nofilmschool » nab2012

Cinevate Shows off Their FS100 Rig, Axis Jib, Dromos Hi-Hat and More at NAB 2012

Joe Marine — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:34:18 +0000

This is the very last video I did at NAB just before the show closed, and Dennis Wood of Cinevate showed off all of their exciting products, including a complete cine kit for the FS100 that bolts to the camera in a similar way as the Zacuto FS100 rig. He also gave a walk-through of their Axis jib, which is designed to be mobile and simple to assemble. If timelapse is your thing, and you’ve already got a Cinevate slider, they are partnering with DitoGear to add timelapse functionality. (more…)

Zacuto's Plasma Light is the Cheapest and Softest 1x1 in Existence, But is It Better Than LED?

Joe Marine — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:18:36 +0000

We all know that LEDs are the next big movement in lighting technology — or are they? Zacuto is introducing a one-of-a-kind light panel that uses a patented micro-plasma technology not unlike what is found in a plasma television — which has phosphors that glow when energy is introduced. Of course, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but the bottom line is that this panel is softer, and has a greater lumen rating than any other 1-foot-by-1-foot panel on the market today. In the embedded video below, Steve Weiss from Zacuto gives us an introduction of the panel, as well as a walk-through of their Recoil rig, Tornado Follow Focus, and FS100 rig. (more…)

ikan Shows off Their New 7" IPS Monitor and Introduces a 2-In-1 Travel Bag

Joe Marine — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:22:57 +0000

If you want a monitor that you can actually afford, look no further than some of the products from ikan. They’ve got some of the cheapest monitors in existence, and they are also unveiling a new flagship IPS display that will be competitive with similar IPS displays from SmallHD. Today we’ve got a video with Ryan Aivalis, who is a jack-of-all-trades at ikan, from drafting to blog writing. Ryan participated in the Blogger’s Breakfast discussion at NAB (which also featured yours truly), and in the video embedded below he introduces some of the exciting things that ikan is working on. (more…)

JAG35 at NAB 2012: a $1300 Wireless Follow Focus, Friction Follow Focus, RED Rig, and Slider

Joe Marine — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:21:53 +0000

JAG35 makes one of the cheapest wireless follow focuses in existence. Now they’ve improved upon their design and made the entire system much more durable. They also are introducing a clever follow focus that is friction based for newer lenses, but doesn’t have to be mounted to the side like many other friction-based follow focuses. I talked with Jehu Garcia from JAG35 and he introduced those products, as well as a custom RED Scarlet/Epic rig and a new slider they are developing. (more…)

Induro is Bringing Out the Most Versatile Hi-Hat You've Ever Used

Joe Marine — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:00:40 +0000

You don’t always need a hi-hat, but when you do, you really need it. Hi-hats are great for low angle shots or when you need a traditional tripod head but don’t have the room to maneuver long legs. At NAB this year, Induro introduced an innovative hi-hat that can not only withstand over 200 lbs., but has feet with holes that allow it to be mounted almost anywhere. I talked with Louie Lu about the hi-hat. (more…)

Need an Unassuming Camera Bag While Traveling? Tenba Introduces Two New Products

Joe Marine — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:30:23 +0000

Many have learned the hard way that camera bags can be a major target. If you travel frequently and are looking for a bag that is very unassuming and provides excellent protection for valuable gear, Tenba recently announced two new additions to their lineup: a shoulder bag and a traditional backpack. These bags are part of their Roadie II collection. Both were introduced at NAB 2012 and I was able to get a walk-through of both bags from Peter Waisnor. (more…)

Zeiss Brings Back the Super Speed Name with CP.2 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm T/1.5 Lenses

Joe Marine — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:19:00 +0000

Zeiss recently added a 15mm T/2.9 and a 135mm T/2.1 to their CP.2 line. Now they’ve decided to bring back the Super Speed name and are coming out with 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm T/1.5 lenses. It seems that the 50mm and the 85mm are the same design as the old CP.1 lenses, except they’ve opened them up to be faster – but the 35mm is supposedly a new design. Zeiss is also introducing a new line of zooms that will accompany their CP.2 line, and the first of these is the CP.Z 70-200mm T/2.9. I talked with Richard Schleuning of Zeiss at this year’s NAB about all of their new products. (more…)

Atomos Unveils the Ninja 2 External Recorder with 800 X 480 Resolution Screen and HDMI Pass-through

