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Bob Zelin U N L E A S H E D Series.

NAB 2004 -- Bob Zelin's Preview

Well, it’s almost time for NAB again.  More boozing, groping, gambling – and I’m just talking about the convention show floor.  Are you ready?  There will be more changes than ever before at NAB2004.  It’s exciting, but it makes you nervous – what about all the equipment that you have already invested in.  Will it all be outdated?  

Everyone is waiting to see if AVID shows the HD option for AVID Adrenaline.  This will be the first product that will allow AVID editors (that refuse to learn the DS or Nitris interface) to be able to do HD – and at a reasonable price.   And there are plenty of people praying that AVID introduces a new and improved AVID Mojo for Xpress Pro, with balanced audio inputs,  and multiple video outputs for composite, component and SDI video.  But will they do it?  Remember that Digidesign is part of AVID, and the new Digidelivery product, designed to electronically transfer your files to your clients, sounds pretty exciting, but will it work for video?   We will see.  

Apple will be right opposite AVID, breathing down their necks.  We are all anxious to see how close Final Cut Pro comes to AVID as far as functionality and performance.  They have made leaps and bounds in 2003, and this may be a dramatic year for Apple and their partners.   Of most interest to me is the tie in with AJA.  The FCP/AJA combination was a shocking product at NAB2003 – I think mostly to AVID themselves.  This year AJA will be showing even lower cost AJA I/O boxes, and more functionality with the existing AJA I/O box.  The fact that AVID, AJA, and Apple will be all next to each other will create quite a buzz in this one tiny area of the show.  

Slapping every manufacturer in the face will be Blackmagic Design, with their Decklink series products.  Only weeks ago, Blackmagic dropped the price of the Decklink SD card for FCP to $295!  Not even their current magazine ads reflect this revolutionary price point.   Blackmagic will also show their version of the AJA I/O – the Decklink Extreme, which has all the in’s and out’s that AJA I/O or AVID Adrenaline have.   Blackmagic will also show support for Adobe’s new version of Premier for PC, making this possibly the equivalent FCP type product for the PC platform.   No one ever took Premier seriously, but this may all change now.

Storage will be a major subject of this NAB.   HUGE Systems is going to show their new U320-R array, which looks just like a MAC G5, and give you 1.25 Terabytes of RAID 3 storage that is fast enough for 1080i HD or standard 1:1 uncompressed SDI, all for under $6000.   HUGE will also be allegedly showing a cheap SAN storage solution that will work with uncompressed video.   This I have to see.   Of course, Medea and Rorke Data will be there in force, also showing their inexpensive, excellent storage solutions.

One of the more exciting storage products is the new Studio Network Solutions SANmp, which is a very inexpensive SAN solution that works with AVID, FCP, and Pro Tools, and does uncompressed video.  This turnkey solution is not quite as flexible as AVID Unity, but it is a hell of a lot cheaper, and will be “perfect” for many of us.

ProMax will be showing VERY inexpensive SATA and Firewire storage solutions for uncompressed video, as well as their new ProMedia Encoder, which converts anything to anything – most importantly firewire to SDI, and back.  If you are looking for rock bottom prices on storage, ProMax may be the booth you want to go to.

There will be so much Hi Def stuff at this show, and of course AVID, Apple, and AJA, along with everyone else will be showing their HD products, but no one will be as important as Sony and Panasonic, because THEY MAKE THE VTR’s!   And the Sony VTR’s will be cheaper this year.  Sony’s HDW2000/1 is down to $42,000.  And it looks like the industry standard Digi Beta – the DVW-A500 is going to be discontinued, and be replaced by a multi format machine that will play Dig Beta, IMX, Beta SX and regular Beta. I believe this machine is the DVW-2000.   This is in addition to all the new Sony and Panasonic stuff; including both companies new LCD broadcast monitors.  Another product I have to see to believe.

I am personally going to take my cue from the “big boys” – see what support equipment for HD they are using for their booths, and then scramble to these support companies to get info.  This is the time to get that HD info that you need from Evertz, Ensemble, Miranda and Leitch.  Not very glamorous companies, but they have what you need to get your new HD systems working.  

Because there are new announcements every few days about NAB2004, there are products that I would not have paid attention to, but now, have become very appealing.  One I mentioned earlier was Adobe Premier Pro.  This is a product that I (and everyone else) have ignored for years, but now, with the Blackmagic Decklink tie in, may become a serious and inexpensive product for doing inexpensive uncompressed SDI editing.

Another is Discreet Logic.  This company has always been way too expensive for me to even look at, but now, they have released a PC based SMOKE edit system that looks like it may blow the doors off everyone else, at a very low cost. 

There have been such dramatic changes in the last year of our business.  Not only have things gotten better, but they have gotten much cheaper.   We may all be in shock after NAB2004.  Hopefully our investments will still be worth something. 

Hope to see you there –

Keep on ranting - keep'em on their toes !

Bob Zelin in Orlando

**Any advice given, and all opinions expressed, are strictly those of Bob Zelin and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Virtual Media or any of itês employees. Bob Zelin is an independent consultant, and a well-known member of the Avid community. He is not an employee of Virtual Media or any of itês subsidiaries.