NAB 2009 sneak peek

ATTO Technology Inc. Booth: SL2205

ATTO Celerity 8-Gb Host Adapter boast speeds of up to 1600 MB/sec. per channel. Available in single-, dual-, or quad-channel, Celerity 8-Gb host adapters support the most demanding application requirements, including multiple streams of high-definition video, 2K and 4K editing, rich content databases and other high-bandwidth environments.

The FC-84EN supports the most demanding application requirements, including high-definition video, rich content databases and other high-bandwidth environments. ATTO Celerity host adapters are an integrated family of advanced storage connectivity solutions that are designed to provide reliable connectivity, intelligence and scalability. The FastStream SC 8500 Storage Controller is a scalable RAID controller that delivers high performance access to data and data protection for applications in DVA and IT infrastructures including 4K and 2K digital film production, high definition video post, digital prepress, disk-to-disk backup, imaging, email compliance, data warehousing, data mining and transaction based environments.

ATTO FastStream Storage Controllers provide best of class performance and instant RAID parity protection to any SAS or SATA storage device.

Blackmagic Design Booth: SL10820

Blackmagic Design will showcase DeckLink SDI, a new model of capture card which combines the highest quality 10 bit SD/HD-SDI capture and playback. DeckLink SDI is designed for high-end broadcast and post production customers who are working in large SDI based facilities needing many creative workstation seats at the lowest possible cost.

DeckLink SDI includes the highest quality 10 bit SD/HD-SDI capture and playback, while also including features high end customers really need, such as black burst/HD tri-sync reference input, and RS-422 deck control. DeckLink SDI replaces Blackmagic Design’s original SD only DeckLink model, while adding PCI Express, 10 bit HD-SDI capture and playback, and reference input.

Because DeckLink SDI features broadcast quality SDI, and can instantly switch between SD-SDI and HD-SDI formats, it’s perfect for connecting to decks such as HDCAM, HD-D5, Digital Betacam and more. DeckLink SDI is also fully compatible with all SDI based cameras and monitors. DeckLink SDI includes 8 channels of embedded SDI audio support, so all video and audio connections are made with a single BNC type SDI video cable.

Bright Systems, Inc. Booth: SL13010

Bright Systems, Inc., developer of disk recording and data infrastructure technology, will be debuting its next generation BrightDrive G2 File-Based Recording System incorporated with the company’s breakthrough BrightClip Recording Technology at NAB 2009.

Designed specifically to address the performance stability simply not found in conventional IT approaches, BrightDrive G2 allows creative talent to remain focused on the client experience and requirements while satisfying unprecedented operational efficiency and predictability. BrightDrive G2 is compatible with all leading file-based media applications and file formats, and supports a wide variety of file-based workflows including commercials, animation, DI, dailies and VFX.

Further efficiency gains are made with the BrightClip Accelerator API now supported by many of the industry’s leading post applications from companies including Digital Film Technologies, da Vinci, LaserGraphics, FilmLight and ARRI. BrightClip permanently overcomes the limitations of IT-oriented approaches such as NAS and SAN where media files become naturally “randomized” during the course of normal production operations.

Canon Booth: C4325

At NAB Show 2009, Canon will roll out the XH G1S/ XH A1S professional high definition handheld camcorders, equipped with the superb Canon 20x HD lens with Professional L Series Fluorite. The XH G1S/ XH A1S adds 3CCDs, each of which is at 1440 x 1080 pixels. Shooting in the field is optimised with Canon’s SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization which corrects for a wide range of camera movement and vibration. Combined with Instant AF (Auto Focus), you get ultra-quick, accurate focus. The DIGIC DV II HD image processor finishes the picture with improved colour reproduction and noise reduction for excellent image quality. In the shoulder mounted range, the Canon XL H1S/ XL H1A camcorder has the requisite industry-standard connections and terminals with a wider range of image control settings, together with a higher level of customisation options and capabilities which makes it even more useful for the demanding professional.

Chyron Booth: SL1420

Chyron’s Channel Box V3.0 offers superior ROI with an enhanced feature-set including self-adjusting ‘Content Awareness’ and VDS’s PromoLite, making automated promo generation simple and efficient. In addition, it supports BXF and EAS (Emergency Alert System).

AXIS with OMS (Order Management Solution) is an effective and organised method to customise, centralise and output the most creative digital content. Offering both self fulfillment of templated graphics and order placement for original content, AXIS with OMS provides real-time reporting at all stages of production.

MicroClyps is a video server that defines a new price/performance paradigm for graphics technology. Virtually instantaneous clip recall and playout makes MicroClyps a perfect match for demanding live applications.

iRB (Intelligent Rundown Builder) is a revolutionary, browser-based, tool for the creation, modification and deletion of running orders for a newsroom-style workflow without the newsroom system (NRCS).

