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MillimeterNAB 2005
Jun 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Jeff Sauer and Bob Turner, with Dan Ochiva
Camcorders Gone Wild and Other Highlights
Web Expanded
For additional coverage of editing, graphics, DVD, and other technology developments at NAB, click here.
You couldn't see it from the new monorail that zipped up to the side of the Las Vegas Convention Center. You could sense something, however, from the surge of eager tire-kickers that swarmed up to the show doors on the first day. But as soon as you walked into the big convention floors, you could see the source of all the excitement. The crowds checking out the latest camera and camcorder introductions grew the largest — the word had come before the show that there would be plenty of breakthrough products, and no one seemed disappointed to hear that HD and HDV production suddenly got a lot better and cheaper to boot.
That was just a taste of the excitement in store. Try walking by Apple's booth, and you'd squeeze by hordes of Mac enthusiasts voicing
 Avid's Xpress Studio HD suite pulls together Avid Xpress Pro HD, as well as audio editing, 3D, effects, DVD creation, and an audio mix board. Two codecs are supported: DVCPRO HD and Avid's own DNxHD. |
There was more. How about lighting innovation? Arri debuted lights that employed a new Philips “ceramic” discharge lamp that, while nearly cool to the touch, challenged halogen lamps at a quarter the power. Don't forget Microsoft, with its huge booth full of companies using Windows Media and other technologies to
 For anyone doing productions that include both HD and SD footage, the Kahuna from Snell & Wilcox can make your life easier because you can simultaneously mix together SD and HD sources in one mix effect. Graphic-intensive applications will benefit from Kahuna's powerful macro and timeline features as well as the eight channels of 3D DVE effects. |
So take a look at what NAB 2005 delivered. There's more, of course, so stop by www.videosystems.com for the latest on infrastructure gear, storage, audio, media, and lighting.
Editing
Call NAB 2005 the show that figured out how to make HD post work. To contrast this year's show to last year's, you could have called the 2004 show the “year of HD.” Then think of this show as “the year of the HD workflow.”
How's that? Although we saw fewer big bold initiatives or new products
 Blackmagic Design's very impressive Multibridge Studio looks like a winner in the do-it-all converter breakout box sweepstakes. Instantly switch between HD and SD with this, one of the first bidirectional 12-bit (not the usual 10-bit) A/D, D/A 4:2:2, and 4:4:4 RGB I/O devices. The high throughput speed comes from its ability to directly plug into a Mac or PC's bus. It also features DVI output for full-res HD monitoring along with a built in tri-level synch generator. |
As with the last couple of shows, postproduction at NAB 2005 literally started with Avid and Apple. That's who you saw right as you walk in the big south hall — Apple and Avid directly across the aisle from one another.
Avid's iNews Instinct gets our vote for the biggest new editing product announcement at NAB 2005, although ironically it doesn't target the professional editor. Instead, iNews is for the news reporter. A
 Serious Magic should have a smash hit on its hands with its Ultra 2 high-definition chroma keying and virtual set software, with support added for HD and HDV cameras. Nvidia's GeForce 6 graphics GPU does the 128-bit, floating-point processing that enables Ultra 2 to deliver its realtime 4:4:4:4 HD vector graphics. Our favorite new feature is Ultra's extremely clever Plus-90 Mode. How does it work? Well, after you tilt an SD video camera 90 degrees and lock it off, you've actually got a frame with 720 vertical pixels (think 720p HD). That's what you use to cover the talent. The system automatically rights things up and composites the HD-res virtual set in realtime with those actors, giving you a complete virtual set system at a very low tab. |
New HD capabilities make Avid XPress Studio HD an integral part of the Avid workflow, allowing editors to move freely from an in-studio Adrenaline to the field and back, regardless of media format. Admittedly, beyond HD there are only minor changes to the bundle of five integrated products — Xpress Pro, Avid FX, Avid 3D, ProTools LE, and Avid DVD, plus Mojo and 002 audio mixing hardware — but it's a powerful bundle for the price.
With Apple directly across the aisle from Avid, it's impossible to ignore the competition, and not just with the FireWire-based tools. This year, Apple announced a four-application production bundle, Final Cut Studio, thus staying competitive with the other “Pro” Studio/Suites from Adobe and Avid.
Final Cut Pro 5 now has HDV and P2 support, the ability to ingest and output up to 24 channels of high-resolution 24-bit, 96kHz audio, and
 Within Apple's Final Cut Studio suite, the big news is SoundTrack Pro, which offers an intuitive, easy-to-understand interface that makes it ideal for multi-track sound FX creation, mixing, and editing. With its tight integration with Final Cut Pro, even filmmakers without prior audio experience won't hesitate to give it a whirl. |
Interestingly, Adobe has never used NAB to launch postproduction products. (Expect Adobe to announce product upgrades sometime between
 The Clarity Bay Cat X is a good-looking display that is easy to install and watch long term. This 46in. display is built for broadcasters and will be at home in any production environment. With its 8ms response time, the 1920x1080 Bay Cat X (also native 16:9 aspect ratio) will satisfy even your most discerning clients. |
Adobe also announced a new OpenHD initiative with partners including Matrox, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Blackmagic, and Dell offering a line of open, scalable, certified desktop HDV and HD solutions optimized to meet the needs of video, film, and broadcast professionals. For more on the OpenHD-certified solutions, see www.openhd.org.
