Arri has recently started the second Open Beta phase for Software Update Packet 10.0, and they've announced some exciting features for this release.

ARRI is now offering three ALEXA cameras with a 4:3 Super-35 sensor designed for anamorphic: ALEXA Plus 4:3, ALEXA Studio and ALEXA M. The ALEXA Plus 4:3 offers many of the same features as the ALEXA Studio, including the anamorphic desqueeze license, high-speed license and DNxHD license. However, it still has an electronic viewfinder, as opposed to the spinning mirror optical viewfinder system found in the ALEXA Studio.

When Arri released the SUP 4.0 firmware for the ALEXA, they also added the ability to create color 'Looks' to load into the camera. These Look files are similar to scene files found in other cameras, but they aren't burned into the Log C recording of the camera. Instead, they can be used in post by converting them to LUTs using Arri's LUT Generator. These looks then travel as metadata with the clips recorded (through the XML file). Look files can be created by saving a still from the camera and loading it into the Arri Look Creator, which can then modify the still and output a look.

It's been another exciting year in our industry, with lots of evolutionary and revolutionary changes. Many of the trends we've seen coming for the past several years came to fruition in 2011, leaving some to wonder what comes next. Let's take a look back and see if it can help inform us a bit on what's to come in 2012.

ARRI Digital has created a series of online resources for the ALEXA camera. These tools are designed for operators to get the most out of the camera. ARRI will be creating more of these tools in the future, and we will continue to bring them to you here.