Cintel Booth: SL2216

diTTo evolution is the new 2K/4K film scanner from Cintel. Building on the successful elements of the renowned diTTo scanner including excellent image performance, easy to use Interface and the famous D/SCO - Dust/Scratch Concealment option, diTTo evolution additionally provides a fast shuttle capability, non-pin registration mode for archive scanning and a 3.2D density range.

diTTo evolution has evolved to a multi-format, non-pin registration machine for shrunken and damaged film including a 3.2D density range for excellent Print film results. A future upgrade to enable oversampled 4K, and above, resolution will also be available.

imageMill2 is a new image processing platform adding network capabilities and data file management to the existing imageMill capabilities. imageMill addresses the industry’s need for a powerful yet simple to use Noise and Grain management tool for Digital Intermediate applications.

Echolab Booth: SU2302

Echolab’s versatile Overture MD switcher, available with 1 or 2 M/Es, becomes even more versatile with the addition of 3Gbps (1080p60) format support to its existing range of SD, 720p, and 1080i over a single SDI or HDMI input. Many production companies and broadcasters use a mix of formats, requiring a costly and cumbersome mix of outboard equipment to translate signals for the switcher.

With internal analogue to digital conversion and frame sync, the Overture MD enables a compact, streamlined and cost-effective production solution. The addition of 3Gbps operation means the Overture supports the highest quality broadcast format now on the market. The Overture switchers’ internal frame synchronization helps to ensure the quality of effects and, along with internal up/cross conversion and up to 34 internal graphics/still stores, eliminates the need for external systems, further streamlining the workflow and reducing the cost of creating a sophisticated on-air look.

Glidecam Industries, Inc. Booth: C7112

Glidecam Industries, Inc., now in its seventeenth year, offers a wide range of camera stabilisers each optimised for various camera weights and shooting conditions. The advanced and totally re-engineered Glidecam HD-Series represents the top of the line in hand-held camera stabilization.

The lightweight and state-of-the-art Glidecam HD-1000, HD-2000 and HD-4000 Hand-Held Camera Stabilizers transform hard to watch, shaky camera footage into hypnotically smooth, professional footage. Each HD-Series Stabilizer’s offset, foam cushioned, Handle Grip is attached to a free floating, three axis Gimbal. This allows the operator’s hand to move up and down, and side-to-side, thereby isolating unwanted motions from the camera. This design feature, coupled with the overall higher inertia of the HD-Series systems, produces superior stabilization.

The unique and proprietary, precision, three axis Gimbal incorporates several adjustable, axis convergence controls. This allows all three axes to intersect for proper operational alignment.

HaiVision Network Video Booth: SL4126

The Video Furnace system is the industry’s most reliable and secure enterprise class IP video distribution system. Video Furnace now supports HaiVision’s H.264 network attached video (NAV) products and, with the MAKO-HD encoder, can control and distribute live high-definition media throughout an organization.

The HaiVision Video Furnace solution brings together the world’s most powerful encoding and video distribution elements. The Video Furnace IP video control and distribution systems and set-top boxes support HaiVision’s high-definition H.264 MAKO-HD encoding technology at full-HD resolutions. The MAKO-HD supports guaranteed frame rate performance of top quality H.264 encoding at up to 1080p resolution and at the lowest latency available. Additional integration includes the ability to store and manage high-definition video libraries and to deliver video via Video Furnace’s patent-pending “zero footprint” InStream Viewer.

The InStream Viewer does not require any resident player software or browser plug-ins and runs on all modern desktop operating systems including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Sun Solaris.

The combined solution is ideal for live, HD content scheduling, management, and distribution for HD signage and video-over-IP applications.

I-Movix Booth: SU7823A

SprintCam V3 HD is the only HD native fully integrated ultra slow-motion system for broadcast, offering unmatched frame rates, high definition native resolution image quality, market-leading light sensitivity, and ease of installation and use. The system allows the user to capture from 500 to 1,000 frames per second and to replay them without delay.

SprintCam V3 HD is a fully integrated system as it is the case for every I-Movix products, and it thus comprises four parts: a HD high-speed camera, an operational control panel, that allows the user to do all traditional colour settings, and to choose the frame rate that best corresponds to his/her needs, a slow motion remote with a new cueing system, that allows the user to select a video sequence and instantly replay it with an HD-SDI output.

The sequence can then be live broadcasted or stored on a EVS LSM server, a camera control unit, enabling the slow-motion instant replay; this device controls the camera, receives the data from the camera and sends it to the EVS server, or to any SDI recorder.