 Built for engineers but easy to use, the Videotek 400HD series now features illuminated controls and labels for operation in dark environments, allowing users easier access to its many multi-format onscreen test and measurement instruments. The control panel offers tactile feedback, so you can watch the results on the monitor rather than looking at your fingers. The unit is very quiet, which helps in suite environments. Videotek has really packed the unit with a variety of features, so you can be sure all the embedded signals in your HD are really there. |
Audio mixer support allows for audio adjustments during playback directly in the timeline, as well as audio fader hardware support. Edius also features Canopus' unrivaled realtime video transcoding technology directly or tied to Canopus' ProCoder and Procoder Station, performing conversions between different HD and SD resolutions, aspect ratios, and frame rates in realtime, and can export projects to any format or medium, including DVD-Video.
Editshare greatly improved its capabilities, starting with support for Mac-based Avids, and includes cross-platform support. Powerful new project sharing allows editors to work
 Sony Media Software made a push at NAB to upgrade and position its Vegas+DVD Production Suite technology as a comprehensive editing platform. Sony upgraded this version to handle HDV, and now Vegas also supports BlackMagic's DeckLink card, making SD and HD input equally seamless on the platform. |
Leitch's VelocityHD
 JVC's first proHD/DV camcorder, the shoulder-mounted GY-HD100U features three 1/3in., 16:9 CCDs, a removable, bayonet-mounted Fujinon 16X HD zoom, and XLR audio connectors. The camcorder started shipping June 1. |
 The latest version of Ikegami's Editcam is CMOS, HD, 24p capable, and it features Avid's new DNxHD codec for lossless 2:1 compression. Imagine more than an hour of 1920x1080 HD per 120GB FieldPak2 at 24p, with no need to digitize for editing. Although targeted at newsgathering, Indie filmmakers should take a long look at this potent combination of the best of Ikegami and Avid. |
Sony Vegas 6 now offers realtime SD, DV, and HDV video editing with unrivaled audio tools. It also features multiprocessor support and enhanced video monitoring via component or DVI connections, including scaling, deinterlacing, and color profiling support. New audio features include VST sound FX plug-in support, audio scrubbing, and support for more sophisticated metadata-rich audio files. Enhanced media asset management and AAF Interchange format support are powerful workflow improvements, as is the new A/V Synchronization Detect and Repair feature.
Camcorders
 While Sony spots the MPEG IMX format MSW-970 for the broadcast and EFP markets, the camcorder has a decidedly filmic 24p capability, albeit in Sony's 24PsF (segmented frame) version. The 2/3in. Power HAD EX CCD imaging sensors get a boost in image quality via newly developed 14-bit A/D converter technology. Don't forget the slow shutter feature—up to 16 frames—enabling some pretty unique effects even while bolstering extreme low-light shooting. |
Sony already delivered the HVR-Z1U camcorders before the show, and since the launch late last year the company says it has sold more than 37,000 of the camcorders and companion HVR-M10U decks. Features include newly developed, 16:9 native Super HAD 1/3-in. CCDs, with an improved microlens design that allows more light to reach each pixel imager, reducing video noise and improving the signal-to-noise ratio. Mate that with a 12X Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens and a new 14-bit A/D and DXP Digital Extended Processor, and you've got a top imaging performer.
Panasonic dropped a bombshell with the announcement of the AG-HVX200 handheld P2 camcorder. Due to release later this year, the compact camcorder forgoes HDV
 Panasonic generated sizzle with its announcement of the AG-HVX200, a DVX100 look-alike with a massive difference: three 1/3in. 16:9 progressive CCDs, 24p, dual-slot P2 capture, 1080i/720p/480i, 100Mbps DVCPRO HD, 50/25Mbps DVCPRO and DV, variable 720p frame rates up to 60fps, four 48KHz/16-bit audio channels, and even a MiniDV tape drive for SD capture. Think of it as a Varicam shrunk to handycam size and $6K price. |
JVC, one of the originators of the HDV spec, took it to another level by introducing “proHD,” an extension of HDV that supports timecode, 24fps, an added pair of 48kHz 16-bit PCM audio tracks, all going onto a 19Mbps, 6-frame GOP, MPEG-2 video track. JVC's first proHD/DV camcorder, the shoulder-mounted GY-HD100U features three 1/3in., 16:9 CCDs, a removable, bayonet-mounted Fujinon 16X HD zoom, and XLR audio connectors. The camcorder started shipping June 1.
Hitachi moves to nonlinear media with its introduction of the ZDR-1 recorder, which uses hard drives from 20GB to 100GB to record from any of its popular Z-series cameras, providing as much as five hours recording time with DV25 and two-and-a-half hours with DV50. Because the drive records both AVI- and MOV-type files, the removable drives work directly with just about any NLE out there.
Ikegami, which introduced its first Editcam in 1996, in partnership with Avid, debuted the HD Editcam. It uses Avid's DN×HD codec to deliver lossless 2:1 compression onto removable hard drives. Three 2/3in. CMOS chips capture the image with a full 1920×1080 raster, with initial support of 1080 at 25p, 30p, 50i, and 60i — plus 24fps. That's more than an hour of 1920×1080 HD recording per 120GB FieldPak2 at 24p, with no need to digitize for editing.
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