The NAB Show Survival Guide

For years I’ve wanted to write a crafty and fun guide to the show…well I FINALLY did it!

Here’s my NAB Show Survival Guide Top 8 list.

https://youtu.be/lbyoQkilGRw

The reason I broke it down into a top 8 format is I couldn’t think of a top 10. 🙂
First. Learn something.
You can do this in a variety of ways.  NAB has all kinds of experts there. Go to a booth. Ask a great question and you’re going to get a great, great answer. I guarantee it.
Number 2. Focus on fun at the NAB show
And you will not have a disappointing trip and absolut …

NAB 2015 Impressions: Blackmagic Design Micro Cinema Camera

[caption id="attachment_868" align="alignleft" width="350"] The Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera at NAB 2015[/caption]

Blackmagic Design introduced a pair of cameras at NAB this year aptly named the Micro Cinema Camera.  While both cameras share the same form factor and name, they vary in features and intended use so much that it’s difficult to discuss them both at the same time.  Both the “Standard” and “Studio” versions of the Micro Cinema Camera share a Micro Four-Thirds (MFT) lens mount and a rugged magnesium camera housing that’s hardly l …

NAB 2015 Impressions: Phantom Flex 4K Camera

[caption id="attachment_857" align="alignleft" width="350"] The Vision Research Phantom Flex 4K seen at NAB 2015[/caption]

Well, the Vision Research Flex 4K isn’t exactly a new development, they announced it during NAB 2014.  Last year’s release gave us a camera system capable of up to 1000fps at 4K and 2000fps at 2k resolution which recorded to either 32GB or 64GB of internal buffer memory.  With three HD-SDI outputs, you have the ability to configure two ports as a dual link 4K output for an external recorder while retaining one port at 4: …

NAB 2015 Impressions: RED WEAPON Camera

[caption id="attachment_846" align="alignleft" width="350"] The all new RED WEAPON Camera Body.[/caption]

RED announced the newest addition to their cinema camera line at NAB.  The WEAPON will be released in two flavors.  The “Magnesium” version will start shipping this summer with the same 6K Dragon sensor in the present Epic model and the “Carbon Fiber” version which will have a newly designed 8K sensor.  Initial Carbon Fiber models will ship with a 6K sensor with an 8K sensor upgrade expected to be released by the end of the year.

The e …

NAB 2015 Impressions: ARRI S60/S30 Skypanel LED

The ARRI S60 and S30 Skypanel lighting system. This LED based product has the same sort of hue and saturation tuning that made their L7C LED Fresnel popular. And you get ARRI’s legendary brand of functionality, versatility, and durability to boot.

A variety of front panel inserts allow you to shape the beam to suit the needs of your environment.  Both the larger S60 Skypanel and the smaller S30 can be powered by a block battery, making it an excellent soft light source for the mobile shooter. Additionally, the Skypanels are fully DMX controll …

NAB 2015 Impressions: Sony PMW-PZ1 4K XAVC Player

[caption id="attachment_838" align="alignleft" width="350"] Sony PMW-PZ1 at NAB 2015[/caption]

 

When Sony released their F5 and F55 camera systems, they rolled out yet another video codec in the form of XAVC.  While the XAVC codec sports excellent quality and compression characteristics surpassing their legacy XDCAM format, it still has a major weakness.  You can’t easily watch the footage.  Either the Sony Content Browser or an editing suite such as Abode Premiere must be used.  And 4K footage wont even play in the Content Browser …