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It all started with three little cameras...
The buzz was back at NAB this year, as exhibitors welcomed bigger crowds and more excitement than theyve seen in years. Industry experts have been calling it the year of HD for about five years running, but this time they might actually be right. With affordable HD options on the market (complete with native editing support) and more expected in the next few months, it looks like video professionals are finally ready to pull the trigger on high definition.
Arguably the biggest draws at the show were new camcorders from JVC, Panasonic, and Sony, and all three were awarded a Government Video Salute. But there were plenty of other innovative products on the show floor. Heres a look at the best of the best, according to the editorial team of Government Video.
Avid Technology
iNEWS Instinct
Think of it as video editing for people who dont want to edit. For seasoned video editors, lines, thumbnails, and audio patterns on a grid mean something. For others, its confusing, intimidating, and best left untested. iNEWS Instinct adds video and audio editing to a familiar scriptwriting interface. Before they know it, people who never thought they could edit video are creating packages. Sneaky. And brilliant.
www.avid.com
Blackmagic Design
Multibridge Family
If your post-production work requires conversions between analog, digital, SD, and HD, youre going to want this. Compatible with Windows or Mac-based systems, the Multibridge produces simultaneous 14-bit A/D and D/A video and audio conversions. Plus, its high-speed PCI Express provides 10 Gbps connectivity that can easily support uncompressed HD or even RGB 4:4:4 capture and playback. Available as the Extreme (1 RU) or Studio (2 RU with expanded outputs).
www.blackmagic-design.com
Canare
Cable Checker
Help prevent hybrid fiber optic cable problems before they start or actually before you lay the cables. Connect one end of your cable to the main unit of the portable Cable Checker, connect the other end to the loop-back unit, press a button, and verify the optic and power of your HFO camera cable. A diagnostic must-have for mobile units.
www.canare.com
Frezzi Energy Systems
FS-LED
A very cool light. Really. Using LED technology, this on-camera light offers tungsten (3200K) and daylight (5600K) presets with a push of a button, and theres no color shift when dimming. Plus, leave the gels at the studioits full spectrum engine produces about 16 million colors. You can even save presets so you can recall your favorites. With an estimated LED life of 10,000 hours, this is going to be a valuable part of your EFP kit for a long time.
www.frezzi.com
Grace Distribution
Pin-Mic
Poorly dressed lavs are a pet peeve of mine. They drive me absolutely nuts. Thankfully, Grace Distribution brought Pin-Mic to NAB2005 to save my sanity. Its microphone that looks like a button. It hides in plain sight and suffers from virtually no clothing noise. Dont even bring up covert applications lets just focus on how great this will look on camera. You poke Pin-Mics backplate pins through your clothing, then cap it with the mic capsule. Plus, you can cover the capsule with a white or black cover so it blends in with your outfit. Clean look, clean sound, clean bill of mental health.
www.gradedistribution.com
Hamlet
VidScope
Test and measurement for nonlinear editors. This Windows-based software give you the real-time essentials waveform monitor, vectorscope, video monitor, and audio levels right on your desktop. Several versions available, from DV (using IEEE-1394) to HD (using SDI cards), at prices that wont blow your motherboard.
www.hamlet.co.uk
JVC
GY-HD100U ProHD Camcorder
JVC had the unmitigated gall to compare live images from a $6,300 camcorder to that of a far more expensive HDCAM during NAB. And the images, at least to the casual observer, were pretty close. The JVC booth was a mob scene, with most of the attention focused on the GY-HD100U (and with good reason). This 3-CCD HDV camcorder is the real deal, with native 720p images, true 24p performance, and a Fujinon 16x lens.
www.jvc.com/pro
Marshall Electronics
TFT-MegaPixel High Definition Monitors
These little monitors make very pretty pictures. I suppose I should elaborate, since they got an award and all. Marshalls TFT-MegaPixel HD monitors incorporate a proprietary technology and high pixel density (in sizes from 3.5 to 10.4 inches) to achieve resolution, brightness, and contrast ratios that are visually better than the competition. Or, as I said before, these little monitors make very pretty pictures.
www.lcdracks.com
NewTek
Tricaster
Its only fitting that the company that created the Video Toaster for simplifying live TV production would create a product to simplify live presentations, too. TriCaster starts by letting you seamlessly combine live video, graphics, Web pages, and PowerPoint with its internal scalers. Then, you can output your presentation to a projector and video recorder, plus stream it on the Internet, simultaneously. The user-friendly interface, built-in transitions, 150 GB internal storage, and optional tactile switcher just add to the appeal of this portable package.
