HD is so 2010 at the 2012 NAB Show that even conquering new codecs is taking second place to climbing the heights of file sizes 4K and beyond. Almost every NLE system is adding 3D capabilities, and a new entry into the field is bringing stereoscopic post into the budgets of even indie productions.
Autodesk Smoke for Mac OS XEDITING
Following their commitment announced last year, Adobe is now on a 24-month schedule for introducing major new versions of its Creative Suite software including Production Premium for its professional video editing customers. So at this year's NAB Show, they will highlight CS 5.5, a significant mid-cycle release designed to keep the creative community ahead of the latest advances in content authoring.
Autodesk will showcase the latest versions of its all-in-one editorial finishing system for the Mac called Smoke. And celebrating the 20th anniversary of Flame we'll see a new version of Flame Premium, Autodesk's creative 3D visual effects and finishing software.
Promoting its open platform approach, Avid will show off the new Media Composer 6 as a 64-bit app that includes a comprehensive 3D toolset that enables left/right convergence adjustments. Media Composer 6 features a new user interface, AVCHD editing, a new DNxHD 444 codec and an advanced mixer for creating 5.1 and 7.1 surround audio.
The free-to-download Lightworks NLE software will be seen at the EditShare booth supporting a totally tapeless workflow with their EditShare XStream and Energy Series shared production storage, Geevs Broadcast Servers, EditShare Flow MAM search tools, and EditShare Ark Disk and Tape backup and archiving capabilities.
Adobe Creative Suite 5.5GoPro will have new versions of its CineForm Studio Premium and CineForm Studio Professional 2D and 3D editing software that compliments its free offering, GoPro CineForm Studio, for both Mac and Windows platforms. CineForm Studio comes with automatic recognition for 3D videos for YouTube uploads.
EDIUS 6.5, the new version of Grass Valley's "edit anything" editor now comes with an extensive 3D workflow and native RED support along with a free QuickTime version of Grass Valley's 10-bit HQX codec.
Avid Media Composer 6Harris has given their latest Velocity 2.5 NLE new features for news environments using Harris Velocity ESX On-SAN editors and/or Nexio InstantOnline automatic confirming engines. Velocity 2.5 now offers On-SAN support for H.264 and DNxHD codecs.
Tight integration with Adobe After Effects and Apple Final Cut Studio lets v2.1 of Media 100 Suite share projects among AfterEffects, Color, and Final Cut Pro 7. Boris RED is now included for integrated 3D compositing, titling and effects.
Quantel will have its full HD, 2K, 4K and stereo 3D post production range at NAB 2012 headlined by Pablo, Pablo Neo, Genetic Engineering and QTube global media workflow technology.
The Vegas Pro 11 NLE from Sony Creative Software boasts GPU-accelerated video processing using OpenCL compatible hardware, new titles and text plug-ins, and a Floating Windows masking tool in its Stereoscopic 3D Adjust feature to compensate for screen-edge violations.
GRAPHICS
The AccuWeather video production graphics system will be seen at this year's show with a new interactive touchscreen called StoryTeller, putting all the elements of breaking news, sports, traffic and weather literally at the presenter's fingertips.
Accuweather Interactive Touchscreen System
Chyron Channel Box² Channel Branding System
Avid Motion Graphics will be seen as a next-generation graphics platform including 3D animations built on Avid's advanced rendering engine. Avid Motion Graphics incorporates a bridge to the existing Deko product family to facilitate migration. Avid Motion Graphics is built on the Brainstorm Multimedia rendering engine.
Speaking of Brainstorm, the company will showcase its EasySet 3D, a cost-effective, trackless virtual set solution, running on Brainstorm's eStudio on-air graphics and virtual studio engine. Brianstorm will also showcase Easy On-Air Graphics for eStudio, including an intuitive toolset for live streaming of graphics based on building highly creative designs on pre-defined templates, no matter how detailed or complex.
NewTek Lightwave 11 The company will also demo On Demand, which enables easy management and play-out of complex graphics templates for broadcasters who require more than a simple rundown system; and BrainNews, a sophisticated MOS-compatible on-air graphics control system for newsrooms.
Chyron will showcase v4.6 of its Channel Box², a channel branding system that features 2D/3D design. They will also present MediaMaker, a new technology that integrates Chyron graphics with file-based workflows.
Chyron will also highlight its Axis World Graphics cloud-based graphics creation system designed specifically for broadcasters, as well as BlueNet, which leverages Chyron's suite of graphics tools for streamlined end-to-end graphics workflows and is integrated with Axis. Chyron will also introduce v8.1 of Chyron's Lyric graphics creation software, now offering scriptless conditional intelligent transitions across multiple systems and delivery of superior-quality real-time 3D animations.
A new software bundle that will be on display at the Harris booth lets users install Inscriber G-Series graphics capabilities onto their own PC's. We'll also see the Inscriber G7 single- or dual-channel character generator with 2D and 3D DVE hardware features.
LightWave 11, the latest version of NewTek's 3D modeling, animation and rendering software, will be seen with many new features, including instancing, flocking and fracturing tools along with Pixologic Zbrush support.
ChannelMaster is a family of integrated, scalable channel playout systems from Pixel Power that provides a cost-effective approach to deploying new channels. The company will also spotlight their Gallium scheduling, asset management and automation system, as well as Clarity for production of online live newsroom graphics.
Orad's booth lineup will include TD Control letting technical directors select different video box compositions and assign different video sources to each, enabling switching on air from six video inputs to completely different sources with a single click. Orad will also have the latest version of Maestro serving the graphic needs for real time, pre- and post-production environments.
Ross Video XPression 4.0
Vizrt Virtual Studio
XPression has been given major enhancements by Ross Video for the show. Version 4.0 allows users to load multiple projects simultaneously. XPression now fully supports Avid Command and Mosart production automation and has a new NLE plug-in for Grass Valley's Aurora editing systems.
Vizrt will demonstrate Viz Media Engine integration with Adobe Premire in its NAB booth. New enhancements to Viz Content Pilot allow users to transcode real-time content with graphics embedded and adjusted for any mobile device type using device adapted graphics.
The company will also showcase the latest version of Viz Trio, now with enhanced video content management support with integration to Viz Media Engine. The new Viz Reporter takes full resolution videos from a journalist's mobile phone and integrates them with graphics via metadata before sending them directly back to a station's server after which they are sent out in formats that conform to any mobile video platform's requirements. The company will also show the latest innovations from its LiberoVision 3D sports analysis, now integrated into Vizrt's general graphics and video workflow.
Vizrt will also demo new "second screen" interactive features for Viz Virtual Studio.
The WASP3D on-air graphics system will be seen with a touchscreen-based nonlinear presentation tool called WASPi Mimosa, tracked Virtual Set, and the WASP3D Character Generation tool for stereo 3D productions.
Weather Central will bring their Fusion Studio to the big show, creating visually stunning 3D graphics with multiple lighting sources and exclusive MagicTRAK interactivity. They will also show ESP:LIVE with hyper-local mapping and advanced storm tracking algorithms.
