Videoguys' NAB2003 report

Make no mistake about it – NAB2003 clearly marks a turning point in our industry. The days of complicated installations and hardware compatibility issues for digital video editing are over. At this years NAB I saw a bunch of products that blew me away. They all had one important thing in common – powerful software leveraging CPU speeds, lightning fast memory and OpenGL graphics acceleration to deliver never before seen real-time NLE performance. The days of requiring special hardware in order to edit your video productively are gone. I still believe that specialized hardware will have a place in NLE, but it will serve to make an already powerful NLE software app even more so. Most importantly, these new hardware NLE accelerators will be very easy to install and configure

In addition to really powerful software I also came across some extremely cool add-ons that will make your editing more productive then ever. It sure is a great time to be a digital videographer!!

Avid
I guess this revolution started with Avid's entry into our market segment. When Xpress DV 2.0 shipped two years a go we got a glimpse of the software based future. At NAB2003 Avid actually turned this whole concept on its ear. Not only did they introduce Xpress Pro, the worlds most powerful and full featured software NLE solution, they added Mojo to it. What's Mojo got to do with video editing? Mojo is the product name Avid has given to their new line-up of Digital NLE Accelerators. These external devices attach to your computer via FireWire. So you can use them with your laptop or workstation. Using the FireWire as the data pipe, Mojo accelerates the performance of Xpress Pro to give you real-time analog & DV output, plus the ability to capture uncompressed video via the analog inputs. Mojo also gives you your I/O and the ability to transcode DV and analog video. Xpress Pro was just the tip of the iceberg for Avid at NAB. They also introduced their new Adrenelin and Nitris product lines. These higher end solutions are just as revolutionary in their market segments as Xpress Pro will be in ours. And yes, they include Mojo as well.

Buy XDV now, Upgrade to Xpress Pro and save $400 or more!!!

Buy Xpress DV today for $999.95
upgrade to XDV Pro $295 ($999.95 + $295.00 = $1,294.95) You save $400!!

The current XDV PowerPack has been price reduced to $1295.
So you can buy the PowerPack today, start learning and using Xpress DV, then upgrade to Xpress Pro for $295. That puts you $100 cheaper then buying Xpress Pro PLUS you get the full versions of Boris FX and Graffiti (a $399.95 value!)

Click here to order Xpress DV
Xpress Pro ($1699) will now replace the XDV PowerPack in our XDV lineup. It adds some really great new features:

1. Real-Time analog & DV output plus uncompressed video capture with the optional Mojo hardware ($1699)
2. Automatic Expert Color correction makes your masterpieces look their best without requiring you to become a professional colorist, automatic expert color correction that is simply amazing,
3. Editing features like 24 video and audio tracks with unlimited layering, use 2D & 3D OpenGL-based video effects, utilize JKL edit and trim controls, extend & replace edits, group and gang clips
4. Includes Oscar® award-winning Avid Film Composer technology: 24p film support, support for Panasonic AG-DVX100 24p camera, 35:1p, 28:1p and 14:1p offline formats
5. Advanced DVD capabilities with Reel DVD le and Sorenson Squeeze with single and dual pass VBR MPEG2 encoding
6. All the great features of the XDV PowerPack including Avid filmmakers toolkit, Image Stabilizer plug-in, and Illusion FX. Note: Xpress Pro includes the ltd versions of both Boris FX and Graffiti

Anyone who owns any flavor of Xpress DV can upgrade to Xpress Pro directly from Avid for $295. (expires 6/1/03). We'll be offering a special upgrade for all our XDV customers. You'll get Xpress Pro and Mojo plus some bonus software for under $2000!!!

Click here for more info on Avid Xpress Pro | Click here to order Xpress DV / Xpress Pro

Pinnacle
Save $500 on Edition Pro!
Pinnacle Edition Pro upgrade offer !!

Owners of Pinnacle DV500 (any version), Pro-One, Pro-One RTDV, DC1000, DV1000, DC2000 can upgrade to Edition pro for $499.95!! That's 50% off the MSRP of Edition Pro!! Rumour has it that this offer will be expanded to include more older Pinnacle cards and even a few competitors as well. We will have to get back your qualified trade in card.