www.newtek.com
Panasonic
AJ-PCS060 P2 Store Drive
Few people doubt the benefits of solid-state memory; after all, theres a reason why many of us have forsaken our film still cameras and gone digital. The big problem has been the investment in the media and Panasonics P2 cards in particular dont come cheap. The P2 Store Drive is a ruggedized 60 GB hard drive that allows videographers to transfer their footage, then keep using the same P2 cards for more shooting. It takes about four minutes to transfer the contents of a 4 GB P2 card, and the unit can be connected to an NLE as an external disk drive. Plus, its AC/DC, so youre not limited to batteries or wall sockets. Problem solved.
www.panasonic.com/broadcast
Panasonic
AG-HVX200 DVCPROHD P2 Camcorder
Low cost HD, not HDV. Panasonic is perfectly content with its DVCPROHD format, thank you very much, and has taken a bold step in the market by offering a DVCPROHD camcorder for less than $6,000. It records on two P2 cards, or, if you just need some DV footage, you can still record on tape. Oh my.
www.panasonic.com/broadcast
Quantum
SDLT 600A with DLTxchange
Let me explain this as simply as I can. Quantums technology allows you to archive your footage on a data tape, but you can access the footage as if it were on a videotape. This is a good thing because data tape holds a lot of information at a very low cost. MXF makes it work. Quantums SDLT 600A with DLTxchange has gigabit Ethernet, so it looks like an FTP server to PCs. Access your footage via time code or even search metadata. Thats about all I can say without breaking out the big words.
www.quantum.com/DLTxchange
Serious Magic
DV Rack with HDV PowerPak
Mistakes happen. When Serious Magic quietly introduced DV Rack at NAB2004, I missed it, though it has since received a very favorable review (see Government Video, March 2005). Luckily, they made a great product even better this year by introducing an HDV PowerPak, which means HDV users and my conscience will sleep nights. Basically, DV Rack is a video engineer in your laptop that goes on location and checks your DV footage, so you dont come back with unusable footage. And the new HDV PowerPak extends the same courtesy to users of this hot new format. An overdue award for a celebrated tool.
www.seriousmagic.com
Snell & Wilcox
Kahuna Production Switcher
Its always fun to watch peoples reactions when they tour a video facility and see a giant switcher. Now theres a switcher thatll make your engineers eyes bug out. Kahuna can mix SD and HD material without external converters. With its FormatFusion scaling engine on each bus, itll help you get through productions that require a variety of formats to work together and play nice.
www.snellwilcox.com
Sonic
eDVD 4
Not your ordinary upgrade. Sonic has raised the bar on DVD interactivity. Take your authored DVD material and seamlessly link chapters and menu buttons to on-disc PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, Macromedia Flash files, and a bunch of other applications (the Web, too). All this, plus an improved user interface and a lower price.
www.sonic.com
Sony
HVR-Z1U
Resident reviewer Chuck Gloman loved this camera (see Government Video, April 2005). Apparently so does everyone else, since you could see it in use in a number of NAB booths (as well as in the hands of lots of attendees). The HDV heir-apparent to the PD170, its got a familiar feel with plenty of new bells and whistles. Looks like Sony has created the first workhorse camcorder for the HDV era.
www.sony.com/government
Wohler
Daylite Series LCD Monitors
It might be time to retire that ripped up cardboard box monitor sunshade thats helped you through many an outdoor shoot. Wohlers new Daylite Series of LCD monitors (available in 6.5 and 10.4-inch sizes) have a more efficient backlight system and non-glare screens so they can provide outstanding images even on a bright, sunny day. Plus, Wohler was smart enough to make these monitors available in ruggedized, waterproof cases. Apparently theyve seen how you treat your cardboard box.
www.wohler.com
Zaxcom
TRX900/IFB900
Its two body packs in one. The TRX900 is a digital wireless microphone transceiver with built-in IFB that controlled by the IFB900 transmitter. Thats smart enough to win an award, but theres also an optional recording capability. The small, rugged body pack can record up to 90 minutes of audio (using flash memory) and played back via commands from the IFB900. Talk about audio insurance.
www.zaxcom.com
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