By Mark Heitke
NAB 2012 has come to a close and man what a blur.
The last day and a half have been filled to the brim! Wednesday I tackled the North Hall exhibits and caught up on the newest broadcast tech. It was really interesting to be able to see the brains behind the major networks. It is always a bit fun to peek behind the curtain and understand a bit more how the content I produce ends up at its final destination.
I also revisited some of South Hall to spend some more time with a couple things that caught my eye. It was nice to be able to sit down and really explore some options that might help out in future projects. The first place I stopped by was SquareBox. They make the Media Asset Management software CatDV. I have used their software before and really enjoyed how it integrated with my workflow. I was excited to see they have some updates that should help boost performance coming out this summer.
After SquareBox I swung over to the Sonnet booth to check out their new Mac Mini blade serve device. This thing is great, although a bit pricey considering. They have integrated a mini into a 1RU case that has 2 PCIe card slots and connects Thunderbolt. While the device felt very much like a prototype, the idea was great and I hope to see it show up more. A mini in this setup would make a great xserve replacement and would have a ton of power.
I finished my day at the show looking at Smoke and Premiere again. I, like everyone else is looking for a new NLE to possibly replace Final Cut Pro 7. My mind as of now is leaning towards Smoke. It is a powerful tool that really combines a lot of things I would like to see in one box. Premiere CS6 has some potential but it is not quite there yet.
NAB has flown by in a flash and I can't wait to come back next year. I am off for some dinner at Mesa to celebrate!
Thanks POST for the chance to blog this years show and thanks for reading!