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| A Video Systems Publication | |
| A Primedia Property | |
| May 4, 2005 | |
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Table of Contents An Editor's View NAB Wrap-up Write Me on Your NAB Picks Making The Cut Award winners Source Window More Magic From Serious Magic Digital Film Tools Releases 55mm 5.0 Dates to Remember Upcoming Dates TrendWatch Fast Facts Studios' Firewall Investments Growing HD Stock Video Market Growing An Editor's View So, the word from those returning from NAB is that the crowds were up (104,427 registered attendees--up from 97,544 last year and 88,020 at NAB 2003). The show was said to be a bit disappointing except for a few exciting products. Encoders were big--especially those encoding to the VC1 (WM9/10) compression codec. There were advances in storage technology and several new plug-ins were introduced. DI solutions were big, but many of the products were in private suites at the Hilton. As always, Avid and Apple drew large crowds to their booths. As I usually do after the show, I've considered the large group of new products and chosen from the best of the best for my Making The Cut Awards. Below are a few of my picks for the awards. Stay tuned to the The Cut blog for more winners. Back to top Write Me on Your NAB Picks I always let you know what I find most exciting about NAB. This year I am asking you, my readers. Health concerns forced me to skip NAB this year -- for the first time in twenty-something years! So now I will ask readers a big favor: "What did I miss that you were excited about?" Please let me know. Write me. I was involved with several pre-NAB briefings, and I have reported on all that appears new and exciting. Moreover, I had good friends and colleagues reporting to me from the show floor. Nevertheless, it was not the same as being there, and I would really appreciate knowing what you found "hot." Thanks in advance... Back to top Panasonic AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 The biggest NAB product introduction is clearly the Panasonic AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 hand-held camcorder. The year began with both Apple CEO Steve Jobs and former Sony President Kunitake Ando declaring 2005 as "The Year of HDV," but HDV was not the big buzz word that it was expected to be (in spite of a few excellent camcorder introductions, such as the Sony HVR-Z1 and JVC's GY-HD100) thanks to this new DVCPRO HD camcorder. Assimilate Scratch There were several excellent DI postproduction products at NAB. I am awarding Assimilate Scratch a Making The Cut Award for its unique combination of cost/effective, yet feature-rich capabilities. Assimilate Scratch offers a realtime, data-centric workflow solution for visually complex, full-resolution film postproduction on a Windows-based platform (from BOXX Technologies and other platform manufacturers). Scratch ($35,000 for software, turnkey systems start at approximately $50,000) supports a wide variety of projects, ranging from standard definition and high definition to film at 2k, 4k, and beyond. Autodesk Discreet Smoke HD 6.7 and Toxik I have been having difficulty choosing the recipient of the next award. Do I chose a very high-end postproduction solution that is an excellent new solution, but only for the highest end studios? Or do a choose a new, much lower cost product that I personally crave? Discreet Toxic or Smoke HD on Linux? The answer is that both deserve an award. For more on these and other Making The Cut Award winners, check out The Cut blog. Back to top Source Window More Magic From Serious Magic Serious Magic announced the introduction of Ultra 2, the latest version of its professional chromakey software with 3D Virtual Set technology. This new product is similar to the DV-based Ultra. Ultra 2 features VirtualTrak technology, offers an improved cropping capability, better color correction, and 32-bit rendering quality. The product supports 16:9 and anamorphic widescreen sources, and HD and HDV cameras, including 1080i, 1080p, and 720p with a variety of standard frame rates, including 24fps. For graphics cards that support larger resolutions, Ultra 2 offers support for high-resolution stills up to 4096x4096. To read about more features of the new Ultra 2, check out The Cut blog. Back to top Digital Film Tools Releases 55mm 5.0 One of the most underrated plug-in collections available is Digital Film Tools' 55mm. The company has announced the release of 55mm version 5.0 with 15 new filters. 