In this issue, contributor Helmut Kobler reviews MXF4mac’s metadata editor, P2 Flow, a tool that let’s you, among other things, add metadata to footage after it’s been shot and make quick batch changes to multiple clips. There’s even more good news for P2 shooters and editors: Panasonic has just announced a truly affordable single-slot P2 drive for $350 that comes with two USB cables, plus a portable P2 storage device ($2,500), eliminating the need for heavy decks or computers in the field (see Gear Up). Panasonic has also announced the price of its upcoming integrated 3D camera, aimed at the wider broadcast market: $21,000. Interested? According to the company, many are, especially those in the wider scientific, engineering, medical and news markets. Panasonic is taking orders and $1,000 deposits, starting today, through its Web site.

Speaking of 3D, we caught up with Jean-Jacques Mantello, the director of the upcoming OceanWorld 3D, which showed at Cannes and is now in wide release around the world. It will premiere in the U.S. this fall. Jean-Jacques and his production partner and brother, Francois, began their careers as dealers of Sony broadcast equipment in France, and are therefore partial to Sony cameras, decks and now, editing software for their 3D underwater shoots. Though he swears he has no stock in Sony, Jean-Jacques Mantello says he only recently became a convert to Sony Vegas because of its 64-bit architecture. “I’m a Mac guy, so I wasn’t eager to go to a Windows interface,” he says. “But when you work in 4K and in 3D, you grow accustomed to your editing and compositing programs crashing all the time. I’ve been, how do you say, blown away by Vegas. It hasn’t crashed on us yet.” Read more here.

We also spent some time learning how Mark Gantt and Jesse Warren, the creators of Crackle.com’s latest Web series, The Bannen Way, managed to put themselves on the map. While not exactly new in Hollywood, they nonetheless forged a new path for their lower-budget project that began online and will continue, thanks to their clever pitch, on television. Read how they did it here.

If you’ve been wondering how to make your own game-changing project on a budget, join us on February 25 for our next StudioDaily Webinar, HDSLR Filmmaking: Techniques and Workarounds from Early Adopters. DP Charles Papert, who has been working closely with DSLR trailblazer Vincent Laforet on a number of recent projects, will detail his favorite lenses, plug-ins and rigs that he’s used with the affordable 5DMKII, 1DMKIV and 7D cameras.