audience members from around the world converging online in real time. Waterwheel is an ongoing interactive, collaborative platform for performance, presentation and exchange exploring water, as a topic of politics, science and metaphor. The brain child of Brussel’s born Suzon Fuks, a media artist, choreographer and director, the project developed out of her growing interest in global water politics and the richness of the topic for artistic expression.

Last week as the site was in its final stages of tweaking, Fuks gave me a tour of the platform and showed me all the things it can do. Along with her team of technicians and artists Fuks has created a very sophisticated site, one that works as well or better than most social media sites or online conferencing platforms. With years of experience designing intermedia and live networked performances, Fuks knew what she wanted, and what was needed to achieve the intentions of the site. Each section of the site is modeled to emulate some function of water, with the net result that it “flows” together seamlessly, and feeds and regenerates the overall experience for everyone who uses it.

When you first encounter the site on the homepage there is a beautiful wheel with 40 concentric rings that ripple with the latest media content that has been uploaded to the site. From there you can explore the raw media, or you can enter one of the “Taps” which are highly sophisticated real-time spaces to hold networked performances, presentations, workshops, or exchanges. All of the media up-loaded to the Waterwheel by users is available for real-time mixing and integration on the Taps as well as live video, audio, and drawing tools.

Another component of the site is a map showing “Fountains” going on all around the world. A Fountain can be anything flowing from the Taps (ie current or up-coming Taps), or they can be events about water that users submit to the site. These could be a performance or presentation, an exhibition or conference, a book launch or a film premiere. The Fountains are the place for users to promote their projects or events, or find other similar projects of interest and upcoming events happening nearby or around the world.

While the Waterwheel is focused on water, the platform itself is incredibly facile and could be useful for any group that wants to converge around a specific area of interest. I asked Fuks about whether she would be making more platforms like this in the future. In her reply, she emphasized that exploring water topics remains her primary motivation, however she does see the marketability of the platform they have designed and they are considering commercializing the technology as a means of funding Waterwheel.

The success of the platform is in the hands of the people who use it, so dive on in and splash around in the beautiful liquid world of Waterwheel.

Details of the Launch Event:

On Monday 22 August 2011, the new Waterwheel project and website will be launched at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane from 6pm, and online on the Waterwheel website with a program of free performances.

With his winning idea, Daniels garnered support from the Baryshnikov Art Center to develop “Dances for an iPhone” over two years as an artist in residence at their facilities. In another genius stroke, Daniels chose well-loved, seasoned modern dancers such as Carmen deLavallade, Megan Williams, and Deborah Jowitt to perform his choreography. The resulting volume of six short videos, are neatly packaged in an app now available for free on iTunes.

Perhaps my expectations for “Dances for an iPhone” were set a little too high. On July 15th Gia Kourlas, gave the app a glowing review in the New York Times, for its artistic approach to filming dance, but when I downloaded and looked at the works, all I saw were a bunch of short dance videos that looked like any other rehearsal footage found on YouTube. The handheld camera is shaky most of the time, and often zooms in on the dancer’s face, cutting off our view of the movement and choreography. The lack of focused lighting causes the dancers to go in and out of silhouette, and I was constantly aware of the fact that they were performing for us in a dance studio, rather than transporting me to a world of the artist’s making. For me, the framing of the camera should fundamentally change the dance and make it exist on screen in a way that it could never be in a live performance. I didn’t see any videos in “Dances for an iPhone” that gave new meaning to the dances performed, instead I wished I could see them live rather than on my tiny screen.

Furthermore, I question why these are “Dances for an iPhone” at all. As an “application” the package doesn’t give you much to play with. It’s really just a collection of short videos, with a bit of biographical text for each. Surely you could accomplish the same thing by making a video podcast (also downloadable and viewable on an iPhone, iPod or iPad), or a YouTube channel for that matter. When I think of an app, I expect there to be in interactive component of some kind such as the infamous “Brushes” app that was used to create two New Yorker covers by artist Jorge Colombo. If it isn’t highly interactive, then I expect an app to offer me something new to explore every time I open it, such as my new favorite, the “NPR Music” app that consolidates all of the latest NPR music content in easy to search categories that are up-dated daily.