IMAGICA Corp. of America Booth: SL4725

Imagica will be displaying Render Spice, a new network render queuing software that improves the efficiency of CGI pipelines. It supports Windows and Mac OS X, and assists the rendering of Maya, 3dsMax, Softimage XSI, After Effects, and Shake. Render Spice controls the network rendering of multiple kinds of 3D or compositing software without a management server. O-gi is a suite of Image Augmenting Filters for Autodesk Inferno/Flame/Flint/Fire/Smoke. It contains a wrinkle diminisher, a mach band suppressor, a noise detector, a video legalizer and grain/noise smoother. Primatte is a world renown chromakey technology, available as a plug-in for almost every major compositing and editing software available on the market from Adobe Photoshop to Autodesk Inferno.

Matrox Booth: SL3814

The new Matrox MXO2 is a truly portable device that gives broadcast-quality input/output, monitoring, and up/down/cross conversion to streamline workflow with Apple Final Cut Studio 2. The 2RU-sized Matrox MXO2 Rack is designed for broadcast news operations, OB vans, and other environments where equipment must be rackmounted.

It is MacBook Pro and Mac Pro compatible. Users can benefit from file-based workflows with support for XDCAM, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX, and P2 without transcoding. Matrox MXO2 Rack supports a variety of codecs including ProRes, ProRes422 HQ, DVCPRO HD, and uncompressed 8- and 10-bit.

Matrox recently launched new value-priced bundles of the Matrox RT.X2 and RT.X2 LE realtime editing platforms and Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

The bundles include either the RT.X2 or RT.X2 LE realtime editing card with a professional breakout box, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Adobe Encore CS4, and Adobe OnLocation CS4.

Miller Camera Support Booth: C5525

Miller Camera Support has NEW feature-filled 75mm bowl fluid heads for more demanding HDV productions. The Compass 15 and Compass 20 brings performance selectable drag from the superior ENG Arrow fluid head range in a more compact and ergonomic body and partners perfectly with the popular SOLO DV tripods.

Compass brings to the market a premium camera support product at the right price. The stylish and operator friendly design incorporates a new ring selection design that has been engineered to offer the user a most positive response and engagement when selecting the pan or tilt drag setting in this fluid head.

The compact head design benefits the operator by offering a light weight solution to support their camera. With a no compromise attitude these 75mm base fluid heads are fully compatible with any professional 75mm tripod.

Both the Compass 15 and 20 models offer a choice of attachments for cameras with ¼” and pin and ¼” and 3/8” screws enabling the camcorder to be mounted directly to the fluid head or via a tripod adaptor plate.

Netia Booth: SU822

The Manreo software range has been designed to maximise productivity gains in media asset management and use of rich media.

It provides a system for centralizing, sharing, and viewing audio, image, and video archive, which can then be repurposed and published to multiple platforms (Web portals, mobile devices, ADSL, etc).

At the heart of Manreo is an archiving tool that interfaces with a wide range of production, automation/playout, and storage and ingest systems for efficient handling of video, audio, images, and text with support for all industry-standard formats (MXF, XDCam, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, .wmv).

Manreo ingests content in high resolution and converts it automatically to a low-resolution proxy used to index the video and its content. Speech-to-text functionality further enriches the media by turning dialog into searchable text. Manreo’s Warehouse Web module provides easy access to media, allowing operators to share and preview content through a convenient Web-based interface.

never.no Booth: N1830

Interactivity Desk (ID) is the software tool for on-air and off-air editorial control of interactive and participation formats in all media. ID reads various forms of viewer contribution data, including text, images, audio, and video, and lets an editor moderate, edit, and sort the data before submission to the broadcast systems, blogs, Internet pages, or STB or IPTV middleware. ID can feed data to various systems in parallel, for true multicast participation TV and Internet integration. ID contains a built-in scheduler, which schedules the running of quiz, polls, vote, games etc., without user interaction.

ID also provides basic broadcast control, thus allowing editors and moderators to trigger CG sequences, tickers, scrolls, bugs, or segments during direct or near-direct broadcasting. Numerous available add-on modules exist, for added functionality. never. no offers turn-key integration with Vizrt, RTX, Flash, Silverlight, and blog platforms. An open XML standard is also available.

ROSS VIDEO Booth: SU1807

The Ross Vision QMD/X line of Multi-Definition production switchers continues to advance with an extended feature set and the launch of Version 9.0 software at NAB 2009. The numerous v9.0 enhancements include: up to 8 Channels of DVE in a single MLE, WhiteFlash transition type, expanded Still-Store functionality with Thumbnails, Animation Trimming, new warps, MLE Auto Follow, Memory Attributes and many more features to enable the specific user preferred operation.

Vision v9.0 also offers an expanded complement of device controls including newly supported devices in almost every category supported. These include serial or Ethernet control of VTRs, Video Servers, Audio Servers, Audio Mixers, Robotic Cameras, Character Generators, UMDs, Monitor Walls, and more.

