Ahh, Vegas in April. How I love thee. There really is no city better suited for a trade show. No matter what time you are done working, there is always something to do. And rarely do you have to wait for a cab. But all is not rosy. One of the town’s negatives is that its once lovable, “happy-to-chat-about our-ever-expanding city” cabbies seem to have taken a cue from New York City taxi drivers in that their level of hatred has increased 10-fold since last year. I actually feared for my safety during one late-night cab ride where my driver’s last, and apparently unhappy, fare was tailing us down the Las Vegas strip. Along with some cursing back and forth, my cab driver cleverly informed our tormentor that “1979 called and it wanted its clothes back.” I love this town.
Oh, back to the reason I was even in this precarious position: NAB ’06. If I had to pick a theme it would be “create once and deliver many different ways — including to mobile devices” Adobe’s Production Studio is geared for this kind of work, and Thomson’s Grass Valley, which introduced its Infinity series of IT-based cameras, recorders and removable discs, was talking up the ability “to create once and publish everywhere.” But that doesn’t mean that high definition or digital intermediate workflows took a backseat. There was something for everyone at this show.
Avid introduced its nonlinear workflow engine/asset management tool called Interplay, as well as a software-only version of its Media Composer. Quantel is pushing DI for television and spots, not just films. They also introduced eQ FX, which offers 160 minutes of HD workspace and, says the company, will help some pros with the transition into the HD business.
JVC was showing two new, affordable ProHD cameras: the GY-HD250U and the GY200U. They also had Digital Film Tree’s Rami Katrib in the booth demonstrating native NLE support for JVC’s HDV 24p format using Apple’s Final Cut Pro.
Automatic Duck, which makes the lives of many pros easier, was showing Pro Input FCP 2.0, which allows editors to bring OMF files from Digidesign Pro Tools directly into Final Cut Pro. It also offers 24-frame support from Avid to FCP.
GenArts introduced its Sapphire plug-ins Version 2 for Avid, offering 46 new effects, including Feedback, TimeWarpRGB and DissolveGlow.
There is so much more, but don’t take my word for it, check out our News and Products sections in this issue, and visit our Web site to read up on Post’s daily coverage from the NAB show.