FILMCASTLive!: NAB SHOW 2009 WRAP UP

After getting introduced to many new or upgraded products and services by the eager exhibitors , I got my fill for awhile of "what is new out there" in the broadcasting industry. I should mention that the floor plan of the NAB 2009 in the Las Vegas Convention Center is so extensive that occupies 4 enormous different distant halls, making me unable to visit every single vendor I had in my list. The walking in between the halls alone consumed a great deal of my time. For next year, I will rent a Segway or bring my skateboard.

Even though the attendance was lower than previous years, the industry brought forward the showcasing of innovative products. In the production field, 3D or Stereoscopic video production is the discipline that is growing by leaps and bounds. During my childhood, I saw old 3D films and I remember a similar gimmick, the Smell-O-Rama, but they came and never stayed. The motion picture industry never paid serious interest to the proponents of 3D film production because it was cumbersome to produce and present to an audience. Besides of the fact that also adds a quasi-comical dimension to any film. Imagine Ingmar Bergman directing a "3D Persona" or Greeg Tolland shooting for John Ford "Grapes of Wrath on 3D" or "3D Citizen Kane" for Orson Welles. These movies would have then become a road side show given that the stereoscopic production was reduced to a bunch of visual gags and "leaping-at-you" gasping effects.

But now with the inmmediacy of HD digital video and the manufacturing of new smaller video cameras and bodies retrofitted with new sets of HD prime lenses, HD/3D acquisition and content development is much simpler and straightforward than ever. Per example, the minuscule Silicon Imaging SI2K Mini 3D Rig setup is a giant in capturing eye popping images. Another 3D rig is the proprietary Liquid Pictures 4K 3D Digital Cinema Camera System, uniquely built with an unprecedented range of acquisition options, including the world's first Digital 3D underwater beam splitter housing. Read my article: World's First 4K 3D Digital Cinema Camera.

"3D doesn't replace the story — it enhances and immerses the audience in it." said filmmaker brothers Jean-Jacques and Francois Mantello who rolled in the NAB Content Theater a ten-minute clip from their film "Oceans 3D: Into the Deep," shot digitally in 3D. To streamline the presentation of 3D content, several manufaturers of post production and DI equipment came to NAB 2009 offering their wares such as Clarity 3D, Qube XP, and NVidia among others. For a full story of 3D Stereoscopic editing and color correction, read my article: Join the Stereoscopic Revolution

The summer of 2009 is going be bombarded by 3D theatrically released movies and many theaters are already retrofitted with 3D digital projectors. The question is, if the content development and quality will match any time soon the already proven 3D technology beyond the nature documentary, the screaming rock-roll concert and the animated feature?
That is for all of us to find out at the next NAB 2010.

Sony XDCam Q& A

EFP Configuration in the Canon Booth

4K film negative scanning and DI

NewTek showcasing green screen newscasting features

Motion Analisys. Optical real time
motion capture equipment

Kathreil Booth. Antennas and filters

Showcasing broadcasting HD resolution at Panasonic

ARRI interchangeable prime lenses
Director's Viewfinder

New features and HD capabilities for the
Pro-sumer camera market

Mike Rogers from Birns and Sawyer
making a point about lighting

Arri showcases the ARRICAM with a 1000 ft.
magazine and the ARRI D 21

William Meurer, President of Birns & Sawyer
and a Rental/Sales Techncian

Canon EFP Showcase with the DigiSuper 27

The executives of GlobeCast with Peter Doueihi,
Operation Mgr. and Rini Chandra, Finance Mgr

A portion of Sony's Mega booth

Point and Shoot has a different meaning for Zacuto
Matte box, focus pulling accessories,viewfinder (no diopter, yet)
and shoulder brace for your still digital SRL shoot