NAB Wrap up!

so heres my Post NAB wrap up:

APPLE: They werent technically on the floor but they had a huge presence in virtually everyones booth. Just about every company showing cameras, tapeless workflows, storage, data management, I/O hardware, FX plugs and encoding were showing Final Cut and sometimes Final Cut Server as well. Apple also conducted several behind scenes seminars and meetings on XSAN 2.0, the Promise VRAID's and Final Cut Server. Final Cut is unquestionably the NLE in command of the greater market.

AVID: Avid also somehow managed to turn around their negative buzz by announcing all new hardware I/O solutions on the first day of the show. The MOJO DX, The Composer Nitris DX and the Symphony Nitris DX (all bundled with Software for $10K, 15K, and $36K respectively, the Symphony Nitrix DX includes the 8-core Workstation)
I think the MOJO DX is in the right price camp for alot of Avid users... yes, its still more expensive than buying a FCP/KONA LHE... but so was the Avid Xpress Pro/MOJO bundle which had RCA connections and only output SD (!). Avid users are willing to pay a bit of a premium, but not too much. SD/HDI and HDMI are all good things, plus Avid annnounced support for 64-bit Vista in June. The new Avid boxes were present in Panasonic's booth as well as a few other hardware booths... There was some good floor buzz going with people asking where they could see the new Avid stuff.

ADOBE: No realy new product announcements, but they did show Premiere Pro 3.2 with native XDCAM workflow (no transcoding). Also, they were the only major NLE platform with an actual booth on the floor. Adobe also got a bump from AJA as they announced drivers that will work with KONA cards on the Mac. (in addition to the XENA cards for PC)

PANASONIC: Showed new 2/3" P2 Varicams; one in the old 1280 pixel count and a new one with 1920 native res. Neither have been officially priced or are ready to ship. The other fairly big announcement is the HVX170, which has the same lens as the HVX200A, but in a slightly smaller form factor, also HD-SDI out, the 5-year P2 Warranty and no DV tape mechanism. Word on the street is that it will be out in September.


JVC: Showed new HD-SDI switchers (apparantly there wasnt already enough to choose from), and a new attachable back for the HD200 cameras that will allow HDV recording to generic SD cards! Also, no flimsy firewire connection.



SONY: Had alot of traffic around the new EX3 camera, which is like the EX1 but with interchangeable lenses and studio connections like Genlock, TC and a control protocol. They may be trying to enter JVC's HD250 market on low cost HD studios.

The general trends at the show were data management and workflow enhancements; meta-data cataloging, full tapeless workflows and archiving. Only Sony was promoting Tape decks at all. (Im not sure if I saw a DVCPRO HD deck anywhere) Several companies besides Apple showed workflow automation programs like Final Cut Server; some of which include: CatDV; SNS PostMap; and both Editshare and Gridiron have new products called FLOW.

Another thing I wanted to quickly mention was the Matrox MXO2, which offers a full slew of In and out connections for FCP. It will come with a express card adapter and a PCIE workstation card for dual use. Plus it has a 4-pin XLR connection for easy connection to field power like Anton Bauer or IDX. This is something that IOHD users have been requesting for awhile. The MXO2 (which looks mysteriously like the MOJO DX.... hmmm) is gonna come in an attractive $1595. This could be the product that brings Matrox back into the mainstream.