I suspect that Mr. Daniels saw an opportunity to package his art in a way that was so exciting and novel, it would succeed no matter what. He can now say that he created the first iPhone app featuring modern dance (although that might be debatable as I saw an app for the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company that came out in 2010). The fact that it has no business being an app is besides the point, in the high stakes game of technological development, he who gets there first is the winner.

Still, I’m glad someone in the modern dance world has taken the plunge to create an app. The proliferation of apps is not going to die down any time soon, and we may be seeing a new revolution in the media industries: the way television superseded film and radio, mobile is now threatening to do the same. Since Daniel’s app has left much room for improvement, let’s hope that new upstarts will jump into the ring soon and give us better ways to capture and experience dance in the palm of our hands.

Kinect Installation at Singapore Dance Fest

When Microsoft unleashed the Kinect last fall as an add-on for Xbox 360, hackers and geeks the world over were chomping at the bit to break in and figure out what it can do. That’s because the Kinect is a $150 piece of equipment that contains a super sophisticated camera that can detect depth (3D), color, speed and motion, as well as stereophonic microphones that can place sounds in space. As a result it’s basically a rudimentary brain that has both sight and sound senses and can capture and respond to the world like a sentient being (almost).

The list of Kinect hacks has been piling up since it was released last November, and it will keep growing thanks to Microsoft’s new Kinect Developers kit for Windows (apparently a Mac kit is in the works). Among the coolest developments is motion capture software like Jasper Brekelman’s Brekel that enables anyone to create their own mo-cap animations using the Kinect. Here is a preview of “Under the HUD” by Triangle Productions, an animated series using Brekel and Kinect’s motion capture capabilities. Although the choreography is not so impressive, they give great insight into how they are using the technology.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The sensors on the Kinect make it a powerful tool for intermedia performance. Amazing live interactive animations like those of Chunky Move’s “Mortal Engine” can be obtained using the Kinect for a tiny fraction of the cost and technological know how. Here is an example of an artful performance with live video projections using a Kinect developed by the media and design firm 1024 Architecture.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There have been many technological precedents to the Kinect, but for a much higher price tag. In the dance world this kind of technology was formerly only available to universities and world class dance companies with loads of funding. The prototype of Kinect’s camera and microphone alone cost $30,000! How can Microsoft charge only $150 for the same technology? Well the answer is in the popularity of the device, which has already sold 10 million units and counting.

The fact that this device is called Kinect and was designed to track the motion of the human body seems to be a dream come true for dance artists and movers. I can’t wait to see what artists and geeks will come up with next.

To learn more and see loads of videos about hacks for the Kinect go to: Kinecthacks.net

Here are two new dance companies based in Brooklyn that are at the cutting edge of this emerging paradigm.

DANCELEN(D)S is a non-profit production company that specializes in dance film. Artistic Director Jennifer Madison heads up a collective of artists to create movement-based films and documentaries as well as provide creative services for commercial productions.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“manoeuvres” by DANCELEN(D)S, featuring Valentine Norton’s Project Valentine Dance Crew

Indelible Dance Company calls itself “a dance company in HD.” Mysterious and bold, their website is simply a page of their videos and photos to date. What is so innovative is not the quantity of their output, but the quality of what they make. Each video and photo project is exquisitely wrought, finely composed and emits sexy, smart, classiness.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Check Out My Leggings” by Indelible Dance

Each of these companies has embraced collaboration at the core of their creative process, and they go for the best collaborators they can find. Thus DANCELEN(D)S created a video look book for fashion designer Rachel Roy in which dancers move in clothing from her new collection, and Indelible Dance created an entire evening length performance around a design concept by Mary Huang to create sound-sensitive costumes made of light to portray the Big Bang Theory.

For the longest time, only a handful of dance companies embraced technology and collaboration in such a fundamental way. To do so required huge sums of money or technical wizardry make your own gear, such as Troika Ranch’s Isadora software that enabled dancers to trigger sound and video with their muscles. Today high-end photography and video is cheap to make and can be distributed all around the world for free on the internet. Fundraising sites such as Kickstarter allow artists to find and cultivate supporters beyond their personal networks and capture many microdonations to reach their large financial goals. New generations of dancers who grew up with these tools have entered the field and they are beginning to show us how dance will evolve in the 21st Century. What is most surprising about their revelations is that dance may be naturally dying off as a separate and distinguishable art form, instead it is merging with everything else into one interconnected web of creative life.

