April 28, 2015 by Julie Hill
NAB: an event where content creation, management, commerce, consumption, distribution and delivery rule; large social arena to meet friends (new and vintage); a site to buy and sell content; a venue where one can acquire valuable tools and techniques from industry experts.
While touted as a must-attend event, it’s not always possible to drop by one of the largest trade shows in our industry. From launching a new site, keeping busy with jobs (that’s a good excuse to have!), clients, and a myriad of other obligations, you sometimes have to forego where you want to be for where you need to be. With that in mind, we wanted to give you a little insight into what this year’s NAB was all about so we spoke with a few attendees, exhibitors, and speakers.
Larry Jordan
Larry Jordan: Producer, Director, Editor, Consultant and Trainer (larryjordan.com)
Q. What did you see at the show that gave you insight into future trends?
A. The rush to higher resolutions is continuing, even for situations that don’t need it. Storage needs are increasing exponentially. Read all Larry’s comments:
Alex Dow
Alex Dow: Marketing Director (zaxwerks.com/products/proanimator)
Q. What was the newest innovation at the show?
A. I found that as far as software goes the newest innovation is an AE plug-in called Paint and Stick. It’s created by the AE Scripts guys and will be released soon. It’s really crazy that you can paint on your 3D scene in real-time directly inside of After Effects. Read all Alex’s comments:
Jeff Foster
Jeff Foster: Author, Producer, VFX Artist/Compositor and Trainer (Pixelpainter.com)
Q. When asked various questions about the show, here’s what Jeff had to say.
A. LOL – I might be biased, but my answer to all those questions would be: Drones, drones, new drones, drones.
Eran Stern
Eran Stern: Commercial artist, TV Post-Production designer and trainer (sternfx.com)
Q. What was the biggest surprise 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. Read all Eran’s comments:
Ben Balser
Ben Balser: Apple Certified Trainer (finalcutprox.guru/)
Q. What was the newest innovation at the show?
A. Blackmagic tiny cameras and their new 5″ monitor. 4K seems to be getting everyone’s attention, although questions about its reality abound.
DRONES AND ROBOTICS! Tops here, and not just because I’m a drone specialist. This is the new tool for shooting creatively, and I know we’ll see it more and more as time goes on. What makes this different from “aerial shots” that came before, from helicopters and planes? “Intimacy!!!!!” My drones can get up close and personal with things from the air better than any manned aircraft is ever capable of. That makes the shots valuable creatively. Read all Ben’s comments:
Peter McAuley
Peter McAuley: Senior Product Manager (borisfx.com)
Q. What was the newest innovation at the show?
A. For us, the newest innovation at the show was the first public presentation of BCC 10, which is currently in beta. Included in the beta is integration of Mocha planar tracking and roto masking … this is being made available in every filter in the BCC 10 package. Very exciting news for our customers. That along with the first public showing of Mocha AVX … for the first time, the roto and tracking toolset of Mocha will be available as a plug-in for Avid Media Composer. Read all Peter’s comments:
Paul Babb: President/CEO (maxon.net)
Q. What was the highlight of NAB for you?
A. As you can probably imagine, I never got away from my booth or meetings to see anything around the show.
For us, the news was our outstanding group of motion graphics, vfx and viz artists sharing their creative approaches and production techniques streaming live from the show. You can see the list of guest artist presenters we hosted on C4DLive.com. Among our group were two Emmy Award and one Oscar winners, recent SXSW Award Winners, etc. We’ll be posting their recorded presentations there and on Cineversity.com in the next few weeks.
I’m a little jaded as far as what was hot and future trends. For me, what artists are producing with the tools is far more interesting than the “potential” new industry-changing tool or new number of pixels (4K, 8K, 16K, etc.). That’s why we feature artists in our booth rather than C4D itself.
Gary Adcock
Gary Adcock CEO/CTO
Q. What was the newest innovation at the show?
A. Arri and Dolby Showing High Dynamic Range content, more color, longer tonal ranges allow for better filmmaking and consistent delivery. Read all Gary’s comments:
Mark Spencer: Author, Trainer (rippletraining.com)
The show was great. On Tuesday, Steve Martin and I presented in front of a packed house of over 1,000 people, interviewing the editor of Focus and demonstrating new features of , and showing off some of our products. I don’t think I can be of much help on your questions because the only time I spent on the show floor was to walk to and from one of my presentations that I made on the floor on Wednesday. Most of my time was spent teaching or giving presentations or preparing and I had very little time to explore the show.
