2014 NAB Show Preview: First Look at the Trends, Tools and Technologies

Creatvie Planet Network by Oliver Peters

NAB Show technology trends tend to evolve over a period of three years. The first year marks the introduction of a glitzy new technology, and the second year sees that technology as part of a company’s mainstream production line. By the third year, it’s either fully integrated or an “also ran.”

This is 4K’s second year at the NAB Show. If trends hold true, we will see many companies touting it as a mainstream production and postproduction methodology.

I expect that the trends vying for attendees’ attention this year will be 4K (mainly represented by the UHD 16:9 3840 x 2160 pixel format), H.265 encoding, and products compliant with the Thunderbolt 2 data protocol employed in Apple’s new Mac Pro computer.

Cameras and Lenses

It can’t shoot 4K, but I suspect many camera buyers will still be lining up to get close and personal with the ARRI AMIRA. Touted as the ideal documentary camera, it’s really a lighter, smaller sibling of ARRI’s Alexa. The two share a sensor design, but the AMIRA maxes out at 2K (2048 pixels) and records using the Apple ProRes codec family to cards without any camera raw recording options. It starts at $39,999, but a fully optioned camera with accessories (no lens) can run you northwards of $60K. ARRI is taking a gamble without a 4K product by banking on the look championed by the Alexa to win over users from Sony and RED. read more...