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MillimeterNAB 2003 Pick Hit Awards
Jun 1, 2003 12:00 PM
The show floor of the National Association of Broadcaster's convention doesn't allow for much time to wax philosophical over technology, with everyone rushing back and forth. With such a hectic scene, we'd rather wait and cover Millimeter's Pick Hit Awards here, in our wrap-up issue. But it was difficult to wait. Good, useful gear and software poured out of the booths and press conferences; the deluge of significant new camera and lens products alone took up nearly half the allotted awards.
Of course, cutting our favorites down to 15 finalists was difficult. A few votes this way or that could have brought other innovative products to our list. With the difficult decisions complete, read our judges final choices — the Pick Hits, the best of NAB 2003.
- Aaton | Cantar-X
The Cantar-X portable field recorder could only come from Aaton, says Pick Hit judge and filmmaker D.W. Leitner. The maverick French film camera manufacturer created this unique-looking recorder by building upon its early roots in devising film timecode. This, along with mechanically ergonomic and innovative hardware, enabled it to deliver a slick, 24-bit, 96kHz hard disk portable audio recorder.
Incorporating a six-track mixer with linear faders, the Cantar-X's “adult-sized” controls and custom machining make it feel and look like something Ferrari would turn out. With up to 18 simultaneous inputs, the recorder also includes a FireWire bus to download the audio, battery life of up to 15 hours, and a large, Nagra-style rotating knob for start-stop-test-record. It's even Bluetooth-enabled for remote function display and control using a PDA.
www.aaton.com - AJA | Io
“No tricks were missed” in the design of AJA Video Systems' do-all patch bay, says judge and filmmaker S.D. Katz. The company delivers the first uncompressed audio/video FireWire capture device for Final Cut Pro 4 (FCP4) users. While Io handles multiple audio and video formats, an attached Mac G4 needs only a single FireWire connection to the device, which keeps life simple. This sleek aluminum-faced, rack-mounted I/O device takes advantage of the new “broadcast quality” 8- and 10-bit codecs and multi-channel audio capability built into Apple's FCP4. (Apple and AJA worked closely on Io's development.)
Io provides a range of pro A/V connections, and AJA describes the unit as the “ultimate break-out box.” Editors will thrill at the thought that they no longer need to wrestle with installing PCI cards, serial port adaptors, or multiple drivers.
www.aja.com - Apple | Final Cut Pro 4.0
The latest iteration of this very popular NLE software convinced a number of judges that Apple finally delivered a product that fits into today's production workflow. As the high and low ends of production converge, users want products that work in an open production pipeline, not just as standalone gear or software.
“That's why I think the latest version of Final Cut Pro, which you can drop onto any Mac, and AJA's Io are so important,” says judge Terry Dale of DKP Effects, Toronto. “Together, you've got a kick-ass system for just a little investment. FCP4 even has CineTools rolled in, which makes it much more powerful.”
www.apple.com/finalcutpro - Avid | Media Composer Adrenaline
Avid revamped its Media Composer line with Adrenaline, the mid-range model of its new DNA (Digital Nonlinear Accelerator) hardware-accelerated NLE line. It's a significant improvement over Meridien (Media Composer), said judge Michael Raimondi, president of Union Editorial, Santa Monica, who likes the support for mixed-resolution and mixed-compression playout on one timeline, a capability previously available only on higher-priced systems.
Adrenaline handles uncompressed, 10-bit video, with HD expandability (coming in the fall). Audio is supported to 96kHz at 16- or 24-bit resolution. Running on a rack-mounted hardware processor, the product includes 3D DVE, compositing, color correction, and titling.
It integrates with the rest of Avid's lineup, raising the appealing possibility of working at home with Avid Xpress Pro and then using those same files at work with Adrenaline.
www.avid.com/products/composer/adrenaline - Canon | DigiSuper 100xs
Canon reports back orders and high demand for its DigiSuper 100xs, the world's first triple-digit zoom (9.3mm-930mm). But just creating the longest telephoto of any broadcast lens wouldn't mean much if you're left with a shaky image. “The 100xs leverages Canon's leadership in lens image stabilizer technology and produces awesome close-ups at great distances,” says judge D.W. Leitner. The company now uses the built-in Optical Image Stabilizer, or Shift-IS system, throughout its telephoto line.
