NAB Tuesday: Getting Plugged In

Noise is everywhere in Vegas. Slot machines are mostly just noise, and everywhere there is loud music - we heard U2 at the breakfast buffet, AC/DC in the hotel restroom, and even the popcorn street vendor on the corner aimed his radio at the crowds walking past while a live band played across the square from him. Every party and event had loud music to create “ambience”, even when the attendees secretly (and not so secretly) wished the music was literally ambient music. The end result is that your voice is shot by the end of the day, making it near impossible to hold a normal conversation (let alone give a presentation the next day).

This year, the only peace and quiet you could find in Vegas was on the show floor. Gone are the days when you could only reach the Adobe booth in the South Hall by jostling through the gauntlet of what was the Apple and Avid booths, both trying to drown out each other from different sides of the aisle. If you were a golfer, you could have practiced your putting on many of the aisles this year - although Tuesday did feel busier than Monday and vendors at the Plug-in Pavilion reported a busy morning. We were among those hanging out, and here’s what we saw:

NAB Monday: Best of Times; Worst of Times

NAB this year is certainly a cross between the best of times (catching up with friends and seeing cool new toys) and the worst of times (the horrendous economy casting a pall around the halls). We’ve been in Las Vegas since Friday night, and teaching a few sessions at the Post Production World conference in the North Hall. So it was nice to finish up our sessions Monday morning and hit the show floor. Word has it that attendance is down from 107,000 last year to just 80,000 this year. You can tell its down because you don’t need binoculars to see Peder Norbby demo Particular 2 at the Red Giant booth in the Plug-in Pavilion (more on that, and other plug-ins, tomorrow). But first, what we saw and heard on Monday:

Runaway Production

One of the reasons we were happy to live in Los Angeles for so long is because it was where “it” was Happening - there was a critical mass of talent and infrastructure that made it one of the best places to create a film or television show. We also got started just when desktop production was becoming viable, which drastically reduced costs in many cases.

These are different times now. The cost savings of desktop production has already been fully priced in. Throw in an economic crisis, and producers are looking for other ways to save money - including filming in states that provide deep financial incentives (such as our new home state New Mexico’s 25% rebate).

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