I’ve just spent two days at
the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Convention, the annual gathering
of all things video and I think it’s safe to predict the next wave of
technology to consume us all is 3-D. Every major vendor and a lot of smaller ones
are making a major push into 3-D.
Walking the floors of the
convention it’s hard to believe that movies ever existed before 3-D. I’ve seen
the future and it has 2 more dimensions than Sarah Palin.
Sony showcased a 40-foot tall
LED monitor playing live sports that was stunning. JVC, Canon, Panasonic and
the other major players all had a major 3-D presence and it’s easy to
understand why they’ve staked so much on the new trend. The technology is
impressive and the imagery is beautiful. The effect, when produced properly, is
truly immersive. I think we’re beyond the gimmickry of the 1960s when actors
threw spears at the camera. 3-D works best when you have a multi-layered,
richly textured setting, producing an immersive environment that places the viewer
inside the world they’re watching.
For example, the Masters Golf tournament, broadcast in 3-D was fantastic. Deep
focus video of the beautiful Augusta National golf course, with its crowds
moving in the foreground and background coupled with the ball coming straight
at you produces a viewing experience unlike one you’ve seen before.
Besides sports I think the
early adopters will be corporate clients. I can see how a client would love to
embrace this immersive technology into their next live event. It’s a
complicated process: double the size of your production crew, two focus
pullers, two ADs, data wranglers, etc., and the post-production workflow can
be very intense. But the end-result is well worth it.
Other highlights from NAB: Adobe’s new CS5 has some very cool features. Autodesk’s new Smoke for Mac is
fantastic. And walking by the Microsoft booth I heard several announcements,
each introducing the product that will kill the iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Google,
TiVo, Firefox, iTunes, DVDs and whooping cough. I think I saw a demo that
“…promises to kill Betamax as a format once and for all.”
The other big trend was the
love affair that the world has with Digital SLR cameras, specifically Canon’s
5D, 7D, and the new 1D. Great digital cameras that can capture full HD video.
And with the full size sensor on the 5D it delivers the shallow depth-of-field
and low-light sensitivity that video cameras have been chasing for years. At an
entry-level price of $800 for the 1D and $2,800 for the 5D, the new DSLR is a
game changer.
At the end of the day they’re
all promising the same thing, new ways to capture pretty pictures. They’re big
promises but it still comes back to creating pictures that are interesting
enough to capture and ones that tell the story that needs to be told.
Technology changes but the basic needs remain
steadfast – what’s the story, and how do we tell it? I wish they had an app for
that. Maybe next year.