To learn about more artists and companies embracing this new model check out:

Dance-tech.net

Dance On Camera on Vimeo

Curious about 3D dance filmmaking? Check out this 6 minute FORA.tv video by Jacob’s Pillow Dance for an introductory primer.  Award-winning filmmakers Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer of Mouvement Perpétuel share their artistic approach and production process using visual examples from their current collaboration with choreographer Crystal Pite and the National Film Board of Canada.  Millar and Szporer describe how a 3D camera works, share their 3D story boards, take us inside the green screen studio with the dancers, and discuss why they are interested in the challenge of creating a stereoscopic experimental dance film incorporating animation.

Can 3D dance film change how audiences experience and participate in dance? What do you think? Comments and links to other 3D dance film insights welcomed.

Sky/Nova:15 will be streaming conversations centered around dance/arts, media/culture, and technology with the occasional absurdity (Arts administrator trading cards? Astronaut ice cream and hover chairs as part of the arts-going experience in 75 years?).  This week Sky/Nova:15 will be microbroadcasting from the 2010 Dance/USA national conference in Washington, D.C. June 16-19.  Expect a handful of special interviews from the ranks of national and international Dancilluminati (dance world rock stars).

Video, live webchat and archived episodes are available at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/skynova15. You can also view via iPhones/Androids by downloading the free Ustream Viewer app.

Here are the “showtimes”:
Wednesday, June 16, 5:15-5:30PM, “Afternoon Anarchy …and Cocktails”
Thursday, June 17, 8:30-8:45AM, Morning Coffee
Thursday, June 17, 6:15-6:30PM, “Afternoon Anarchy …and Cocktails”
Friday, June 18, 8:30-8:45AM, Morning Coffee
Friday, June 18, 5:30-5:45PM, “Afternoon Anarchy …and Cocktails”
Saturday, June 19, 8:30-8:45AM, Morning Coffee (and maybe Mimosas)

Guests and updates will be announced on Twitter via @SkyNova15

WHY CHOREOGRAPHERS SHOULD TWITTER

By Lisa Niedermeyer

I AM ADDICTED TO TWITTER AND HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY.  It came to me at 2:30 A.M.

I am a choreographer, therefore when it comes to structure that can be experimented with, in seemingly infinite ways…sign me up.

Choreographers who understand the value of SELF-IMPOSED LIMITATIONS will appreciate Twitter’s “micro-blogging” limit of 140 characters. It is a fascinating challenge to communicate something potent, funny or informative in a sentence or less.

INSTANT FEEDBACK.

A definite factor in my addiction is the ability to track (instantly) responses to my posts. We don’t get that as choreographers very often. With bit.ly (a tool that allows you to “shorten, share, and track your links”) I am able to see which posts are duds and which are viral. I’m not saying I want an audience member to immediately tell me if my work engaged them or not, but in this format it is definitely an absorbing factor. 

The Twitter community is world wide. I want a vast range of people to discover my posts about the work I am doing as a choreographer and (hopefully) be interested. Each word inside a twitter post is searchable. You can also utilize keywords by “hashing” in front of them. For example #videodance #nonprofit #freetickets. The challenge is to create multiple posts around a specific “theme” using variations of words and keywords to optimize many different people discovering your feed.

DIFFERING ENTRY POINTS.

Installations, site specific work, and performances that cycle are often playing with differing entry points for the audience into choreography. Twitter feeds are never static, the order of your posts is continuously affected by your community’s simultaneous posts.

Recently I posted an entire dance review in Twitter-bite-sized pieces spread out over the course of 24 hrs, with an active link to the full article in each tweet. For the sake of experimentation I created many pieces of something seemingly out of order/context to see if it engaged one to look for the larger picture.

NEW TOOLS.

Since Twitter has reached critical mass new tools are continously being created for the platform.  Perhaps most intriguing is relative newcomer Twiddeo, video for twitter.

