Every spring, Las Vegas hosts a show for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). This year saw a registered attendance of more than 91,000 converging to celebrate and discuss the latest trends in media, entertainment, and technology. Between April 6 and 11, a field exceeding 1600 vendors from 160 countries showcased new products and ideas addressing the future of broadcasting and digital storytelling. For a video production company, this yearly gathering is like our Disneyland. Here are a few of the products that caught our eye and captured our imagination at NAB 2019.
That Magic Touch
At Key West Video, we’re big fans of Blackmagic Design products. Our camera operators use the Black Magic Ursa Mini Pro 4.6k, Black Magic Ursa Mini 4.6k, and Black Magic Production Camera 4K for sharp-looking footage. Prior to NAB 2019, the company released the Blackmagic RAW format and the URSA Mini 4.6K G2. They also saved some additional releases for the convention, including a keyboard our editors are itching to try.
The DaVinci Resolve 16 keyboard features an intuitive scroll wheel and the promise of faster edits. Faster edits? That got our attention! With shortcut-driven editing, an integrated search dial, and upgraded software, the company says editing time could be reduced by 25 per cent. Here’s more on this revolutionary keyboard from the NAB show floor.
Back it Up
An important part of Key West Video’s service is video storage. We keep copies of all project files for the safety and convenience of clients. That’s why we were happy to hear about LaCie’s Rugged Drive update at NAB 2019. With an 8TB RADI shuttle drive and 250MB/s transfer speed, this storage option is big and fast. Not to mention it’s shock, dust, and water resistant. That means peace of mind for us and for our clients.
Adobe Creative Cloud Focuses on User Experience
The Adobe creative cloud provides a number of applications we use in-house for editing, animation, administration and more. In anticipation of NAB 2019, Adobe released a whole slew of upgrades aimed at enhancing user experience. Adobe reps say this release is more about the small details that increase reliability and productivity and less about big changes.
Premiere Pro is the editing system we use and the latest release has upgrades focused on storytelling. The layout choices look more like a collage or canvas rather than file bins, making for a visually-driven set-up. The company took user feedback into account when it came to these changes, including a more intuitive use of the warp stabilizer feature.
In the After Effects application, one change could mean a big difference. Content-Aware Fill is Adobe’s answer to scrubbing unwanted images from a shot. That means everything from an errant boom mic to a badly-timed interruption can be erased from a scene. This new technology could replace hours of manual work on a piece of live action footage. To see this magic eraser in action, check out the video below.
The NAB Story of 8K
We couldn’t talk about the future of digital media and NAB 2019 without touching on 8K. Show vendors provided many examples of the coming technology. Cameras and all the related equipment from companies such as Sharp, Blackmagic Design, Panasonic, and AJA gave us a look at the next generation of digital media. Doug Guerra from B&H asked this important question at the NAB show: Why do I need 8K?
NAB 2019 Creative Inspiration
That was just a taste of what the NAB show covered this year. More than enough to make us drool and get us thinking about our next project and how we can make our work look even better. Time to take that inspiration and make corporate video magic.
