NAB 2010 Wrapup

This was my fourth year at NAB, and I have to say that this has been the best year yet. For me it was two-fold: it was a great show with excellent classes from production/post-production gurus (such as Jeff Greenberg, Abba Shapiro, Robbie Carman), but it was also highly beneficial for where I currently am in my career. I was able to meet some of the guys from Abel Cine Tech, Kino Flo, and PortaJib/Losmandy that we bought gear from this year, and discuss some issues/questions about the equipment; I was able to fully test out all of the RED knowledge I crammed into my head in four days of reading, by attending multiple classes on RED workflow and production and attending RED Day Vegas last night; and I was able to talk and ask questions of pros and vendors on an industry level regarding subjects from cinematography to post-production. I'm leaving NAB this year excited about the new production and workflow techniques I've picked up, and I'm looking forward to the next step in my growth (i.e. the never ending process of learning and, to put it simply, RED).

I thought I'd run down a few of my favorite moments, classes, and general finds from the show:


RED Day Vegas 2010

This was definitely one of the big highlights of the show. RED fully unveiled EPIC, their 5K cinema camera, with production updates, new M-X reel footage, great presentations from Ted Schilowitz and Michael Cioni at LightIron, a live set with for new product demos, Scarlet in the flesh, and a raffle in which I won a portable 2TB RAID!
























NAB Post-Production World Classes

Once again, great classes on Final Cut, Color, After Effects, documentary script writing, music video production/post-production, VFX, Camera movement, and location scouting to name a few.

I was even able to contribute to one class. I explained to the editor leading the music video workflow class yesterday about using overcranked framerates with the newer Panasonic cameras. He had thought that the only cameras that could do true overcranked/slomo shots were film and the RED, and was surprised to hear about not only the Varicam's overcranking capabilities, but Panasonic's other pro/prosumer models, the HPX170 and 300(370).


Panascout

If you're like me, you're constantly using your iPhone for location scouting. It's great...you can take perspective shots for general camera placement and even take video and record audio for location notes and possible camera movements. I didn't think that there was a way to make this much better, but leave it to the guys at Panavision to do just that.

Panascout is an iPhone app that still leverages the iPhone's ability to take photos and video, but gives you GPS coordinates of your location, your current heading, sunrise/sunset times, choice of aspect ratio, and an extremely robust organization system for recording notes, audio, video, and location stills. You can also easily share entire batches of your scouting shots via email with producers/clients. Well worth $10 at the app store.



The LAFCPUG Supermeet

Every year, the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group puts on the Supermeet. About 1500 FCP users attend to see presentations from Apple, Adobe, etc, in addition to vendors and another great raffle. Didn't win anything here, but met and talked with lots of guys from the industry. I even got to meet and thank Noah Kadner, who wrote the RED book that I read while on the way up to NAB.


The Venetian

It's always interesting to stay in the different hotels in Vegas, but the Venetian blew me away. The room was a split-level suite with three flat screens...yes, there was one in the bathroom, and I'm proud to say I watched Shrek 2 while I showered one day. The gym was huge and you can see the shot of the lobby. Good food too. Breakfast at Bouchon was a favorite.

Unless they will be offering the same rates next year, I might not get to stay here again, but it was something else. Hands down, the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. The only thing that could have made it better would be Robin being with me next time.


3D

OK, I'll be honest. When I first heard last year that 3D was going to be all the rage in 2010 production, I did a big inner eye roll and sigh. Not because I thought people were wrong, but because I remembered 3D being annoying. There was never a 3D experience, beginning with Jaws 3D (yes, I remember this as it was my first movie theater experience ever) and ending with probably something I saw at Disney World, left my head dizzy and every muscle above my eyebrows aching. Why would anyone want to bring back 3D?

Well, having not yet seen any feature in 3D, I thought I'd at least give it a try at Panasonic's booth/estate this year. Now I get it. This is not your granddad's/older uncle's 3D. It's crystal clear, high resolution, and fascinating to watch. I looked like an idiot with my polarizing glasses, swaying from side-to-side in front of one of their 3D screens.

Then I walked over to Panasonic's 3D booth where they were demonstrating the Final Cut edit workflow with their new 3D camera, the AG-3DA1. I spent a while talking with Alex from Dashwood Cinema Solutions, and after our conversation, I feel like I could shoot and edit a 3D project if a client asked for it. If you have rig/camera that's standardized (like the AG-3DA1), then it's really a matter of following a few rules during shooting, getting the right plug-ins, and having a 3D screen for monitoring. The rest is pretty much the same. I'm sure I'd be doing quite a bit of emailing with Dashwood if I did get a 3D job, but that's the great thing about networking at NAB...if you don't know how to do it, you find someone who does, pick their brain, and contact them when you need to know more.


Well, there was a lot more, but I think I've written enough for now. I'm in Albuquerque, waiting to get on my flight to Lubbock, and I can't wait to get home.