NEW LANGUAGE.   Choreographers are dedicated to experimenting with movement language and are often adept at learning new movement languages thru improvisation (rather than just instruction). To “cyber civilians” Twitter feeds can look like a Wall Street ticker tape or the coding for the Matrix. Don’t let this intimidate you, once you jump in and start improvising, observing, testing the language, you will be confident in no time (or right about 2:30 am after your first Twitter marathon).

Are you a choreographer or media artist? Have you been experimenting with structure on Twitter? What has been successful or interesting for you?  We’d love to hear about your experiences and success stories promoting dance through video on Twitter.

Do you share your original dance videos on twitter?

Share your original dance videos on twitter with us @MovementMediaNY and we’ll Re-tweet (RT)!

Movement Media wants to help increase your online viewing audience by promoting your work.  Feel free to nominate the work of others on Twitter, and we’ll also RT those videos.

If you don’t have videos on Twitter, but you would like to view more video dances, you can follow Movement Media on Twitter to stay current with the artists and videos we feature.

Follow MovementMediaNY on Twitter and stay up-to-date on events such as Movement Media’s screenings, festivals, workshops, and webinars.  You can also stay up-to-date on the weekly videodances and artists we feature on our new Video Dance Channel on YouTube in our  FilmingDance4web Playlists!

As many artists feature their work on YouTube, Movement Media promotes artist videos on our YouTube channel as well.  Contact us to let us know about YouTube videos that we could feature for you.  Share your own dance promo videos, your videodances, or nominate other videodances you’ve seen on YouTube to share with our online audience.

On FilmingDance4web, we feature dancers, dance companies, choreographers, film directors, video artists, and animation in our playlists.  Playlists inlcude Movement Media’s Favorite Videodances, Featured Artists, Featured Countries, Cheap Digital Recorder Art, Cell Phone Videodances, Aerial Dance, Gymnastics & Acrobatics, Trampoline, Fire performers, and more.  We celebrate all forms of dance and videodances.  Tune in and enjoy!

We look forward to sharing your videos through Retweets and showcasing your work on our YouTube Video Dance Channel, FilmingDance4web.

What do dancers need?

Many dancers want to post their own dance videos online for self-promotion and need help finding equipment for filming.  For example, if a dancer doesn’t have a video recorder yet, they may want one, or other equipment to help them get creative.

Here are 5 different gift suggestions (with links and and reviews on equipment) from seasoned Cameraman, Ron Kienhuis.

1.  Video Digital Recorders

Digital Recorder by Zoom.  Most camcorders (especially cheap ones) have horrible sound recording features, or are AGC (non manually adjustable).  If audio is important to you, here’s a Digital Recorder by Zoom (known for the H2 and H4n) that does video!  It’s very affordable at $249.00.  http://www.discmakers.com/duplicators/peripherals/zoomq3.asp

Other multi-purpose recording devices are Digital Still Cameras with video capabilities.  Here the choices are endless.  Almost every manufacturer makes them in all price ranges.  The most useful would be a camera with a Wide Angle lens and low light capabilities.
Canon’s Power Shot S90 for $429.99.  http://tinyurl.com/yfyxxe5
Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-LX3 for $469.00.  http://tinyurl.com/6zyxpo

At the same time nearly all Video Cameras can take stills, some at the same time as recording video.  One of the last tape based cameras is the Canon HV-40. It has the capabilities to shoot 24P the infamous “Cinema” look.
Canon VIXIA HV-40 for $699.00.  http://tinyurl.com/yarxynk

Flip Video Camera.  Easy to use, and affordable.  It costs $159.00.  http://tinyurl.com/yej764v

Video Enabled Cell Phone or Music Player.  Try Apple’s iPhone or iPod Nano.  A simple way to record video is with a 3G iPhone or the new Apple Nano iPod.

iphone 3GS 32GB starting at $299.00. http://tinyurl.com/rbwkab.

ipod Nano 8GB at $149.00 and ipod Nano 16GB at $179.00. http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/

2. Creative Filming Options

Here are some fun cameras to try some different types of shots.

