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| Historic Stardust Hotel |
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| Going the way of video tape |
| The "New" Vegas |
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| Meet George Jetson |
Upon arriving in Vegas for my annual NAB sojourn, I couldn't
help thinking how much the city itself mirrored what was happening in the film industry. In Las Vegas, they call it "out with
the old and in with the new", as we drove past the soon-to-be-demolished Stardust Hotel on our way to lunch at the newly opened
Wynn, past the Jetson's-inspired whatever it is. In the film world, they are
calling the rapid changes in technology a "paradigm shift,"--different words, but same nostalgia for what we leave behind. In this case, that would be 35mm film (eventually) and video tape (sooner than you
think). As for me, I won't miss either of them!
| Tara Veneruso & Yours Truly |
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| Wynn loves flowers! |
| MS & Sony's CineAlta |
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| Trying to look like I know what I'm doing |
As you're reading this I have to admit, my NAB review is NOT
comprehensive. I've whittled my trip down over the years to now just one day.
I fly in from Burbank in the morning, and fly out that same evening. Yes, I cannot
possibly see everything, but I here now am devotedly passing along the interesting things I did encounter between landing
at 9am and finishing dinner at the Aladdin buffet (only the best!) at 8:30pm.
I come to NAB first for the camera offerings--something I can
understand. I concentrate mostly on the ones I could afford to own. This year
that meant spending a lot of time at Panasonic checking out the new HVX-200, my favorite of the affordable HD cameras. (http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/hvx200/index.asp)
| Panasonic HVX-200 DVCPro HD |
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| The Holy Grail of affordable HD cameras |
| HVX-200 Menu |
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| Pick a format, any format |
I'm just so impressed with this camera--small profile; reliable,
robust, but efficient codec; intraframe compression; true overcranking and undercranking; true 24p; 4:2:2 color space; nearly
every imaginable format and resolution; instant on; single frame recording; intervelometer; etc., etc., etc. Oh, and I forgot to mention, no tape. Now available is the
8GB P2 card ($1,350) and by the end of the year, the 16GB card will be out.
| Canon XL-H1 w/ FireStore & Monitor |
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| Zacuto can turn your vid cam into a cine cam |
| P2 Store |
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| Dummy-proof operation; 60GB capacity |
Focus Enhancements just started shipping their 100GB FireStore
FS-100 if you can't get your arms around the SD memory card thing, (http://www.focusinfo.com/solutions/catalog.asp?id=150). But I like the P2. Expensive
today, but cheap tomorrow. An 8GB card holds 20 minutes of 720p 24N (N=Native) footage, and the camera has two hot-swappable
card slots. You can download that card in about 8 minutes, either into a laptop
with an external drive, or into a P2 Store ($1,800), which are currently 60GB, (https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/sales_o/p2/p2store/index.html). I got a quote from B&H: $8,700
for an HVX with two 8GB P2 cards, (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/). Where do I sign up?
| Sony XDCAM HD - PDW-F350 |
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| Records on to blue-laser optical discs |
Of course Sony was touting their new 1/2" chip XDCAM cameras, but I still prefer the Panasonic. The
XDCAMs are MPEG 2, so you have the same issues you would with the HDV cameras, interframe compression and long-GOP encoding. The optical disc solution seems like a temporary one versus the P2--cheaper today,
but solid state looks like the long-term winner. Currently, though, a 23GB disc
holds 85 minutes of HDV-compatible 25Mbps data. These re-writable discs will
run you about $30. The PDW-F330 shoots 1080i at true 24p and starts at $17,000
(not including lens). The F350 ($26k) adds overcranking and undercranking, just
like the HVX. All offer instant access to clips--so sayonara tape! (http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/xdcamhd_info.shtml)
| Sony HVR-A1U |
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| HD in a tiny, professional package |
| Grass Valley's Viper FilmStream |
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| This is what top-of-the-line looks like |
Sony was there with all their other cameras, everything from
the new CineAlta F900R, to the HDV Z1U ($4,400 at B&H), to their tiny and very cool A1, the single-CMOS chip HDV camera
($2,300). (http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/)
Of course the big boys were there with their high-end digital
cameras--the Viper, the Arri D20, etc. I'll stick with the under $100k cameras,
thank you. (http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/products/cameras/viper/)
(http://www.arri.com/prod/cam/d_20/d_20.htm)
So where to put all this data, (the HVX has a 100Mbps data
rate)? LaCie was on hand with a number of different, affordable hard drive solutions,
(as were the other hard drive makers). I was impressed with their new portable
drive, the Little Big Disk, with capacities of up to 320GB. Bus-powered, this drive is ideal for editing your feature on your
laptop. Their 1TB SATA drive was only $950; perfect for the HVX. (http://www.lacie.com/)
| LaCie Little Big Disk |
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| 320GB capacity, built-in RAID 0, bus-powered |
| Anton Bauer's EgripZ mounted to ElipZ |
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| The ElipZ mounts to the camera's tripod mounting |
My former Next Wave colleague Tara Veneruso and I wandered
over into the gear section and found some interesting things. Over at Anton Bauer
we played with their new ElipZ 10k battery and complimentary EgripZ handheld camera support.
The innovative design of the ElipZ provides 7 1/2 hours of power for a camera like the DVX100 by mounting underneath
the camera into its tripod mount. The EgripZ is a simple but flexible brace that
mounts to the camera's tripod mounting (or to the ElipZ) and provides additional
stability for handheld camera work, (http://www.antonbauer.com/) We also tried out the Fig Rig at the Manfrotto booth, another simple but effective
camera stabilizer for small profile video cameras like the DVX, HVX and Z1U, (http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/cache/offonce/pid/1952?idx=120&fullList=0%7C67%7C120&categoryKey=)
| Manfrotto Fig Rig Camera Stabilizer |
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| Allows for smooth traveling shots |
| P+S Technik's Skater Mini |
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| Table-top dolly system |
Another interesting but expensive camera movement system is
P+S Technik's
Skater Mini. Think of the Skater as a miniature, but highly precise dolly. It's a 2" high device with three wheels that sits on a smooth table top and allows
you to make very precise moves by yourself--no dolly grip or crew. You can put
virtually any camera on it, up to 66 lbs. For certain situations, this would
be pretty cool to have. (http://www.pstechnik.de/en/skater.php)
I'm looking forward to buying some of this gear in the near
future, or if not, there's always Cinegear this summer, (http://www.cinegearexpo.com/).
ARCHIVED EDITIONS OF THE NO BUDGET REPORT:
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![What the hell is this thing?!?](/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://www.nobudgetfilmschool.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/jetsons.jpg&target=tlx_new&title=The "New" Vegas)
