A snapshot from the biggest show in the world for filmmakers and TV producers Postcard from Las Vegas AGENDA
T hey say everything is bigger in America. That’s true as far as shows and conferences go – certainly for filmmakers. The NAB show at the mammoth Las Vegas Convention centre is the biggest show in the world for moviemakers and people who work in TV and film production. Attracting over 100,000 visitors from all over the globe, it’s where the big tech companies show off their latest kit on huge stands that often feature full-size sets for you to test their cameras. All the biggies like Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm and Arri got to wheel out their latest kit, as well as all the lens makers such as Cooke, Zeiss, Tokina, Leica, Sigma, Fujifilm, Angenieux and even upstarts like Los Angeles-based Atlas Lens Co showing their range of full-frame anamorphic lenses. And major tech firms from Google to Microsoft, plus Vimeo and Hitachi were showing their latest wares. WORDS AND IMAGES ADAM DUCKWORTH
4K Pocket Cinema Camera and the explosion in HDR. Sony was keen to promote how forward-thinking it is with HDR
Many were getting geared up ready for 8K TV production. There were more than 1800 exhibitors all over the huge halls, showing everything from grip and lights to tripods, dollies, gimbals, bags, drones and even helicopters. And hundreds of talks and demonstrations by some of the best in the business to inspire and teach. Even Hollywood star Zach Braff – famous for his role in TV’s Scrubs as well as in major movies – was on hand to check out what’s new and to speak to the delegates. He’s now also a successful film director and did a talk called “From Podcast to Broadcast”. Some of the most exciting new tech on show revolved around film and TV studio-type productions, such as VR and 3D interactive studios. But for independent filmmakers, the show had three major talking points which were the new Apple ProRes Raw format launched at the show, the new BlackMagic
technology such as Hybrid Log Gamma built into many of its latest cameras. This means that in theory, the footage is HDR TV-ready right out of the camera. In terms of cameras, Sony showed the new FS5 Mark II and some interesting 4K camcorders. But the biggest wow was the BlackMagic 4K Pocket Cinema Camera which you can read about in this issue, as well as DaVinci Resolve 15. But by far the biggest talking point was the new Apple ProRes Raw format which could finally bring Raw performance in sensible file sizes to the masses. It could be the next big thing in codec, taking over from Apple’s current ProRes formats. You can read about it, and our test on it, in this issue as we bring the highlights of the 2018 NAB show from Sin City!
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PRO MOVIEMAKER SUMMER 2018
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