SNELL & WILCOX INC. Booth: SU1917, SU1717

Snell & Wilcox will introduce newly developed 3-D stereoscopic functionality for the Kahuna multi-format production switcher. The Kahuna’s stereoscopic enhancement makes it easier for operators to fine-tune the alignment of cameras, thus enabling faster and more cost-effective calibration of cameras for 3-D acquisition.

With these added capabilities, the Kahuna offers advanced processing that, through an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, enhances the camera’s ability to shoot, monitor, and control 3-D video for live production in sports, entertainment, and other programs. The new Kahuna 1 M/E HD delivers the breakthrough multiformat performance of the industry-leading Kahuna production switcher in a 3-RU mainframe. With the addition of the 1 M/E HD, the Kahuna line now provides the broadest range of mainframes and control panels of any production switcher in the broadcast industry.

Sonnet Technologies, Inc. Booth: SL13307

The new Sonnet Fusion DX800RAID is a high-performance eight-drive RAID SATA storage system with a built-in SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) expander that enables up to 16 eight-drive enclosures to connect to a single Sonnet RAID controller.

While offering fast, easy, cost-effective expansion of storage capacity without concern for the number of available PCI Express slots, a single Fusion DX800RAID also provides the speed required for working with uncompressed 10-bit 1080 HD video streams and the data security and monitoring critical in a large RAID system. With its eight drives formatted as a RAID 5 group, a Fusion DX800RAID yields impressive read and write file transfer speeds of up to 680 MB/sec and 640 MB/sec, respectively. Within its compact eight-drive enclosure, the Fusion DX800RAID features eight preinstalled, preformatted (Mac OS) 3.5-inch RAID/Enterprise edition hard-drive modules. Both models are available in 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB configurations.

Telemetrics, Inc. Booth: C9525

At NAB Show 2009, Telemetrics will dislay the BT-X3/Z3-VS belt driven track system, which is a heavy duty, remotely controlled camera positioning system, offering both vertical and horizontal positioning to pan and tilt camera movement. It is controllable using the various Telemetrics control panels and computer software with position, preset and motion control capability.

Track lengths and configuration are specified by the customer. The track is supplied with wall, ceiling or floor mounting brackets, floor leveling feet, cable track and P/T mount, including the Motor Drive Panels and Motors. Also on display is Telemetrics PT-CP-S4 Pan/Tilt Head. It offers side camera-mounting, a powerful DC-DC converter to power accessories over long cable runs, cable management system and serial data control.

Tiger Technology Booth: SL6529

metaSAN is a high-speed file sharing Storage Area Network (SAN) management software that sets new standards for cross-platform workgroup collaboration. metaSAN enables multiple users to share access to common data files in workgroups where heavy bandwidth requirements are the norm. With metaSAN, film and video editors, digital artists, healthcare specialists, and corporate users can simultaneously access a common pool of data files such as video clips, databases, satellite imagery, medical archives, or CAD files - as easily and transparently as if the content was stored on their local drive. Available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, metaSAN innovates with true file sharing, native OS file system and access rights management, virtualization for Avid, dynamic metadata master arbitration model, and seamless integration with LAN networks. These ensure a reliable networked shared storage while reducing management cost.

ViewCast Corporation Booth: SL6020, SL12415

High-definition video streaming reaches a new level of quality and performance with the Niagara 7500 from ViewCast. Making its debut at NAB 2009, the Niagara 7500 simplifies the complex workflows associated with the transformation and delivery of high-definition video to IP and mobile networks. The Niagara 7500 features a sleek, innovative touch control interface with contextual menus that streamline and simplify the operation of this high-powered, dual quad core streaming appliance. The unit features SD and HD SDI video inputs, balanced/unbalanced analog and AES/EBU digital audio, and eight stereo pairs of embedded SDI audio inputs.

Users can switch on-the-fly between incoming SD and HD video, and stream in multiple bit rates and resolutions simultaneously in Microsoft VC-1, Silverlight, and H.264 Flash Live.

Wohler Technologies, Inc. Booth: N1102

Packed with functionality but priced affordably, Wohler’s RM series of HD monitor packs are ideal for video and audio confidence monitoring in mobile trucks, news and transmission control rooms, and duplication and post-production facilities.

Each screen can display eight channels of VU over PPM audio level meters and also features UMD, safe areas, frame and crop marks, and built-in colour bars. The RM HD units also provide an active loop-through output for each SDI input.

Additionally, all settings are accessible from front panel controls and the RM’s intuitive on-screen menu.

As a fully inclusive solution, each model is designed for high-resolution HD imaging and features NTSC and PAL autosensing built into the units, which accept two composite video inputs per screen on the same BNC used for HD/SD-SDI.