iPad video journalism comes of age at NAB 2012

Ever since I saw the 3rd-generation iPad (2012), I began to have visions of its use for video journalism. Many of ProVideo Coalition magazine readers sent me private enthusiastic comments about my pre-NAB iPad articles like Avid now lets you edit video on your iPad for US$4.99. Should you?, Why an iPad is like a 4×5 view camera, and why you’ll need a black “focusing cloth” and later part 1 of my review called 1st handheld dynamic microphones with hybrid XLR/USB/iPad connectivity from Audio Technica. While I was translating/localizing brochures for Avid Latin America just before NAB 2012, I became aware that they were going to launch iNews Command for iPad. On the NAB 2012 floor, I saw several iPad video journalists. Ahead you’ll find several photos, a few videos, and comments about various iPad video accessories.

NAB 2012: Promise Technology’s portable Thunderbolt J4 and J2

Promise Technology has become a major player in the relatively new Thunderbolt storage market and their Pegasus RAIDs were all over the NAB show floor. If you’ve never seen a Pegasus RAID, they’re big, fast, multi-drive units, just like a professional desktop RAID should be. Promise Technology also introduced two new small drive enclosures that will them continue to be leaders in all things Thunderbolt.

NAB 2012: Trucolor Ohm Space Light

Next time you need to flood a room with soft light - in whatever color temperature - you should give the Ohm a look.

NAB 2012: EZ-Jib

I’ve always been intrigued by jib arms, and usually put off by their high prices.  EZ-FX might have a solution to that problem.

NAB 2012 applause! Blackmagic’s cinema camera uses HFS+ formatting rather than weak FAT32

As some of my colleagues at ProVideo Coalition magazine have already reported, at NAB 2012, Blackmagic announced its first digital motion picture camera, officially known as the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. For US$2999, Blackmagic gives you the camera, a license of DaVinci Resolve (US$995 value) and a license of UltraScope (US$695 value). Supply your own Canon EF or Zeiss ZE lens and recording media. I applaud Blackmagic for making one of the two best possible decisions regarding the formatting used on the removable SSDs (solid state drives), and for using standard códecs/file formats. Unlike what many traditional photo and video camera manufacturers have chosen to implement (the weak FAT32), Blackmagic chose to use HFS+ (aka HFS Plus or Mac OS Extended). In this first look, I’ll review the differences and advantages of either HFS+ or UDF over FAT32, and point out some other details, i.e. the audio connections and file formats.

At NAB 2012: Jordan, Okada & Tépper join Laporte and Lindsay on MacBreak Weekly

At NAB 2012, I was honored to be invited by Leo Laporte to participate together with Larry Jordan, Daryn Okada and Alex Lindsay on MacBreak Weekly. This episode 295 was streamed live from the Las Vegas Convention Center on Tuesday, April 17 2012 and is now available for immediate streaming or download. We discuss many of the new developments at NAB 2012, in general and with respect to the Mac. Alex Lindsay even comments about the potency of the coffee he allegedly consumed during his yet unconfirmed trip to the 24th century during the creation of a yet unannounced feature, as covered in a recent article here in ProVideo Coalition magazine. This episode of MacBreak Weekly has a duration of 1:41, calculated especially for fans of palindromes.

NAB 2012: Profoto Reflector Umbrellas

When I walked past these the first time, I thought they might be antennas left on the Moon to shoot signals back to earth.  But a little research proved to me that these are great lighting devices.  NOTE: a big “Thanks!” to my colleague Erik Higgs for letting me edit on his laptop while I was in Vegas.

NAB 2012:  Eizo 4K Monitor

At NAB 2012, when you see a crowd of people clotted around a small booth, it’s a sign you should pay attention.  The Eizo full 4K monitor I found there was easily one of the most beautiful I saw all week, with a price tag to match.  Also:  A belated “Thanks!” to my colleague Erik Higgs for letting me edit on his laptop while in Vegas.

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