Call our sales team 800 323-2325 for more info!!
Edition 5 was announced a few weeks ago. I'd had the good fortune to be able to see and play with Edition 5 then. At NAB2003 the rest of the world got to see it. From all the reports, it's going to be a very competitive NLE choice. Pinnacle has taken Edition to a new level. Edition can now give you real-time preview and real-time analog output with the Edition Pro AGP card. The real-time capabilities of Edition include all the cool 3D FX and filters found in the pro-One family of products – without the need for any special hardware. Edition leverages both the CPU speed of your computer and the powerful 3D graphics processor (GPU) found in today's graphics cards. Together they deliver an unprecedented level of real-time performance including real-time transitions using Hollywood FX and real-time crawling & scrolling titles with Deko RT.

The biggest new feature of Edition is the integrated DVD authoring. Edition allows you to author and burn your DVD directly from the timeline. You set your chapter & navigation points directly on the Edition timeline. The DVD wizard lets you select from a wide range of templates, or you can import your own. You can pull individual frames from your videos to use in your menus and buttons or you can use video clips from your production as motion menus and buttons. Even cooler, you can apply any of Editions filters to these clips for use in your menus!

Pinnacle was also showing off some of the new technologies and products they acquired from Steinberg. Nuendo is a top-notch audio editing tool that can be used to produce your own original soundtracks and music. WaveLab is for cleaning up and manipulating audio form multiple sources. Clean allows you to remove hiss, crackles and pops from your older audio that you want digitized.

Click here for more info on Edition5 | Click here to order Edition 5/ Pro / Upgrade

Canopus
NAB2003 marked the long awaited debut of Edius, Canopus's new NLE software for the DV Storm and Rex RT. This is not just an upgrade to Storm or Rex Edit. It is a brand new NLE, loaded with features and performance. Over the past few years Canopus has been listening to their users and working diligently to deliver a new NLE application that would make them happy. They have. Edius is a MUST have product for anyone who currently owns and uses a DV Storm or Rex RT. It is fully loaded and really well thought out. The interface is clean and uncluttered. The media management tools are excellent. And the real-time performance is just fantastic. You can easily run 5 layers of video in real time, with multiple filters and graphics on a dual P4 system. One of the coolest new features is the ability to easily create transitions between clips within a PIP. So while your PIP is flying around the screen, you can have video 1 page peel into video 2 within the PIP. Imagine the possibilities!!

Edius is scheduled to ship the end of May. We are offering an introductory price of $299 for Edius through August 31st. We will also be putting together a special DV Storm2 & Edius bundle for those customers looking for a complete Canopus real-time NLE solution.

Canopus was also showing a real-time turnkey laptop system called the CWS-300. Using a sister NLE to Edius it delivered multiple streams of real-time video with software only. That's one pretty powerful notebook, and a sure glimpse into the future of Edius & Canopus.

Click here for more info on Edius | Click here to order Edius

Adobe
Adobe was showing off their new DVD authoring program Encore. It's got most of the features folks want for the $549 price point. You can seamlessly move back and forth between Encore and Photoshop to edit the images in your menus. In Premiere you can mark your chapter points and Encore will pick them up. Other cool features in Encore include motion menus & buttons and AC3 support.

The biggest news out of Adobe is top secret. I'm under something called an NDA. Which means I can't tell you that much about it. What I will say is that Adobe is up for the challenge of the other video editing tools introduced at NAB. And the integration of Photoshop & Encore DVD is just the tip of the iceberg. I wish I could tell you more, but you'll forgive me for teasing you once I can give you all the big news. It'll be worth the wait.

Matrox
Matrox was showing off the new RTX.100 Xtreme bundles. These bundles include upgraded authoring software (Reel DVD Studio w/ AC3) and a new driver set that delivers even more real-time features. They've added vector scopes, waveform monitors and advanced tools to the already excellent real-time color correction tool. They also added a new feature called XtremePreview for editing many layers and effects without rendering. Now when you create multi-layered complex sequences that go beyond the real-time capabilities of the RTX, XtremePreview will gracefully degrade the image quality automatically so you can still preview your work with all layers, filters and FX. Matrox also added Real-time super-smooth, field-blended fast and slow motion. The new RTX.100 Xtreme bundle with Reel DVD Studio will have a street price of $1199. You'll still be able to buy the RTX.100 w/o Reel for $999.95 or w/o Premiere for the same price.

