NEWS
All Roads Lead to Vegas
NAB is the Destination for Electronic Media
by Pam Malouf, ACE
photos by Tomm Carroll
 NAB 2006 featured everything from the world's largest plasma display screen... |
What do Guild members have to do with broadcasters? Well, if you work in television, you’d be out of a job if there were no broadcasters to distribute the show on which you work. Luckily, for those of us who enjoy our entertainment jobs, there are broadcasters in every country in the world who need content to broadcast. And besides content, they need a lot of equipment––from shooting to transmitting to editing to mixing!
According to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), this year’s
annual NAB 2007 convention, held April 14-19 (exhibits open April 16) at the
Las Vegas Convention Center, is “Electronic Media’s Essential
Destination.” Occu-pying over 140,000 square feet, more than 1,500 exhibitors
will display products to help get your show on the air. They will also present
the latest inventions and technology to keep us abreast of advances and challenges
in this digital, high-definition, interactive world!
Big Announcements
Avid has been beta testing its universal binary version of Media composer
and Xpress Pro, and will probably announce the availability of an official
version at NAB. The universal binary version will finally allow owners of
Apple’s Mac Pros and MacBook Pros to run Avid software. New Features?
Maybe.
As always, Apple is keeping the lid on any new features, but you can be certain
that whatever it adds or improves will keep Avid on its toes. There’s
a good chance we’ll see a Final Cut Pro version 5.5, or even a version
6.0 appear at NAB. In October, Apple acquired Silicon Color, a company
responsible for developing FinalTouch color correction; this definitely points
to a new and improved color corrector. Also of interest, a picture surfaced
on the web recently of a prototype of a new Apple Xserve RAID. While
externals are basically the same, the prototype was configured with SATA drives
(rather than ultraATA), and had six fibre channel ports (up from the current
two). These changes in drives and additional ports will add speed and more
flexible drive access, and could premiere at the show.
Additionally, some people are saying that Apple stopped supporting new licenses
for Shake, the high-end compositing software, because it is ready to announce
its own compositing program (or perhaps a new and improved version of Motion
software?). Another possible announcement could be something tentatively
called “Final Cut Extreme,” apparently an all-in-one high-definition
mastering system with storage and hardware. If this is introduced, expect
the price to be in the $10,000-plus range.
Adobe Systems said in January that the next version of Adobe Production Studio, the integrated video and audio post-production tool set, will include a new version of its Premiere Pro video editing software for the Macintosh when it ships in the middle of the year. This is the first time Adobe has produced Premiere or any editing product for the Mac since discontinuing support in 2003. The new version of Adobe Production Studio will include Adobe After Effects for compositing, effects and animation; Adobe Premiere Pro for non-linear editing; Adobe Encore DVD for DVD authoring; Adobe Photoshop; and Adobe Illustrator––as well as the time-saving workflow enhancements offered by Adobe Dynamic Link. Partially working versions of the software were on display at Macworld, but expect more complete demos and possibly an announcement of availability at NAB.
Hot Topics
Technology continues to advance, computers and cell phones continue to shrink,
streaming video continues to become faster and cheaper, and audiences continue
to seek ways to watch their favorite TV shows without stopping their busy
lives to sit in front of a television screen. Broadcasters are well aware
of this, so expect to see the most up-to-date options on streaming to your
cell phone or laptop at this year’s NAB.
The explosion in the past year of YouTube proves that consumers are tech-savvy. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, CBS topper Leslie Moonves telegraphed that his network is looking for ways to use technology to connect with the audience, and that CBS was not afraid to experiment with the new technologies––even if revenue models were hazy.
Evidence that broadcast television is coming to cell phones will probably
be all over the convention center. Wise picture editors should take note,
because advances in these technologies could affect the content of the products
we edit. For example, we may have to edit alternate versions of episodes (more
close-ups) specifically for cell phone downloads.
Also at CES, Verizon Wireless unveiled a new service that will stream full-length TV programs to cell phones. Cingular and Sprint are working on similar offerings, and by the end of the year, all three major cell phone service providers should be providing complete television programs to their subscribers. (Previous-ly, providers offered only short-form video, news and sports.) It remains to be seen whether consumers in the US will be interested in half-hour or hour-long shows on their phones or laptops. Nonetheless, each network is planning to program its own cellular channel and all nets plan to experiment with advertising.
