Videoguys NAB wish list

ProMAX Platform Portable Starting at $5.995.00

Tiger Box1 Bundle with 4x 1TB Drives $12,395.00 Also Available: Tiger Serve1 Bundles starting at $17,695.00

G-Technology G-RAID with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 Starting at $799.95 Click here for all G-Technology Storage Solution Models

NewTek TriCaster Mini Starting at $5,995.00

Matrox Monarch HD $995.00

Teradek VidiU Mini $499.00

April is my favorite time of the year. The hockey playoffs start –Let’s Go Islanders! The baseball season starts – Let’s Go Mets! And the industry's biggest and most important trade show happens - NAB - I’m going to Vegas! This year I'm really excited about several categories of emerging technologies / markets:

• Affordable shared storage solutions
• Live production & switching tools
• More powerful, flexible and affordable encoding / streaming devices
• New features and updates to NLE software & plug-ins

This article is my wish list, so none of the comments below are based on anything more then what I've been hearing my customers ask for and what I've been asking from my vendors for over the past year. Affordable shared storage solutions As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, Avid ISIS is the gold standard by which all other shared video storage solutions are judged. It's also pretty darn expensive. What I'm hearing from my customers - small production studios, event videographers, corporate video departments, worship and education - is that they would like to see shared storage solutions they can afford, in the $10K to $20K price range. They know they'll have to make some compromises, but they want in on the shared storage party. Most importantly they want something expandable and flexible that can grow with them, not something they can grow out of in a year or two. ProMax Platform Portable, Tiger Technologies Tiger Serve1 and Tiger box1, and SNS EVO are just some of the products we have added to our shared storage portfolio. Just as we guided you into the best possible NLE choices for your needs and budget in the early days of Desk Top Video, the Videoguys will be here to do the same as you migrate from attached to shared storage. Who knows, maybe even Avid will jump into this market segment. We can only dream! Of course we will still be selling attached storage, and the number one supplier of attached storage for video editing is G-Technology. Over the past few months they've introduced a new rugged line of slim, portable drives that work with their G-DOCK ev Evolution Series workflows. They've also introduced a line of USB3 only G-DRIVE and G- RAID solutions that hit some really amazing price points. The new USB3 / Thunderbolt COMBO G-RAIDs are also now shipping. These are the perfect choice for video editors with more than one computer who want Thunderbolt but still require the flexibility of USB3. I hope to see more new products at the G-Technology booth as well. Live Production, Streaming & Switching Tools I was trying to explain to a friend of mine what products we sell and what the latest & greatest technology we’re offering is. I immediately started talking to him about all the cool live video production products we sell and how they can be used to stream your program directly to the web. He's a sports fan too, so I asked him to think about all those trucks you see parked out back behind a stadium, with all those thick cables running back into the stadium to connect all those cameras. The I asked hime to imagine that whole truck full of equipment could fit on your desk top and that instead of using cameras that cost $50K each, you could even use prosumer HD cameras with HDMI outputs. Now think about doing it all for under $20K, maybe even under $10K. His jaw dropped. We spent the next 30 minutes talking about graphic overlays, virtual sets, remote talent and 3D animated transitions. Yeah, it's that cool!! And it's going to get even cooler at NAB. This past fall NewTek shocked the world with the TriCaster Mini HDMI production studio starting at $5,995. I can only imagine what they have in store for us at NAB! Will we get SD I/O in a mini form factor or even 3Play instant replay? I can't wait! We are looking for some really big announcements and new products from, vMix, Roland, Datavideo, TeleStream, Streamstar and other vendors. I heard vMix will be offering Instant Replay as part of their new Pro version. Roland has a multi-format HD video switcher V-1200HD that will go beyond the basic switching in their current line up to be a major move into this space. Datavideo will be showing some new HD switchers including the breakthrough SE-700 - the world's first HD switcher for under $2K! TeleStream will be showing WireCast 6 with instant replay and their new Wirecast Cam app to let you ingets iOS camera sources into Wirecast. Streamstar is becoming a big factor in Europe with their turnkey and do it yourself HDMI live production solutions and I've heard rumors of a new version of their software that will have even more features. I'm also going to checkout Broadcast Pix with their new 'Roadie' mobile production system. Videoguys is committed to offering our customers a full line of affordable live production and streaming solutions. Our sales techs are available Monday through Friday from 9am – 5pm ET to answer all your questions and help you decide on the right solution for your productions. Call 800-323-2325 or use our new chat feature. More powerful, flexible and affordable encoding / streaming devices While having a whole production studio truck on your desktop is great, sometimes you just need to stream a single camera or two as simply and easily as possible. That's what the Matrox Monarch HD lets you do and I'm hoping to see them expand the capabilities and features of it, or grow it into a family of products. I know we can count on the folks at Teradek to show us a bunch of new encoding and wireless video solutions. We just got in our first batch of Vidiu Mini, their new under $500 camera mounted streaming device. We're working with Epiphan and we hope to begin carrying their products soon after NAB. Their Pearl is a very exciting little box that can fit perfectly for our corporate, education and worship customers. They also have a full line of encoding, streaming and recording devices. New features and updates to NLE software & plug-ins With the move to subscription models NLE software vendors like Adobe & Avid no longer have to wait for major releases to introduce new versions and upgrades. That being said, they also aren't going to pass up on the chance to make a big splash and grab some attention at NAB. I expect some interesting announcements from Avid, Adobe, Sony and Grass Valley about their NLEs. I'm excited to see what our plug-in vendors Boris FX, Red Giant, New Blue FX, Tiffen and FXHOME are cooking up for NAB. While the NLE space has matured, there always seems to be some new plug-in that delivers new features, performance or workflow enhancements. I wonder what it will be this year. OK, that's it for now. I hit the road for NAB on Friday. I'm a member of the Avid ACA Reseller Partner Council so I'm looking forward to all the Avid Customer Association (ACA) festivities and networking. It's a great way to gear up for the NAB show.