The RTX.10 has also been given additional features. Now positioned as the RTX.10 Xtra, they've added a bunch of new Real-time customizable 3D effects such as page curls, organic wipes, spheres, cubes, 3D tiles, particle effects, and picture-in-picture. The Real-time super-smooth fast and slow motion has been brought over from the RTX.100 Xtreme. All this and they've kept the street price at $499.95, making RTX.10 by far and away the worlds most powerful Premiere based NLE solution for under $500!!

Click here for more info on RTX100 | Click here for more info on RTX10 | Click here to order RTX100/10

Serious Magic
This was by far and away my favorite new comer to NAB. These guys have created some really cool products. Their Visual Communicator products have been on sale for about a years now. Basically they are a complete green screen chroma-key talking head solution for digital video. Not only does it give you excellent keying on a bunch of supplied backgrounds, it's got a built in teleprompter for your talent. The Pro version will allow you to save your work in the DV format.

The product at Serious Magic that knocked my socks off was the UltraKey. This is a stand-alone real-time chromakey solution for DV. The keying is incredible and easy with UltraKey. Unlike most keyers that look for a specific key color, UltraKey actually analyzes the entire keycolor background. This allows it to compensate for poor lighting, seems and other defects that drive most chromakey tools crazy. UltraKey is more then just a great chroma-key tool; it is a virtual set production solution. Serious Magic includes a bunch of virtual sets that you can now incorporate into your videos using UltraKey. These sets are 'scripted' so that your talent can use the same basic movements with any of the sets. Even cooler, you can incorporate your own graphics and video clips into these virtual sets. UltraKey was my hot new sexy product of the show.
Click here for more info on UltraKey | Click here to order UltraKey/ Visual Communicator Pro

Boris FX
The gang at Boris FX was showing off the new Red GL3. What I like most about this latest version is the added OpenGL graphics card support. Now you can preview your work on your VGA monitor in near real-time. Many filters and effects will be fully real-time. This makes it so much more productive and easier to learn. I've always found that one of the biggest advantages of real-time performance is the learning curve. When you don't have to wait all the time for renders, you can experiment more and get a fuller, more complete understanding of the tools available. For final output the new rendering engine is significantly faster then version 2. Red 3GL also includes a bunch of new filters and effects such as Lens Flare, Light Zoom, Film Grain, and Wire Removal.
Click here for more info on BFX Red | Click here to order BFX Red

Sonic Foundry
Vegas4 began shipping last month, and it has quickly become one of our best sellers. Once you take the time to dig into the power and performance of Vegas4 it's easy to see why. Vegas Video 3 offered some real-time NLE performance, but I always felt it came up a little short. With Vegas4 Sonic Foundry has added the features and performance needed to take it to the next level. The media management tools are excellent, and I can now recommend Vegas4 for long format video production. The color correction tools are on a par with Avid's, and the multiple layer compositing capabilities are superb. You expect top-notch audio capabilities from the makers of Sound Forge and you get them. The Vegas4+DVD bundle includes AC3 encoding, 5.1 surround support and DVD Architect authoring software. While not as powerful as ReelDVD or as polished as DVD Workshop it gives you the features you need at a bundle price ($599.95) that is an outstanding value

At NAB Sonic Foundry announced the latest update (4.0b), free to Vegas 4 and Vegas®+DVD registered users, provides editing and rendering of high-definition digital video, enhanced 24p capabilities, and support for Panasonic's new AG-DVX100 24p camera. In addition Boris Red GL3 will now support Vegas 4 as a plug-in – the first of what I believe will be many new 3rd party plug-ins for Vegas.
Click here for more info on Vegas4 | Click here to order Vegas4

Ulead
Ulead has put together a very exciting new bundle called StudioQuartet that includes the new Media Studio Pro 7, DVD Workshop w/ AC3, PhotoImpact 8 and Cool3D studio for $795. This is really an excellent value. DVD Workshop w/ AC3 is a $500 value on it's own. The new MS Pro 7 is very powerful and it delivers a ton of real-time performance w/o any special hardware. One of my favorite features of MS Pro 7 is the ability to capture and edit MPEG2 files directly.
Click here for more info on MS Pro 7 | Click here to order MS Pro & / StudioQuartet

Fantastic new gadgets to make your NLE even better!!

Bella Corp.

Pre-Order a Professional Series EZ Keyboard and get FREE shipping!!