Sling Media has created a $149 Slingbox device, which allows a consumer to remotely access a live TV or cable program received at home on a laptop or cell phone anywhere in the world. The Clip+Sling service will launch sometime in the second quarter of this year. And starting this spring, Sony TVs will ship with an optional component called the Bravia Internet video link that connects directly to the Net with a PC.
Another topic at the show will be the dueling high-definition DVD formats, and attempts to end the divide. At CES, Warner Bros. showcased True HD––a new type of DVD that will play on both Blu-ray and HD DVD machines. Meanwhile, LG Electronics showed a DVD player that will play both discs in both formats.
Exhibit Halls
The number of product categories alone are enough to make your head spin!
Just a few of them include cameras, lighting, wireless systems, editing equipment,
servers, satellites, projection equipment, mixing, compression, streaming
and power generation.
Over 615 of the exhibitors will be offering the latest and greatest products
that cater to post-production, including video editing, graphics,
animation, special effects software and hardware, audio editing, and
music and sound libraries. Among the exhibitors: Accenture, Apple,
Avid, Killer Tracks, Microsoft and Quantel.
Sound editors, mixers and recordists have their own Pro Audio exhibit
at the show, featuring audio recording and mixing equipment, as well
as state-of-the-art data encoding and compression technologies. There
will also be plenty of display system exhibits: projection equipment,
LCD and plasma displays from two inches to over 20 feet, and even
digital signage.
 ...to the world's smallest high-definition video camera. |
Other Exhibit Categories
Other exhibits will include Acquisition and Production, which covers
cameras, lenses, lighting, grip and acquisition technologies; Management
and Systems, which deals with video servers, systems integration,
database technologies and digital asset management; and Distribution
and Delivery, featuring transmitters and towers for television, radio
broadcasting, as well as satellite technologies, cable, fiber, IPTV
and mobile video and streaming products.
Also, the Content Village is an exhibit area that allows owners, aggregators and producers to showcase their digital content to align with broadcasters, distributors and delivery technologies.
Technology Pavilions and Showcases
Throughout the huge convention center floor space, you’ll find dozens
of areas set up like mini-theatres with seating for upwards of 50 people.
Here, various experts will provide demonstrations of software and hardware
products on 20-foot display screens. Some pavilions will showcase virtual
sets with an actor against blue or green screen, while a large monitor in
real time will simultaneously show them flying in mid-air or in a jungle setting.
The Digital Asset Management Theatre area will provide insight and experiences on how broadcasters can manage their digital assets to maximize operational efficiency and time-to-air, without sacrificing content security and jeopardizing the broadcast schedule.
At the RTNDA Showcase Theatre and exhibit, you’ll see the latest technologies and hear the latest information relevant to news directors, station managers, reporters and news professionals to demonstrate how stations can stay on the cutting edge of news-gathering and broadcast technologies. Showcased will be products and services, including cameras, newsroom hardware and software, news content, set design and other technologies designed especially for the industry.
The Satellite Business and Technology Theatre will present informative tutorials
and panel sessions on a wide range of satellite-centric topics, from the right
way to buy satellite services to IPTV, HDTV and the top satellite media markets
of the next five years.
Conferences
Over 15 conferences are offered this year for additional fees ranging from
$275 to $1,325. Of most interest to Guild members is, of course, The NAB Post
Production World Conference. It offers high-level training sessions on the
latest digital editing software applications. An elite team of manufacturer-authorized
instructors, industry power-users and celebrity award-winning keynote speakers
will provide the largest, one-of-a-kind resource for post-production education.
This year’s conference offers over 200 sessions, along with Avid, Apple
and Sony user certification courses and in-depth video production tracks.
Other conferences include Broadcast Engineering, Radio Management, Television
Management, Broadcast Regulatory and Legislative, the IPTV World, MoTV, MPEG
(Motion Picture Experts Group) Industry Forum, Podcasting Summit, Director
of Photography Workshop, Digital Tech Guru Workshop, Rich Media Web Development,
Digital Cinema Summit, the Super Session Package and more. For a complete
list of conference offerings, classes, daily schedules and prices please visit
the website at http://nabshow.com/conferences.php.
Free Passes
Get your free exhibitors-only pass (normally $150) by calling your video online
or editing equipment rental company––or the Editors Guild Hollywood
office (see accompanying box).
Pam Malouf, ACE, is a Picture Editor, an Assistant Director and a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at pamedit@aol.com.
[ return to top ]