Joe Marine — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:30:19 +0000

At the recent NAB show, Atomos, the popular external recorder company who made a splash with the Ninja, introduced an updated version called the Ninja 2. Along with the new 3.0 version of their operating system, Atomos has made metadata a priority, much like the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Tagging clips is an essential part of the new OS, and I had a chance to talk with Matt Ivey from Atomos about the Ninja 2 as well as other products, including the very handy Connect HD-SDI and HDMI pass-through converters. (more…)

NAB 2012: Final Recap - Was This Really the Year of 4K? (Blackmagic Proves Otherwise)

Joe Marine — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:43:54 +0000

I’m still trying to catch my breath from this year’s NAB show, but all this week I’ll be posting more videos and a few more thoughts on what I saw there. This had been dubbed the year of 4K by many, but I’m not so sure we can call it that. 4K is still a couple more years from becoming mainstream, but there’s no doubt that manufacturers are pushing their televisions and cameras into the world of 4K2K and QuadHD. Even though there were a few devices capable of shooting in that frame size announced at NAB, none of them are currently shipping (though the FS700 is the closest – even though it won’t technically be shipping as a 4K camera). It was a big year for announcements, but a few companies stood above the rest, while others missed the mark. (more…)

NAB 2012: Panasonic Camera Roundup - The Good and the Bad

Justin Minich — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:33:24 +0000

RED, Canon, Sony, BlackMagic, and Bolex were all showing off their latest cameras at NAB 2012 , but we haven’t been hearing a lot from Panasonic. While they did have an ENG offering in the form of the HPX-600 (the first AVC-Ultra camera), and a mock-up of the 4K Varicam, there was no word on a successor to the AF-100. Instead they revealed some upgrades for the AF-100, AC-130, AC-160, and HPX-250, as well as new developments in P2 card technology. Panasonic’s Jan Crittenden breaks it down: (more…)

NAB 2012: Day 3 Recap - Thoughts On 4K RAW Data Rates and Letting the Camera Roll

Joe Marine — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:58:10 +0000

I had a chance to stop by Atomos, RedRock, ikan, Jag35, Zacuto and had some great conversations with the people there. I will have video updates from all of these companies and more as soon as I can get them uploaded (again hotel WiFi is brutal, I know I am not the only one suffering from this problem). NAB 2012 is flying by and there is enough happening at this show that if it ran for a month it would still be impossible to cover everything in-depth. On a side note, if you’re going to make an app for your show (the NAB 2012 app), why not promote it a little more? This is probably advice for anyone making an app for any type of event like this, but promote it like crazy – from posters to telling people about it when they register.

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At NAB, the ARRI ALEXA Quietly Continues its Takeover of the Film and Television Industries

Ryan Koo — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:48:14 +0000

For all of the stellar spec sheets and newfangled doodads coming out of the RED camp at NAB this year, one look at the active production landscape will show you that one camera is absolutely everywhere: the ARRI ALEXA. From feature films like Drive to TV shows like Game of Thrones to seemingly every TV commercial in existence — seriously, almost every commercial is shot on an ALEXA these days — the camera is as ubiquitous on high-end productions as HDSLRs are for low-end shoots (though the latter is changing with the advent of “real” large-sensor video cameras). Why is the ALEXA everywhere? Because of its stellar imagery, ease of use, established workflow, and fast turnaround time. It is not a stretch to say the ARRI ALEXA is the camera that killed film, not anything from RED (or anyone else for that matter). (more…)

NAB 2012: Day 2 Recap - Las Vegas Supermeet: Adobe CS6, Smoke, Blackmagic, Shane Hurlbut, Morgan Spurlock

Joe Marine — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:19:22 +0000

No video updates at the moment, as my entire night was spent at the Eleventh Annual Las Vegas Supermeet, a meeting of the Creative Pro User Group Network, which is a gathering of editors and like-minded post people. Unfortunately the event was plagued by projection and sound problems (the in-house staff are the only people who can touch that stuff). It’s ironic that this happened to a room full of nerds who understand the issues and could have fixed it pretty easily! Regardless we got to see a bit of Adobe CS6, the new Smoke, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Shane Hurlbut talked about the Canon 1DC, and we got a wonderfully hilarious talk from Morgan Spurlock, who went into detail about his career. (more…)

SmallHD Introduces the OLED DP7 Monitor, Also Selling a Mini-HDMI Port Protector for $40

