Behind the Orange Curtain

OK.  I know that this post is a little overdue, but things have been getting much busier for me.  On the whole, NAB 2009 was a bit of a sleeper.  The crowds were down by about 50,000 people.  There were vastly fewer exhibitors and even fewer big innovations.  Essentially, the show can be summed up in two letters – 3D.  Almost everyone who makes a camera or editing system was showing something 3D.

Now, I think that 3D is cool and the technology has advanced significantly, especially in the ability to display 3D content on LCD monitors and video projectors.  I saw some very impressive displays at Silicon Imaging’s booth and others.  That being said, I really struggle to see how 3D will take hold in the “video” world.  By “video” I mean any content displayed on televisions (HD or SD) and computers (Computers, iPod, iPhone, etc.).  I think that 3D is a great concept for the motion picture distribution industry.  They are an industry that is fighting to keep people coming to theaters to watch movies instead of watch them at home on their HD sets.  When you go into a dark theater to watch a movie, you are there to do nothing but that.  You don’t mind putting on a pair of polarized glasses in order to enjoy the film in 3D.  I have a hard time, however, picturing everyone wearing these glasses all the time.  I have visions of my family sitting at the dinner table with the TV on in the background all wearing our 3D glasses, I just can’t see that becoming a reality.  As more and more video is consumed on “non-traditional” devices (anything but a television), I think that 3D will be less and less viable for that market.

However, perhaps it will be compelling enough at some point for all of us to be willing to keep our 3D glasses at the ready to watch prime time episodic TV or movies at home.  I also think that the video game industry will embrace 3D in a big way, partly because it is easier for them to create (they don’t have to shoot it) and also because it will add to the realism of the CGI environment.  At the end of the day, I just think that the hype is bigger than the reality based on how much of the show was dedicated to 3D.  Meanwhile, I will try to figure out how to get my blog posts to show up in 3D.  Wouldn’t that be cool!

Things actually seemed a little busier yesterday at the show, although the crowds are estimated to be down by about 50,000 attendees.  Here is a quick wrap of yesterday’s cool findings.

1.  Panasonic announced significantly cheaper P2 cards.  They are based on a new technology that is cheaper to manufacture, but shortens the life of the card (5 years instead of 30).  This is a great thing.  We all know that in five years there will be something completely different anyway – like P3!

2.  This crazy rig at the Tiffen/Steadicam booth.  Half of me says “What the . . “, the other half is intrigued by the possibilities.

3.  Without a doubt, Autodesk wins the best booth of the show.  The entire booth is made out of cardboard mailing tubes!  Now that’s being creative.

4.  The NEW AVID.  Yes, AVID is back at the show this year with a much smaller booth, but one that was 100% bigger than Apple’s.  This year they have new leadership, a new logo and a singular brand.  They have dumped all of the brand names that they have purchased over the years (i.e. Digidesign, M-Audio, etc.) and are selling those products under the AVID brand.  I know some of you audio folks will want to stop and pause to grieve.

That’s it for now.  I will try to have a complete wrap up by the end of the week.

Well this morning as I approached the Las Vegas Convention Center it felt more like going to the show on Thursday (the last day of the show when there is hardly anyone left in town).  I have been coming to this show for a long time and this is the lightest I have ever seen attendance.  I didn’t make it out of the South Hall today and spent most of my time in the lower hall.  Here are some brief highlights of what I thought was cool from Day One:

1.  AJA Ki Pro – This is definitely the show front runner so far.  A small self contained file based that will record in HD ProResHQ for up to 2.5 hours onto a hard drive that you can remove and plug into your computer.  It takes HD-SDI, SD-SDI, analog audio and time code.  It will also up convert your SD to HD on input.

Here is a link with more info:  http://www.aja.com/products/acquire/

2.  My good friends at Silicon Imaging are showing some great 3D capture technologies and workflows.  Very cool stuff!

3.  AVID actually had A.R. Rahman play at their party tonight at the Hard Rock!  (The guy who won two Oscars for his music in Slumdog Millionaire) He only played one song, but that alone was worth the trip over there.  Way to go AVID!  Now if they could only increase the file limit on my Unity.  :-)

Well that’s it for now.  I know it’s not much, but there wasn’t that much excitement today.  We will hope for more tomorrow.

I know that I promised a post about color space this time, but wanted to share this very good (if not super geeky and techie) article by John Gait of Panavision about the claims and pixel ratings of current “high-resolution” cameras shared with me by Post Factory’s Executive Producer Jeremy Kientz.  It is pretty long and very techie, but his conclusions and points are excellent and it is worth the read if you are a DP or work in the business.  Thanks Jeremy!

http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/the-truth-about-2k-4k-the-future-of-pixels

NAB is next week and I will be providing daily posts of my reactions to what I find.  I am still wondering if anyone is going this year.  Comment to this post and let me know if you are.  I hear AVID is back but still no Apple.