# We are expecting ur first shipemnts of the new Professioanl Series EZ Keyboards with built in Jog shuttle controller mid May. EZkeys Pro Premiere (Win) $169.95
# EZkeys Pro Final Cut Pro (Win) $169.95
# EZkeys Pro Xpress DV & Pro (Specify Mac or Win) $169.95

Call our sales team 800 323-2325 for more info!!
Who's Bella? They're the guys who make the EZ Keyboards. Not only do they have a new name, they've got a new line up of EZ Keyboards that are SWEET!! The new Professional Series of USB keyboards have color and icon-coded keycaps with presets for most popular applications plus a BIG BONUS - a built in jog shuttle controller!! The integrated jog/shuttle wheel gives you precise frame-by-frame control over timelines, video and audio clips. The feel of the jog is excellent and so is it's placement on the keyboard. Just above the jog/shuttle controller are two Specialty Keys, which can be programmed with either direct or combination keystrokes, with editors expected to use the keys for Mark In and Mark Out or similar functions. The new keyboards have a $169.95 price and will be available for Premiere (PC), Final Cut Pro (Mac), Avid Xpress DV & Xpress Pro (Mac or PC).
Click here for more info on EZ Keys | Click here to order EZ Key Professional

Videonics/ Focus
I've always thought that the FireStore was a cool product that was a little ahead of it's time. The ability to record your DV footage directly to hard drive and then bring it into your NLE app without any need to transcode or re-capture is pure genius. I've seen other products in this space and none of them come close to FireStore as an NLE productivity tool. The problem I've always had is the portability of it. While the field case puts everything in a neat package, it's not small and it's not that convenient. The gang at Focus has recognized this issue and addressed it to perfection. The new FireStore DR-DV5000 attaches directly to the new JVC GY-DV5000 professional DV camcorder just like a battery pack. A laptop hard drive slips right into a slot on the new unit and snaps into place with the special locking unit. Adapter kits for a wide range of professional and prosumer camcorders are expected shortly. You'll use FireWire to connect the FireStore to the DV cam.
Click here for more info on FireStore | Click here to order FireStore

ADS
ADS was showing several new Dual Link combination FireWire & USB2 products. The new DLX185 Dual Link Drive Kit allows you to turn any hard drive, CD, or DVD drive into an external drive with both USB2 and FireWire ports. It supports both Mac & Windows. You can use it with a hard drive up to 250GB or with any CD writer or DVD burner.

ADS has upgraded their Instant DVD product to USB2. With the addition of USB2 and a new MPEG2 encoder chipset, Instant DVD 2.0 is now capable of significantly higher video quality. Even more exciting is the new USB Instant DVD+DV. This new version includes a FireWire port for capturing directly from your DV cam into MPEG2. Instant DVD+DV connects to your PC via USB2. Going directly from DV top MPEG2 will give you the absolute highest possible video quality. You also get device control of your DV cam from within the capture utility.

Both models include special filters to remove noise from old VHS tapes and "Audio-Lock" technology to provide perfect lip synch. Each unit includes an enhanced software bundle with Capture Wizard 3.0, Ulead Video Studio 7 SE, Ulead DVD Movie Factory SE & muvee autoProducer DVD SE automatic video editing software. Instant DVD 2.0 and Instant DVD+DV will begin shipping in late April and will be available at an ESP of $179 and $269, respectively
Click here for more info on ADS products | Click here to order ADS products
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Pioneer
Pioneer was showing off the new PRV-LX1 Professional DVD-Video Recorder. This stand-alone DVD burner and duplication system is loaded with features and goodies. Among the key features of the PRV-LX1 is its real-time video recording capabilities, which streamlines the DVD video capture, compression, authoring and recording processes while operating with the simplicity of a VTR. Users now have an alternative to high end PC-based DVD authoring systems because the PRV-LX1 is designed to easily transfer video and audio content to DVD while offering the ability to customize DVD menus and chapter points - a first for a standalone video recorder. Video and audio content can be recorded from multiple sources direct to DVD or to the PRV-LX1's internal hard disk drive. The PRV-LX1 also allows users to simultaneously record to both the internal hard disk drive and to DVD.

PRV-LX1 is targeted for a June ship date. This is a professional product with a professional price tag $3,995 with one burner, $4,495 with dual DVD burners.