Videoguys NAB 2012 Reflections

NAB is a professional show - again.

Over the past few years the NAB show started to feel more and more like CES. We were starting to become dominated by the Apple distortion field and the thousands of FCP fans that attended. While FCP had made enormous inroads into professional post, the NAB floor seemed to be teaming with FCP kiddies. This crowd was full of young, aspiring editors who went more for the fun and give-aways than to conduct business. Last year’s FCPX fiasco at the Supermeet put an end to that, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the SuperMeet and the Videoguys are a proud sponsor, I just think that the NAB show is better when it is attended by professionals and people who make a living using, selling, and creating

Avid NAB Announcment: Symphony Crossgrades $995!

At last year’s NAB show Avid launched a special Media Composer Crossgrade program for Final Cut Pro editors to come back to Avid for just $995. That program was a huge success! Now Avid is upping the ante and going all in by making the same offer to Avid Symphony 6! Yes, that’s right, FCP editors may now crossgrade to Avid Symphony 6 for less than $1,000! That’s more than $5,000 off the regular Avid Symphony price of $5,999

There’s great news for Avid Editors as well. Avid slashed the price of the Symphony 6 Upgrade for owners of Avid Media Composer, Avid Xpress Pro & Avid Xpress DV to just $995 (regularly $3,499).

When we first heard about this program we couldn’t believe it! What was Avid thinking? Well, we had the chance to talk at length with Avid sales and product guys and they told me what they want every video editor to come back to Avid and they are willing to give you the very best tools for the job!

Now many of you may be thinking that even at $995, Avid Symphony is beyond your reach. It isn’t! You have no reason to be afraid. The introduction of version 6 of Avid Media Composer and Symphony unified the 64 bit code base for both programs. So, you can think of Symphony as Media Composer on Steroids, or Media Composer as Symphony “Lite”. Either way, you end up with the same interface, tools, 3rd party hardware and plug-in compatibility! If you know Avid Media Composer, then you will also know how to edit in Symphony. If you plan on learning Media Composer, it’s the same interface and workflow as Symphony.

Videoguys’ Top 10 Products of 2011

2011 has been quite a year for Videoguys, and our industry. In April, at the FCPUG SuperMeet during the NAB show in Vegas, things changed dramatically when Apple gave a first look of their new FCPX editing software. I was at the event, and the room was filled with excitement, energy and anticipation - that is until after the Apple presentation. The professional editors and broadcasters in the room left feeling nervous and uneasy about Apple’s commitment to them, their workflows and the needs of professional post-production. When Apple actually released FCPX later that summer web blogs and forums were lit up with frustrated FCP editors, wondering why Apple would abandon them and leave them drifting in the wind.

FCPX isn’t just Apple’s attempt to revolutionize video editing, it also spurred a revolt amongst their loyal FCP editors. Before we get into the backlash, lets talk about what we like about FCPX.

Videoguys Year End Wrap-up

I was at the event, and the room was filled with excitement, energy and anticipation - that is until after the Apple presentation.  The professional editors and broadcasters in the room left feeling nervous and uneasy about Apple’s commitment to them, their workflows and the needs of professional post-production.  When Apple actually released FCPX this summer the internets were lit up with frustrated FCP editors, wondering why Apple would abandon them and leave them drifting in the wind. 

Avid and Adobe seized this opportunity to aggressively go after frustrated and disgruntled FCP editors with new crossgrade campaigns. This was the first time ever that editors have been given the chance to buy Avid Media Composer or the full Adobe Production Premium at such low prices. Before long, even Sony Vegas and Grass Valley Edius had crossgrade offers of their own.  As I start to right our Top 10 Products of 2011 article, it is clear that 2011 was the year of X - FCPX and “X” grades (Crossgrades).

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AVID MEDIA COMPOSER 6 OPEN I/O WITH SPECIALLY DISCOUNTED BUNDLES AT VIDEOGUYS.COM

GLEN COVE, New York – Videoguys.com, a leading Avid Authorized Reseller, has just launched their special bundle pages for Avid Media Composer 6 combined with some of the best hardware I/O devices in the industry. Upgrade bundles start at just $795 and Crossgrade bundles for Apple Final Cut Pro owners start at just $1,595.00.

Avid Open I/O allows third-party manufacturers to develop their own plug-in for their hardware to function with Avid Media Composer 6. Manufacturers like Matrox, AJA, Bluefish444 and Motu can now bring Avid video editing compatibility to their hardware I/O cards and devices. Avid worked closely with each of the manufacturers to certify their hardware for use with Media Composer 6.

Gary Bettan, “Videoguy” at Videoguys.com said “My wish, as well as the wish of video editors all over the world, has been granted. Avid Media Composer 6 is completely open. This is especially good news for video editors who have invested in hardware to support other editing software applications but can now Crossgrade to Avid Media Composer 6 and continue to use their AJA Kona, Decklink, Matrox MXO2 or other existing hardware.”

Videoguys October Update and Industry News

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Pro Video Coalition for your patronage and support. PVC is a thriving and growing community of industry experts, leaders and professionals. We would like to extend a special coupon offer to the PVC community:

*** Use Coupon Code PVC5OFF and Save 5% on your next order. Coupon Expires 12/31/2011***

• Add Class On Demand Training for just $1.00
• Thunderbolt is here! Matrox MXO2 with Thunderbolt now in stock
• 50% OFF Grass Valley EDIUS 6 Crossgrade Promotion
• Sony Vegas Pro 11 now shipping
• 20% off Adobe CS5.5 upgrades and last chance to save 50% off when you Make the Switch
• Videoguys.com still has Avid Media Composer 5.5 Crossgrades in stock for $995
• New Videoguys’ DIY NLE Workstation Our philosophy and thoughts on DIY9

Fast Forward Video sideKick HD Camera Mountable DVR FAQ

The camera-mountable sideKick HD captures video directly from HD/SDI or HDMI outputs at bit rates up to 220 Mbit/s, with 4:2:2 sampling and 10-bit resolution in multiple codecs starting with ProRes on removable 2.5” SSD drives. Recording directly to high-quality NLE formats eliminates time-consuming transcoding, which can degrade image quality. The sidekick HD also provides a 4.3” on-board confidence monitor which offers playback options including scrub and jog capabilities.

What is the size of your display? Will it work in bright sunlight?
FFV selected a high quality 4.3 TFT Display (480 X 272 Pixel Resolution) that works well in direct sunlight.

Can I preview my recorded clips?
The sideKick HD display is both a confidence monitor and allows users to playback their clips. It has simple VTR control buttons and it even includes the ability to scrub and jog the video.

Videoguys End of Summer Report

We want to let you know that Hurricane Irene came through and while she brought down a bunch of tress, everyone at Videoguys is doing fine and we didn’t have any damages to our main offices or warehouse. We are open for business as usual!

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