Joe Marine — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:08:13 +0000

SmallHD is one of the younger display companies at NAB, but that doesn’t mean their products are low-quality. They are introducing a beautiful 1280 x 800 7″ screen that takes advantage of OLED technology to produce the richest colors you’ve ever seen on a monitor. They’ve got two versions that cost exactly the same, $2,700, but the other monitor uses a super-bright LCD to make viewing in daytime much simpler. I had a talk with Dale Backus from SmallHD, and he introduced both monitors and the Port Protector in the video below. (more…)

AJA Announces the Ki Pro Quad, a 4K RAW/Quad HD/2K/HD Recorder for $4,000

Joe Marine — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:41:31 +0000

AJA is making some big news at NAB, as they just announced the Ki Pro Quad, a 4K recorder that takes the best features of the Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini, and adds 4K RAW support. Canon is working closely with AJA to support the 4K C500 camera, and they were showing it off connected to the KPQ at their booth. AJA has finally added a reference monitor with playback, so you can be sure that you are actually recording when you hit the button on the Ki Pro Quad. I had a chance to talk with Andy Bellamy of AJA about the KPQ, and embedded below is a video showing the device and the conversation I had with Andy. (more…)

Hands-On With the 2.5K Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera

Joe Marine — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:30:00 +0000

I had a chance to play with the Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera – and it’s definitely going to be a disruptive product. The touch screen on the back of the camera was very sensitive, and it took me only seconds to find exactly what I was looking for. The specific camera I was using had a Zeiss 18mm T3.6 while another had a Canon lens, so the versatility is not to be understated. I had a great conversation with Simon Westland, Director of Sales EMEA at Blackmagic. You can watch that video below, as well as some additional photos of the camera. (more…)

Award-Winning NLE Lightworks Gets a May 28th Release Date -- and It's Still Free(ish)

Justin Minich — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:51:20 +0000

You read that right boys and girls. Lightworks, the editing software that’s been an industry workhorse on multiple features for over 20 years has come out of its 18-month beta, and will be yours to download on May 28th at http://www.lwks.com (currently not live). There is no mention in the press release of what platforms the software will be available for on the release date other than stating that it will run “on a wide range of PC hardware”. However, it stands to reason that the Windows version will launch first, followed by Linux (a demo of which is being presented at NAB), and finally the OSX and 64-bit versions. Check out the list of new features after the jump: (more…)

If You're at NAB, Don't Miss Zacuto's 'Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012'

Ryan Koo — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:24:41 +0000

UPDATE: all NAB screenings are canceled on account of a technical problem discovered by Bruce Logan, ASC. Which means signing up here will be the first chance to see the screening…

I’m not at NAB this year, and one of the things I’m most bummed about missing is Zacuto’s annual camera shootout. This year’s installment features an impressive lineup: the Sony F65, ARRI Alexa, RED Epic, Sony FS100, Sony F3 w/ S-log, Canon C300, Canon 7D w/ Technicolor, and a hacked Panasonic GH2. They’re screening the shootout 35 times at NAB, so don’t miss it if you’re there. The rest of us will just have to wait until it is released online on June 15th — or register below if it’s coming to your city: (more…)

NAB 2012: Day 1 Recap - Blackmagic, AJA, SmallHD, RED

Joe Marine — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:11:00 +0000

This being my first time at NAB, it’s a little overwhelming with the incredible amount of exhibitors on hand. It should also be noted there are not a team of shooters and editors on hand to help me out – just me shooting and uploading everything you see (if you’re wondering why some videos might take so long to be uploaded). Some of the biggest news of the first day was the Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera, which I had a few moments to play with and take a look at, and I also had a great interview with Simon Westland of Blackmagic. Some other big news was the announcement of the AJA Ki Pro Quad 4K recorder, and SmallHD’s new DP7 display, which has two versions – one with a very bright LCD and the other with an OLED – which reproduces colors impeccably. (more…)

BlackMagic Design's Cinema Camera is a 2.5K RAW Shooter with Built-in Monitor and Recorder for $3K

Ryan Koo — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:00:06 +0000

Holy cow. What if I told you BlackMagic Design was introducing a 2.5K resolution, 13-stop dynamic range, RAW-shooting (with format-agnostic ProRes/CinemaDNG/DNxHD options), Thunderbolt-connected, built-in touchscreen LCD, SSD-recording camera that comes with the new version of Resolve 9 color correction software… all for $3,000? You’d say, “what’s the catch?” Looks like the only catch is a 15.6 mm x 8.8 mm (active) sensor size, which makes it a S16 camera, not a S35. Still, for that price and with those options — this is a seriously disruptive camera and one that targets the HDSLR space perfectly. (more…)