Aaton is a motion picture equipment manufacturer, based in Grenoble, France. Aaton was founded by Eclair engineer Jean-Pierre Beauviala, whose efforts have been primarily focused on making quiet, portable motion picture hardware suitable for impromptu field use, as for documentaries. A theoretical model for all motion picture cameras they have produced is the "cat-on-the-shoulder," a small, light, quiet motion picture camera.
After several initial prototypes, the Aaton LTR 16 mm camera became available on the market in the late 1970s. It has been succeeded by several improved models, including the LTR, LTR 54, XTR, X0, XTRplus, and XTRProd. The currently available product line offers the Xterà (successor to the XTRProd), a specialized small 16 mm camera (A-Minima) and a 35 mm model (35-III). As of early 2007, the company is currently testing and exhibiting a new 35 mm camera called Penelope, the successor to the 35-III, which is specially designed for 3-perf and 2-perf shooting.
Aaton also pioneered the linking of timecode to motion pictures in the acquisition stage. Aatoncode was one of the earliest schemes for encoding a timecode signal in the frame margins of 16 mm film, allowing rigorous synchronization of audio and film in post-production.
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