The DigiSuper 100xs features improved specs (opens to f/1.7, for example), a second-generation Digital Servo System, and lighter weight.
www.usa.canon.com/html/industrial_bctv/
super100xs.html - Christie | CP1200 Projector
Judge Merle Sharp, director of engineering at Post Logic, Los Angeles, looked at a lot of different projectors for his company's new screening room. He liked what he saw from Christie in its new CP series, including the straightforward upgrade path the company offers for the modular projectors.
Christie's CP1200 system features the latest Texas Instruments 2K-resolution DLP Cinema technology and redesigned Xenon lamping. The company spots the projector for digital mastering, digital intermediates, and postproduction screening.
Judge Ron Burdett, president of Sunset Digital, Los Angeles, called the projected results “remarkable.”
“What they are doing with black levels is impressive,” he says. “Good blacks have always been the Achilles' heel in digital cinema, and they're making a lot of progress in this area.”
www.christiedigital.com - Dalsa | Origin
A quick scan of Dalsa's packed press conference found top Hollywood and independent cinematographers among the attentive crowd. They came to hear about the higher-than-HD resolution camera system rumored to be ready to revolutionize electronic cinematography.
D.W. Leitner sees that prospect in the chosen name for the camera. “Dalsa Origin. As in The Origin of Species. As in epoch-making,” says Leitner, who reeled off the varied camera stats, including a single 35mm-sized frame-transfer CCD (frame-transfer means it requires a mechanical shutter like Thomson's Viper) and a couple of items normally found only in film cameras, such as a spinning-mirror optical viewfinder and a PL mount for conventional 35mm motion picture lenses.
However, along with its output of “stunning RGB images” at 4K per frame resolution comes massive data storage needs (a cart of RAID storage). But a number of DPs at the event preferred to focus on the film-like results, no longer limited by HD's parameters.
www.dalsa.com/dc/design/dc_design.asp - Discreet | Lustre
Discreet takes on the established vendors with Lustre, a realtime 2K digital color grading system for D.I. (Digital Intermediate) work that employs Windows 2000 and standard PC workstations, not proprietary hardware. Partnering with software creator Colorfront out of Budapest, Hungary, Discreet took care to integrate the GUI and Lustre's color grading functions with its established post products.
“Good color correctors have been around for a while,” says judge Lucas Wilson, director of HD postproduction at IO Films, North Hollywood. “But a system with this kind of speed and power, running on an off-the-shelf Wintel box is something new. Granted, it has special cards and souped-up stuff, but it is still a solution that you can run on a basic Windows box. I can see doing any high-end application, feature films or whatever, with this. That is new, because those areas are traditionally considered ‘da Vinci-land.’”
www.discreet.com/products/lustre - Fujinon | HAe3×5 and HAe10×10
Fujinon must be on to something. Lucasfilm will use — on an “exclusive” basis — the company's new E Series digital cinema-style lenses for all principal and effects photography on the upcoming Star Wars: Episode III feature. The production company will also employ Fujinon's new DCS-1 (Digital Cinema System), a range of lens accessories including remote iris function control, automated flange focus set, digitally assisted rehearsal mark measurement, PC display interface, and integration to the FI+Z wireless controller.
Highlights include the lenses' uniform size and shape, sealed inner-focus design, high-performance maximum aperture, and camera assistant-friendly 280-degree focus rotation with large bright engravings.
www.fujinonbroadcast.com - JVC | JY-HD10U
As a cinematographer/director, judge D.W. Leitner has long advocated the use of smaller, high-quality film cameras and camcorders, which offer more varied shot possibilities. That's what intrigued him about JVC's introduction of the first handheld pro HD camcorder.
With a rhetorical “How is this possible?” Leitner listed the stats: 720/30p capture; heavy ATSC-level MPEG-2 compression on standard MiniDV tape; a single 1/3in., 1.18 megapixel CCD behind a matrixed color filter; and dual XLRs for audio. The “aggressive” signal processing on the HD10U's VLSI chipsets also provide realtime up-/downconversion among 1080i, 720p, 480/60p, and 480/60i. There's even a FireWire port for workstation connectivity.
Delivering all of this in a camcorder that prices well under $5,000 leaves just one question, says Leitner. How will the competition respond?
http://pro.jvc.com/prof/ - P+S Technik | Pro35 Digital Image Converter
There's a huge, worldwide inventory of 35mm motion picture lenses, but can you use them on 2/3in. cameras and camcorders?
