Saturday, April 19, 2008

Snapshots - NAB 2008 Day 4

Adam Wilt | 04/19- 07:51 PM

Stuff I saw on the final day of NAB 2008

Softron’s OnTheAir Video: playlist automation for OS X

Softron Media Systems demoed their suite of fully Mac-native broadcast automation apps, with OS X compliant user interfaces. Their capture and playout apps use AJA or BlackMagic cards, standard codecs, and are AppleScriptable. Never heard of Softron? They’ve been in TV Stations in Europe and Asia for several years; in Russia this past year; they’re just now coming into North America. If you’re interested in Mac-flavored broadcasting, dowload demo software or the user manuals and see for yourself.

Of course, there are other Macintosh broadcast apps—BUG.tv is also Mac-centric, and Building4Media‘s front ends are cross-platform—but I thought Softron deserved a look since they’re new to our market.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

NAB 2008 Super Session: A Million Dollar Look on a Thousand Dollar Budget

Mark Christiansen | 04/19- 07:46 AM

At the show ruled by suits and dilberts, the rebels get their turn

With big exhibitions like The NAB Show falling out of favor, and some disappearing altogether in the 21st century, NAB struck back this year by offering more educational fare than in years past, featuring keynotes and panels of experts from the industry, as well as day-long classes. On Wednesday was “A Million Dollar Look on a Thousand Dollar Budget,” a keynote and panel on getting cinematic production values out of equipment you may already have sitting around your studio.

The session was kicked off with the Legend of Zelda fan trailer “linked” here (nerdy pun for gamers paying attention) which appeared on April Fool’s Day, followed by a keynote by Stu Maschwitz of The Orphanage (and author of a fantastic blog) and then a panel featuring Dave Basulto of Clarity Pictures, Alex Lindsay from Pixel Corps, D.P. Taylor Wigton (447 Productions) and moderated by Brian Valente from Redrock Micro.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Two New Location Audio Recorders

Jim Feeley | 04/17- 05:03 PM

Sound Devices and Zaxcom show eight-channel recorders

I didn’t make it to NAB this year, but since it looks like my PVC colleagues didn’t make it to the convention’s North Hall to see and hear the latest audio equipment, I thought I’d chime in with a two portable recorders designed for video and film production sound. These caught my eye and ear from afar. And check out Zaxcom’s cameo on the Late Show with David Letterman…

Sound Devices 788T digital audio recorder

The Sound Devices 788T digital audio recorder has eight microphone inputs and records up to eight channels of uncompressed audio. An internal 160GB 2.5-inch SATA drive holds up to 30 hours of uncompressed 24-bit Broadcast WAVE files. The 788T can also record to Compact Flash and to external FireWire devices, and draws power from 7.2V Sony L-type (ie-small camcorder) batteries or from external DC. It includes a timecode generator, weighs under four pounds, and costs $5,995. More info here.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

About Our NAB Coverage

Scott Gentry | 04/16- 10:59 PM

Nearly every writer for PVC was at NAB this year.  That means that we had great coverage of the event, but the good stuff is coming still.

In the magazine days, you could expect to see full coverage of NAB in the month or two following the event...once the magazine would print and be mailed.  Internet time has reduced that to up-to-the minute postings where possible.  For us at NAB, expect the really good stuff to come after we’ve had a chance to digest and come up for air.  Most of us are collecting thoughts, images, and data to post thoughtful pieces over the next few days and weeks.  Stay tuned.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Snapshots - NAB 2008 Day 3

Adam Wilt | 04/16- 11:46 PM

More pix from the show floor

Panasonic AG-HPX170

The Panasonic HPX170 is a P2-only update to the HVX200 (The HVX has been updated to the 200A and remains in the lineup). The HMC150, which records to AVCHD and lacks many of the 170’s advanced features, looks much the same.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

NAB 2008: Plugged In

Chris and Trish Meyer | 04/16- 10:40 PM

We came away with three themes buzzing in our head: plug-ins, training, and Nuke.

As expected, NAB 2008 did not reveal any major new software releases for motion graphic designers, but it did showcase a number of interesting new plug-ins. We’d like to give you a quick round-up of our favorites here; we’re arranging to give many of these more in-depth reviews up here on PVC over the next several months. We also were very interested in with what The Foundry has done with the high-end compositing application Nuke (which they acquired from Digital Domain), and came away with the impression that in this slow economy, training has become more important again.

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