What I learned at NAB2010
Posted in Uncategorized on April 16th, 2010 by adminBelow is the email I sent around to the sales teams at my company as a short report about NAB 2010. I have blanked out names and clients but left in the vendors so you can maybe see a little info on them. enjoy.
What I learned at NAB2010
- If your going to gamble then do it with #####, not #####
- If you want free drinks then hang around Newtek, Christi, AJA people
But in all seriousness here are the products and people that caught my eye this year. Yes it was all 3D stuff and that’s the buzz and I’m keeping my eye on it but I can’t think of any of our clients other than one or two that are interested in it right now. So I focused on faster/cheaper/better.
Newtek
With the launch of the TCX850 they solved the input problem and gave us a total or 8 HDSDI or component or composite or Y/C but more audio that a Mackie 1202 mixer. They also changed the form factor to 3RU full width and put the connections on the back. With a price of $25k they are a serious player now. Give them another look if you haven’t already. Oh and did I mention they added silverlight streaming support. (a big deal) http://www.newtek.com/tricaster/tricaster_tcxd850.php
QNAP
Yes I know we sell isiolon but sometime people need a small NAS (Network Area Storage) or people need one but think they are to expensive to work with. Welcome QNAP. We are working through distribution now but me and ###### made contact with their business Development Manager and CTO at the show. Please check them out as what they are selling can apply to many different applications. Anywhere there is a need to share files. I just had a very successful roll out of one with ##### at ##### http://www.qnap.com
Teradek
Ok this is a small company with a big product and good pricing. Basically HD IP encoders/decoders. I spent time with their CEO and discussed what their offering were and how I saw their product play well in remote camera placement and co-location live broadcast. With a price point of $5 per end and simple web-config and saved setting roll out couldn’t be easier. http://www.teradek.com
Studio Network Solutions
Their name needs work but their product form factor doesn’t. There are offering a 3RU 16 drive bays with server built in and up to 8 direct fiber clients or 10gb clients. Using any SAN management solution out there. I liked these guys and they are well focused on our markets. http://www.studionetworksolutions.com
Attempo
The product I walked away always enjoying from them is their time navigator. This is a product that can run automated backups of entire network or san shares. Plus allowing someone to navigate back in time much like apples time machine to recover previous versions or deleted files. The reason why I enjoy this product so much is that it’s a gateway drug to get someone to buy an isiolon sytem. http://atempo.com
Cache-A
Ok ok dave is going to go off about cache-a again but COME ON! They rock. They launched an LTO-5 version this year expanding the storage to 1.5TB per tape. That’s a lot of storage. They also launched a 25 tape automation library for under $9k. And finally every customer of ours that we sold to was up on their list as example companies. Im telling you they like us so we should like them. http://cache-a.com
Black Magic Design
“Shut up David about that damn UltraScope!” but its super cool and this year they launched a USB version. SWEET. They also entered the market with a sub $2k 16×16 3G/HDSDI router to compete with AJA’s same spec and form factor. http://www.blackmagic-design.com/
Compix
Very nice low cost CG solution and an HD solution for under $13k makes it pretty good and a wise choice. They are working on a CG solution with dual channels, DVE and keyframes will make it a sharp contender against deko so keep an eye out. http://www.compix.tv
Cinedeck
AJA Ki looks like it was made by mattel in comparison to this amazing box. Imagine true 4:4:4 recording of HDsdi/3G/Dual/HDMI. Then add a full monitor, full deck control, full scopes, real data entry for shot logs and file names. Fully portable and it is suppose to be. http://cinedeck.com
Adobe CS5
Ok finally the whole suite is 64bit. This cuts render times in half right out the box. Then then add full GPU and cuda support so with additional video cards they can cut that number in half again. Huge improvements in many other areas but expect premiere and after effects to start giving FCP and Avid a serious run for its money. http://www.adobe.com
LiveU
Is a new type of broadcast transmission technology. By bonding 6 cellular modems together to give high bitrate transmission of an hd-sdi signal. This company only leases the gear and we are a dealer for them. http://www.liveu.tv/
TVU
Same concept as the liveu however the end user buys the gear and can have from 1-10 modems of their own choice. Also the only input at this time is hdv with an hd-sdi model soon to come. http://tvunetworks.com/
Boxx technologies
They are a high end windows/linux computer manufacturer that plays in broadcast and effects which we are a dealer for. They showed off their new box pro with is intended to give a second computer to sit on top of their computer as an offload render box. Really good idea for 3d and effects people. http://www.boxxtech.com
PlayboxTV
Imagine a very high end automation and CG playout server on a standard windows PC for a very low end cost. There are a lot of competitors out there in this market so lets keep an eye on them. http://www.playbox.tv
JVC
They finally did it. The new 790 camera to replace the 250 one. Same specs as the 700 however TC/sync and studio adaptors for them and its fully intergrated fiber or sony 26 pin ccu options helps fit older facilities. http://www.jvc.com
Avid
Avid launched media composer 5 which adds native red support / prores and other formats. Nothing big but a nice progression of the product line.
AJA
They showed off 2 new routers with a 16×4 and a 16×16 for under $2k 3G compatible. But the biggest thing was the firmware update for the Ki. Now you can gang record with them making it a very affordable recording solution for camera ISO’s
Tools OnAir
Go check them out if you need a playout server and on air cg solution that is entirely mac based. Excellent competitor to softron http://toolsonair.com
Panasonic
They launched the AW-HE50S/H PTZ camera which has an amazing footprint, great optics and under $5k makes it a perfect solution for bpix or tricaster sales. The also showed off the AW-HS50 which has to be the smallest hd-sdi 5 input switcher around and under $5k http://www.panasonic.com
Broadcast Pix
One word, Granite. Two words, Rapid CG Three words, iPad soft panel
This is a serious release however remember that most of the features and options wont be available at launch so check with them before you quote to make sure clients get what they expect. http://www.broadcastpix.com/
Facilis
Version 4.5 is out so finally we have file based locking and cross platform compatibility and Ethernet clients. Perfect. Give it a look again if you need a SAN system. http://facilis.com/
Hope you enjoy my short recap of NAB2010, now where are those vendors? I need another free drink.