55mm is a comprehensive set of digital optical filters for Adobe After Effects and After Effects compatible programs, Apple's Final Cut Pro and Motion, Avid Editing Systems, Adobe Photoshop, and Discreet Flint, Flame, and Inferno systems. The announcement, emailed to me from Marco Paolini, president of Digital Film Tools, stated, "55mm is a comprehensive set of digital optical filters meant to simulate popular glass camera filters, specialized lenses, optical lab processes, lighting gels, film grain, exacting color correction as well as natural light and photographic effects--all in a controlled digital environment with either 8 or 16 bits per channel processing." For more on 55mm 5.0, check out The Cut blog. Back to top Dates to Remember Upcoming Dates (Note: New list additions appear in red type.) ALPHA DOGS Editors' Lounge in Burbank At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 18th, Editors' Lounge will present Avid Workflows - Film and HD with special guest Michael Phillips, Avid's in-house expert on assorted workflows, including those for film and HD. He will explain everything you need to know about working with varying formats and frame rates. You can check out some of his work at his website. Also attending will be Michael Rockwell, Avid's CTO, to discuss present and future plans for the Avid line-up and hear your suggestions. Come and join the discussion. ALPHA DOGS Editor's Lounge is a monthly gathering of editors to share knowledge and build community. Alpha Dogs Editor's Lounge is located at 1612 W. Olive Avenue, Suite 200, Burbank, CA 91506. The price of admission is the beverage of your choice. Food will be provided by Alpha Dogs. To request additional information, call (818-729-9262 x100) or email. Taste of NAB Road Show Among the best of the "road shows", The Taste of NAB Road Show has begun its trek across the U.S. Check the itinerary to see when the road show will be in your city. Streaming Media East Streaming Media East will take place May 17-18 in the NY Hilton. The Advance Program .PDF file is now available. Online registration is available. InfoComm 2005 InfoComm05 offers the latest information communication technologies. The conferences begins on June 4 (The exposition begins on June 8) and both last through the June 10 in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Digital Media Summit 2005 Digital Media Summit 2005 takes place June 7-8 at Universal City in Los Angeles. The website says the purpose of the conference is to "learn about business opportunities using digital technologies that create, deliver, and distribute content." Broadcast Asia 2005 From June 13-17, Singapore will host Broadcast Asia 2005 at the Singapore Expo Center. International market leaders expected at the exhibition include Avid Technology, Discreet, DMT -- Digital Multimedia Technologies, Harris Corporation, Kodak Entertainment Imaging, Leitch Asia, Quantel, and Tandberg Television. Mac Design Conference & Digital Photography Expo The third annual Mac Design Conference & Digital Photography Expo takes place June 21-23 at the Tampa Convention Center. Conference attendees will save $100 off admission when registering before the advance registration deadline of Friday, May 20. Select from more than 58 classes taught by 20 of the most talented and respected video editors, designers, photographers, and motion graphics professionals in the industry. Cinema Expo 2005 The Cinema Expo 2005 Conference will take place from June 27-30 at the RAI in Amsterdam. The website says that this is Europe's largest gathering of the Motion Picture Theatre Industry. The conference will offer educational symposiums, screenings, sponsored events and a trade show featuring over 100 companies displaying cutting edge theatre equipment, services and products vital to the industry. Entertainment Technology Alliance Conference The Entertainment Technology Alliance Conference will take place from June 28-30 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. If last year's schedule was any indication, this will be an insightful event. SMPTE International Conference The SMPTE International Conference will take place July 1 in Cinema Trevi, Rome, Italy. Digital Video Expo Digital Video Expo has set the dates for East Coast and West Coast shows. Digital Video Expo East will take place on July 19-21 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Digital Video Expo West will take place Dec. 7-9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Australia SMPTE 2005 Conference and Exhibition July 19-22, the SMPTE will produce the Australian SMPTE 2005 Conference and Exhibition at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour. IBC 2005 The IBC Conference and Exhibition will take place Sept. 9-13 at the Amsterdam RAI. ShowEast ShowEast will be held Oct. 24-27 in the Orlando World Center Marriott. ShowEast, the "sister event" of ShoWest, and is one of the premier events for the Motion Picture Theatre Industry. ShowEast is packed with educational seminars, screenings, and sponsored events. SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition The SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition will take place Nov. 9-12 at the New York Hilton, New York City. Back to top TrendWatch Fast Facts Studios' Firewall Investments Growing More Studios Plan to Invest in Firewalls 16% of studios/facilities plan to invest in firewall hardware and software by mid-2005. This is up from 13% a year ago.
HD Stock Video Market Growing Independent Filmmakers Buying HD Stock Video 18% of U.S. independent filmmakers plan to buy HD stock video in 2005.
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