Waterproof Camera.  Want to shoot near the water, or in it?!! Then you’ll need a waterproof camera.  Check out the Sanyo XACHI VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and Digital Camera beginning at 169.99  http://tinyurl.com/ycsyyfo

A Pet’s Eye View camera for only $49.99.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cameras-photography/afbc/

3. Tripods and Camera Applications

GorillaCam Camera Application. Prefer to have a video recorded that affords you steady and level shots?  Gorillacam is an iphone app that works with your camera to improve your camera capabilities.  It includes a self-timer for self-portraits and group shots, and time-lapse photography, and other features for  FREE.  Read more here.  http://joby.com/gorillacam/

GorillaMobile Flexible Tripods.  When cell phones and some video recorders do not have ways to attach a tripod you need to rely on a friend to operate it unless you buy a tripod that can do the job.  A GorillaMobile is a flexible tripod with a custom-designed iphone case for $39.95.   You can also purchase GorillaPod for regular cameras for a cost of $21.95.  http://joby.com/gorillapod

4. Micro Projectors

(Brief review of the first 3 products made)

Optoma Pico Projector.  A video projector so small, you can carry it in your pocket. Then, when it’s time for a little entertainment, you can whip it out, connect it to your iPod or iPhone, and project your videos onto a nearby wall, ceiling or airplane seat back–a far more satisfying experience than watching the movie on a little two-inch screen.

The Optoma projector is aimed almost exclusively at iPods, iPhones and other smartphones that can play video, along with video sources that have RCA cables–the red/white/yellow cable set–like camcorders, DVD players, game consoles, digital cameras and other sources.  But you can’t connect it to a laptop (for spur-of-the-boardroom PowerPoint presentations, for example).  The Optoma projects iPhone videos effortlessly–but not photos.  It is sold in most retail stores ranging from $229-$400.  As these mini projectors are new to the market, the costs vary considerably depending on where one purchases the product.   http://tinyurl.com/c7q28k

3M’s Micro Professional Projector, the MPro110.  The 3M Micro Professional Projector MPro110 costs about $359.00.  It’s about the same size as Optoma (2 x .9 x 4.5 inches), but it’s not quite as bright; it tops out at about six feet from your “screen,” casting an image about 40 inches diagonally. And whereas the Optoma projector has a tiny, feeble built-in speaker, the 3M has none at all.  If you plan to use it for movies, you’ll also have to plan to connect headphones or speakers.

The 3M projector, on the other hand, is the only micro projector so far that accepts a standard laptop video signal (it has a VGA connector). On one hand, it may seem a little silly to use a micro projector for a laptop; in the end, the projected image isn’t all THAT much larger than the laptop’s own screen. Still, it can make the difference between showing your slides to three people and showing them to eight people.  The 3M also accepts input from RCA cables, just like the Optoma.  http://www.3m.com/mpro/news.html

Aiptek’s PocketCinema V10.  The Aiptek PocketCinema V10 takes yet a third approach.  Whereas the Optoma seems made in heaven for iPods and iPhones (and comes with the proper cable), and the 3M is a better bet for laptops, the Aiptek has a slot for a memory card, and, more intriguingly, 1 gigabyte of built-in storage.

In other words, you can carry this thing around without any other equipment at all, preloaded, ready to make your elevator pitch at any time, without having to connect or set up anything. (You do have to convert your pictures and movies to the projector’s preferred formats, which can be a pain.)

Connecting a laptop is pretty much hopeless unless it has either RCA or S-Video connectors, both of which are rare on laptops these days, or a VGA-to-RCA adapter. (Once again, any video source with RCA cables will work.)

The PocketCinema ($249.00-$300) is bigger than the other projectors (4.9 x 2.1 x 0.9), but it’s the only one with a decent speaker, a remote and a tripod. (Maximum image and distance: 42-inch image, 5 feet away.) http://tinyurl.com/y9rfggu

5. Speakers

For rehearsals how about a set of portable speakers for your iPhone?  These portable speakers cost $49.99.
http://www.dlo.com/products/view/portspeakers_universal

Or turn your iPod into a boombox.  Prices range from $14.00 to $100.
http://www.nextag.com/ipod-portable-speakers/stores-html

Good luck with your holiday shopping.  We hope these gift suggestions were helpful!  Happy Winter Solstice everyone and Merry Christmas!