Preparing For NAB - Part 1

A veteran of 34 NAB shows, George Jarrett looks forward to an event of multiple sub plots, acquisition after quakes, and huge learning potential.

To get the best out of NAB it pays huge dividends to arrive in Las Vegas with a well-researched time allocation plan and back and feet preservation strategy. This should be born of browsing through the many hall layouts to create your own unique walking tour, and an hour or two cruising through the learning opportunities offered by the huge variety of coincidental conferences. It is a mistake to dismiss these as worthless.

Postproduction World running April 11-15 and the Technology Summit on Cinema running April 11 & 12 commence before the show opens so might be the most attractive if the exhibition is your focus.

Day one of the post program (‘training for content creators’) is dominated by boot camps based on big impact products like Adobe Premier Pro, Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, FCP X and Maxon Cinema 4D. The production in-depth sessions on Blackmagic cameras and creative lighting techniques for any budget offer most appeal. Day two offers 40+ sessions from which full days on shooting and lighting interviews and colour correction and grading look attractive. Day three has 30+ opportunities, from which the full day on documentary editing stands out. The other days feature attractive sessions on video compression, YouTube Deep Dive, 4K workflows and lighting, composition and camera movement.

Having attended the cinema technology event many times, I know it always offers plenty to think about. This time, the sessions on immersive sound, how black is black in HDR cinema, capture at HFR, laser illuminated projection, cinematic acquisition, and light field media production systems all look interesting.

The Broadcast Engineering and Broadcast Management conferences are always session rich, and this applies to the Media Finance and Investor Conference, Media Management in the Cloud and Creative Masters events too. New this time is an Online Video Conference (April 14 & 15) with appealing sessions on the business of online original content, and monetising video in a cross-screen world.

The NAB SPROCKIT project for helping start ups is always worth checking out. This time it includes the likes of Fluendo (video analysis and multimedia), Pschability (big data and analytics), Unruly (video content in native ad formats across the open Web), and Videolicious (automatic video storytelling). The churn of exhibitors’ year on year has always been a good guide to market direction.

Cheaper on all fronts
Big subjects like higher dynamic range, higher frame rates, and the way broadcast technologists has become so close up and personal with the consumer, are on everyone’s mind, but one big scene that is playing out is the fight to save/pass on the art and craft of editing as it evolved in the movies through the first assistant process. The full Adobe and Avid tool sets cost a smart phone price of $50 a month, so anyone can learn the software.
"When I sit and listen to some of the younger editors and how they approach editing I am afraid for our art at times because electronic editing has made it so easy that anybody can put two pieces together, but are you developing the characters? Are you manipulating the film?” said one Oscar nominee." Another said: "Young people today are not willing to wait for their turn. They want it right now, and yet there is so much to learn. I got behind three very prominent editors as an assistant and I studied and watched how they manipulated scenes, and how they were manipulating the film," he added. "There is no school that can teach you this." Enabling technology is much cheaper on all fronts, and another battlefront to study will be the impact Blackmagic and AJA have enjoyed with their cameras.

ARRI (C4337): The ARRI software update packet 2.0 for AMIRA cameras and the subsequent release SUP 3.0 will be well received by users looking for wider production versatility. The first unlocks 4K UHD recording for high-resolution pipelines, while V 3.0 enables MPEG-2 MXF recording for streamlined, broadcast-friendly workflows. The key new feature of AMIRA SUP 3.0 – which will be shown at NAB and hit the market soon afterwards as XDCAM-compatible – is that ability to record MPEG-2 422P@HL at 50 Mbit/s in an MXF wrapper.

Next in the AMIRA updates will be a new audio accessory taking the form of an extension to the back of the camera body. This ENG facility is a slot for a portable audio tuner/receiver. Signals will be received wirelessly from either the sound recordist mixer or straight from radio microphones. SUP 3.0 will also offer a camera remote control interface for multi-camera live or scripted productions, Super 16mm lens support, and an Intervalometer function for time-lapse applications.

AMIRA SUP 2.0 is activated via a 4K UHD license, and a camera sensor calibration at an ARRI service center for cameras purchased in 2014.
It allows ProRes codecs up to ProRes 4444 to be recorded in Ultra High Definition 3840 x 2160 resolution directly onto the in-camera CFast 2.0 cards, at up to 60 fps. The nice options are in-camera de-noising and sharpening and detailing tools. ProRes 3.2K recording allows for cross-compatibility with ALEXA cameras running ALEXA SUP 11.0). And there is WiFi remote support and the ability to monitor audio channels individually.

ALEXA upgrades: Software Update Packet 11.0 is available for download, free of charge. Amongst many new features is the ProRes 3.2K recording format for productions requiring 4K UHD deliverables, and the ADA-5 enhanced de-bayering algorithm that improves image quality.

The big news is the ALEXA ProRes 3.2K - essentially a new recording resolution that uses 3.2K photo sites from the sensor to record a 16:9 3.2K ProRes file. That sensor area was chosen because it is the largest area that can still be covered by almost all Super 35 PL mount lenses. ADA-5, already known by ARRIRAW fans, reduces noise in the red and blue channels, making blue screen compositing in VFX easier. Other upgrade features include improved web remote functionality, and the ability to save frame line and time zone information within the camera metadata.

Globecast (S215LMR): Known for its coverage solutions using satellite capacity, global fibre backbone and OTT delivery on CDN networks, Globecast will promote a range of new US market media management initiatives. These follow on from the recent completion of a brand new Media Factory facility at Culver City, CA as well as a new Media Hub in Miami. The new facilities in LA and Miami, along with the established media factories in Singapore, London as well as the Media Centre in Paris, form a global, interconnected network. Globecast handles everything from content preparation, formatting, quality control, to creative services and compliance review and editing.

Rascular Technology (SU8502): The master control specialist Rascular will make its NAB debut after working closely with multiple system integrators to complete a range of US sales. Partnering with Harmonic, it will show the use of its flagship product Helm in Harmonic’s automation solutions. Helm allows users to pick best-of-breed equipment - branding devices, routers, servers, multi-viewers and modular gear - from a wide range of manufactures, yet control it with a single, integrated and highly customizable control screen.

Rascular will also show its RouteMaster PC-based router control system. Both Helm and RouteMaster have been extended with support for routers from Utah Scientific and Barnfind Technologies, offering mnemonic retrieval and TCP/IP support. These join a portfolio of devices from Grass Valley, Imagine Communications and Blackmagic Design.

The article is also available to read in BVF online.

(IT/CD)