NAB 2010 - LAS VEGAS

I paid $4.21 for a tube of ChapStick at my hotel gift shop… and don’t tell the girl at the register, but I would have paid more. I have come to realize that at NAB, lip balm, breath mints and water are like cigarettes in prison — invaluable, hence my NAB 2011 plan: Randi’s “Things You Should Have Remembered” booth that will sell the aforementioned items, plus moisturizer and antibacterial lotion. I’ll make millions! Millions I say!
Until I make it rich on bloody, chapped lips and a fairly rational fear of germs, I am keeping my day job: reporting on the latest and greatest tools and technology, and people and projects in the media and entertainment industry.
Post was at the NAB show this year — which boasted 88,044 attendees, up from last year’s 82,650 — streaming live reports from our booth daily. With the help of host and filmmaker extraordinaire David Basulto, Post and its editors interviewed the likes of Ted Schilowitz from Red, who gave us a preview of the new Epic camera (it can shoot up to 5K!), as well as Arri’s Glenn Kennel, who brought the company’s new Alexa with him. Quantel’s Steve Owen stopped by to discuss the company’s 3D stereo and workflow offerings, and early stereo 3D adopter Steve Scklair of 3ality discussed their latest projects. Avid’s Angus MacKay talked up Media Composer 5 and how the updated toolset allows you to import AVCHD files directly from cameras and other devices and monitor video externally with support for the Matrox MXO2 Mini.
These videos and many others can be viewed at www.postmagazine.com. Additionally, you’ll find videos and blogs from Post’s editors and contributors such as Barry Goch, David Cox, Heath Firestone and Tom Coughlin (not the head coach of the New York Giants, but the storage expert).
For our second annual Post Picks from NAB awards, we had a cadre of post pros walking the show floor and reporting back on what they considered this year’s top products. Our top five picks include Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve software for under $1K, Red’s Epic, Arri’s Alexa, Avid’s Media Composer 5 and Adobe’s Creative Suite 5. See details of these products, plus our Honorable Mentions on page 4.
NAB 2010 was a good show. It was so good that some European attendees stayed in Vegas for weeks after. Or maybe that was because of the unpronounceable volcano. I can’t be sure.