Up until now the answer was no, although various attempts prove the idea's attractiveness. But P+S Technik came up with the solution. The German company developed the Mini35Digital image converter, which adapts 35mm lenses to Canon's XL1. The new Pro35Digital image converter solves this for 2/3in. CCD-based gear because it accepts any PL-mount lens. The image collects on an internal ground glass that oscillates to blur its own grain. The image on the ground glass is then optically relayed to a 2/3in. video or HD camera to perfectly preserve 35mm depth-of-field and angle-of-view. As one judge put it, sweet!
www.pstechnik.de - Panasonic | AJ-SDX900
A non-working prototype at last year's NAB, Panasonic's versatile AJ-SDX900 now fully delivers on the promise of 24p in a standard-def 2/3in. camcorder, as well as 30p and 60i, according to our judges.
Just how versatile is that? The camera's native 16:9 520,000-pixel progressive-type CCDs readily switch to 4:3, while its DVCPRO bit rate is selectable between 25Mbps and 50Mbps. (D.W. Leitner notes: “For you filmmakers: yes, there's a PAL version with denser 600K-pixel CCDs. Yes, it supports 25p. No, it doesn't do 24p.”)
But wait, there's more. You can run the SDX900 via remote control. A pre-recording board option offers either 15-second caching or a single-frame intervalometer. The SDI option enables digital monitoring. And there's even a GPS option, which places the camera location coordinates into a metadata-accessible format.
www.panasonic.com/PBDS - Sony | Optical Disc Camcorders and Studio Decks
Sony simply reinvented the camcorder and studio deck. Both devices use a recently developed high-resolution, blue-violet laser recording technology to deliver a rewritable CD-sized format that abolishes tape, take-up, control tracks, head clogs, rewinding, and even dropouts.
The codec on the PDW-530 switches between DVCAM or MPEG IMX, the latter at 30-, 40-, or 50Mbps for maximum recordings of 75, 55, or 45 minutes. The DVCAM codec runs at 25Mbps, delivering 90 minutes per disc plus a low-res MPEG-4 proxy image of the same video. Anyone in a hurry — news or documentary shooters, for example — will appreciate that after recording, the system employs its MXF format files to do 30X realtime transfers, so about 5 minutes of video download to a drive in 10 seconds.
bssc.sel.sony.com/NAB/
category/products/pdw530.html - Sony | CineAlta HDC-F950
Thomson's bold debut of its RGB 4:4:4 Viper camera at last year's NAB provoked a swift Sony response: a new RGB 4:4:4 format with cameras and VTRs to match, note our judges.
The HDC-F950 portable camera (not a camcorder) features capture rates of 23.98p, 24p, 25p, 29.97p, 50i, and 59.94i. The camera operator can undercrank for additional rates of 1 to 24 progressive frames/sec. The HDC-950 links by dual HD SDI to the new SRW-1 field recorder or SRW-5000 studio recorder, both of which record either RGB 4:4:4 — no pre-filtering or subsampling, only mild, lossless MPEG-4 compression — or component 4:2:2 high-definition video.
bssc.sel.sony.com/NAB/files/hdcf950.pdf - Thomson Grass Valley | M-Series iVDR
The M-Series iVDR, an MPEG-based VTR replacement, targets live and postproduction studios, trucks, graphics facilities, and venues. The huge advantage of the M-Series iVDR, according to judge Mike Janes? The user interface on the front panel.
When he saw the first servers from Leitch and Grass Valley some years ago, says Janes, there was no front panel. “They were computers. You couldn't relate to them as an operator.” When Janes took his crew over to see the M-Series server, he showed them the front panel. “Everyone thought it very intuitive,” he says. “It's very easy to use. The M-Series offers a really rich environment, and I can immediately see what's going on.”
www.thomsongrassvalley.com/
products/ivdr/m-series
Millimeter's Pick Hits Judges
Ron Burdett — President, Sunset Digital, Glendale, Calif.
Terry Dale — Vice President, Technology, DKP Effects, Toronto
Mike Janes — Director of Engineering, Portland Trail Blazers, Portland, Ore.
S.D. Katz — Contributing Editor, Millimeter and Principal, Pitch Inc., New York
D.W. Leitner — Contributing Editor, Millimeter and President, Damage Control Filmproduction, New York
Merle Sharp — Director of Engineering, Post Logic, Hollywood
Michael Raimondi — President, Union Editorial, Santa Monica
Matt Silverman — Director of Effects and Design, Phoenix Editorial, San Francisco
Lucas Wilson — Director of HD Postproduction, IO Films, North Hollywood
For complete NAB coverage, visit millimeter.com.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
