I recently had the opportunity to go to NAB in Las Vegas with my friend John… and here are some of the highlights.
NAB was amazing, and it was my first time ever at this huge convention. It was so big, and so vast it was hard to take it all in… at least in one day. If I had to summarize the trends (as I observed them at least) it would be 2 major things.
1) We are entering the age of 3D – There were countless booths, cameras and 3D TV’s and displays all dedicated to the emerging world of 3D. There was even a JVC box that converted 2D video into 3D… and did it pretty decently considering the task at hand. If you think 3D is just another trend that “might” happen… think again. It’s coming. And not just to the movie industry… but also to consumers.
2) The age of DSLR shooting is here. While I as extremely dissapointed in Nikon for not being at NAB (at least I couldn’t find them), Canon had a huge booth there, and there were countless companies such as Zacuto, Cinevate and Verizoom (and others) that had lots of people showing how to set up DSLR camera rigs.
A few other things I noticed…
1) Apple was not there at all… If you are an Apple user or Final Cut video editor, it appears (at least this year) that Apple is focused on consumer products like the iPhone and iPad and not Final cut. Avid however was huge this year. They seemed to be exploding with new features, announcements and demos and had one of the most impressive booths at NAB. Unlike 2 or 3 years ago, Avid has really started to step up their game and listen to their users. Media Composer 5 is going to be just awesome come June when its released!
2) The overwelming majority of demo cameras I saw around NAB were Panasonic. By this I mean that companies selling peripherals of anykind were mostly shooting with Panasonic HVX200’s or HMC150’s to demo their gear. There were a few Sony and Canon cameras here and there, but 75% of what I saw were Panasonic.
Overall it was an amazing experience. Its the only time you get to not only see what new products are coming, but also talk with the creators and technicians of these products for tips and techniques. I personally spent a lot of time talking with people at Glidecam, Vinton, Verizoom, Cinevate, Zacuto and Avid to get the latest tips and also ask for help on some issues I’d been having with me gear. That time alone was worth hundreds of saved dollars in potential repairs or phone calls I would have had to make to get help or support.
Of course before the big show John and I had some fun exploring the city and being videographers … we had to make a video about our adventures. Here are some of our pre-NAB highlights to close out this blog post. 🙂
