NABShow 2015 Wrap-up with Eran Stern

Eran Stern

Eran Stern:
Commercial artist, TV Post-Production designer and trainer
(sternfx.com)

Q. What was the biggest surprise or unveiling of the show?
A. I guess it’s hard to ignore what ‘Blackmagic Design’ is doing to the industry. Each year coming up with dozens of new gear and improvements, some of it for free, is something quite unique even in this industry. I’m not sure what their higher purpose goal is, but the development speed of those guys is very impressive, and it looks like their tools are working as advertised. Not everything they offer is usable for my needs, but they pace and motivation is something we all can inspire from.

Q. What was the newest innovation at the show?
A. I think it’s the new version of After Effects (13.5), which is going to be a milestone release, especially due the new way you can preview inside the software. Adobe has separated the render engine from the interface and then tied it back in, this means that now you can preview and work at the same time. Creating changes while the preview is still running, (and saying goodbye to the spinning beach ball) means that you can be much more artistic and get a lot out of the software – this is going to make more free time for me to spend with my loved ones (not the After Effects is not part of my loved ones, but you get the point).

Q. What was the highlight of NAB for you?
A. For me it was one moment before the show began, I was entering my first session (on Saturday morning) and the room was fully packed with people (in an 80 people room, we had almost 140 attendees) – My voice was shivering the first few minutes until I found my zone and went onto a smooth sailing. Later I found out that I made a new record for this Post|Production world conference, so I’m super proud for this achievement, I only hope my session was useful for all these attendees, but from the feedback I got at the end – it sure did.

Q. What did you see at the show that gave you insight into future trends?
A. I think that the main thing is Ready Made Stuff. From stock footage, templates, plug-in and automated scripts to sound effects – these days you only need to choose. With this huge growing of pre-designed presets and great footage it’s easier than before to jump on the Mograph ship. Both NLE and Effects software became an operating systems and not just software, and the open architecture of software these days, allow many third-parties to write tools that are more that just an index search. For many users this is going to change the way they work, and I’m amazed by the selections and extra tools that I now have easy access to.