Leaving Las Vegas - Cinegear 2017

[Mark Toia]

NAB does offer a lot more than just cine Gear.
Post solutions, audio solutions, storage solutions.
I'm hoping a lot of these other companies that only do NAB follow REDs lead.
Or otherwise a lot of people will have to attend both conventions.
I'm sure Jarred's decision has been highly visible through out the industry and other companies are already evaluating their options for next year.
Let's hope we see a big post / FX show up next year amongst others.
A 3rd day of Cinegear would help as well.

 

[Mark Phelan]

I must admit I never attended an NAB with the intention of seeing RED. Don't get me wrong, the first place I'd head to was the RED booth to see what new film they had made or the new gadgets that would or would never see the light of day. More importantly, it was to say hi to the friends I'd met through this forum and make a stronger connection.

I enjoyed wandering about the convention center looking at the million other items. I really had no need to go to the RED booth simply because I'm an avid reader of the forum and knew pretty much whatever was going to be shown prior to the event. Sometimes Jarred has a hard time containing himself.

I remember meeting Jim for the first time at NAB 2008 which was fine and dandy but didn't change my mind about the camera system, I'd already placed my $1,000 deposit and was patiently waiting for my number to come up.

Conventions like NAB are somewhat of a throwback to the days before the internet. It's still fun enough to see the new whizbang gizmos of the day, but not having to go to Las Vegas is enough of an incentive for me.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Dis-intermediation

Dis-intermediation

I really enjoy NAB, largely because of the friends I see there that I otherwise might not see for years. It's also a great time to pin vendors down on specifics that may have been "glossed over" by marketing-speak pre-show.

The flip side is that "broadcasting", as we've understood it for many years, is morphing before our eyes. NAB has been actively courting ancillary players into their big tent for over a decade and it could be argued that broadcasters are now just one of several key stakeholders in the current media and entertainment space. I find it particularly cogent to note that when I plunked down my deposit for #19 at NAB 2006 that tape media (film was typically telecined to SR tape) was ubiquitous. By 2011, data storage vendors were everywhere and by 2016, traditional broadcasters were scoping out their own OTT strategies.

It is my belief that the pace of industry disruption is even faster than most realize. How long before the relationship between viewers and program producers is direct? Where is the value add of networks and walled garden streaming plays like Netflix? I envision a scenario more like how BMI and ASCAP collect fees for music and disperse them to copyright holders. Somebody sells me bandwidth for a monthly or per GB fee. That same entity tracks what I watch and charges me accordingly, all on the same bill. Let's say $50 for the bandwidth and then $42.11 (just as a random example, it could $112.53), for the content I enjoyed that month. I'm out $92.11 and have been informed/entertained/etc. The program producer of a show I watched, let's say Archer, gets 15 cents every time I watch an episode. If 200,000 people watch the same episode then the content creator gets $3 million to cover production costs and make a profit. What, exactly, do networks and other intermediaries add to the value chain? They can still function as curators and offer development opportunities for content creators in exchange for a piece of the pie, but their success is wholly dependent on how many people decide to watch whatever shows they chose to back.

Sorry about the thread-jack, but, IMO, the choice to abandon NAB implies a calculus about the trajectory of the industry - not just the recognition that CineGear is a better fit for RED.

Cheers - #19

 

[Michael J Brennan]

A slight negative for Redusers is that emerging 8k broadcast infrastructure, including monitors and post will be far better represented at Nab.
In coming years the majority of new 4K and 8k kit will be at NAB and IBC.
8k broadcast kit spec is 16:9 12bit 120fps, apparently there is only one sensor commercially available at the moment, so where are you likely to see the first pictures from that sensor?

My view of the introduction of new product sequence is:
"Private showing" invited guests only to view mockups.
"unveiled" (mock ups under glass on public show)
"shown" (working prototype)
"launched" (final commercial product)
"Here and now" equipment that is being used on production.

Cinegear is good for seeing how new and old product is being adapted and applied in the "here and now", there is little or no vapourware.
HPA for more distant future tech.
IBC is similar to Nab but with good higher (?) percentage of the "here and now" incarnations, adaptions and integrations of kit shown by European rental companies.



Mike Brennan