Post: Gadgets, guidance and gambling at NAB 2002 - Post News

LAS VEGAS -- While some come to the National Association of Broadcasters Convention to get a look at the latest gadgets or talk shop about trends in the industry, others spend their time, money and energy hoping to strike up a lucrative deal with executives sitting across from them at the blackjack table (and writing off their losses as entertainment expenses). But in between streaks of good or bad luck, they try to check out the new gear or attend the many informative seminars and workshops.

Though a slowed economy has caused a recent lull in attendance numbers at other trade shows, NAB organizers are expecting a good turnout at theirs. By the beginning of March, over 800,000 square feet of exhibit space was already reserved with more exhibitors expected to have registered in the weeks leading up to the convention. Comparatively, a total of approximately 950,000 square feet of exhibition space was used last year.

The convention will have a slightly new look this year as the brand new South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) will be used in place of the first floor of the Sands, though the second floor of the Sands will still contain exhibits. The NAB will decide after this show whether it will move the entire show to the LVCC and leave the Sands completely.

As in the past few years, video production and post production will comprise the largest segment of the show. With more than one out of every four attendees hailing from these areas of the industry, many of the seminars, workshops and product displays will cater to video production and post professionals.

"The main focus of the show will be the digital transition for all communications industries, but especially with film and television," explains Dennis Wharton, senior VP of the NAB. "Certainly, convergence is one of the major themes. NAB operates on the big-tent philosophy With the way things are moving, all communications industries need to be a NAB to take the pulse of what's going on in other industries -- whether it's radio or television, audio or video companies, satellite and broadband, Internet and streaming companies."

The all-industry opening ceremony kicks off at 9 a.m., Monday April 8 with a state-of-the-industry address by NAB president! CEO Eddie Fritts, followed by a keynote address by Richard Parsons, CEO-designate of AOL Time Warner.

New at this year's NAB comes the Digital Cinema Summit, which offers seven sessions focusing on the transition to new digital technologies. The two-day summit includes seminars to discuss current challenges and obstacles to digital cinema. The summit looked at regulatory and standardization issues, production and post production techniques and forecasts for the future of this technology.

During the Saturday session, SMPTE representatives presented an overview of DC28, the SMPTE digital cinema initiative with subtopics including mastering, compression, encryption, transport, audio theatre systems and projection.

Sunday's sessions went in-depth about the wide variety of issues, including shooting in digital formats, post production, distribution and exhibition. One session on Sunday focused solely on digital post production as it relates to digital cinema, with panelists Dick Millais of International Video Conversions, Randy Starr of Cinesite and Peter Sternlicht of Technicolor Creative Services. Special emphasis will be on motion pictures that combine multiple forms of imaging as it relates to digital offline, effects, CG, compositing and finishing. Digital scanning and film-out were also examined. The new area dedicated to digital cinema products located in the South Hall includes companies such as Christie Digital Systems, Pioneer, Dolby and QuVis, among others.

Additionally, the all-new Digital Video Production Workshop on Saturday and Sunday included workshops involving visual effects with Photoshop, graphics in digital video, DVD authoring and encoding and useful techniques for Adobes After Effects and Premiere, as well as secret tips for using the Expressions feature in After Effects 5.5.

Also of particular interest for those in the post world at NAB 2002 are many seminars and workshops on graphics with digital video, as well as a slew of events dedicated to streaming media on the Internet. Microsoft is sponsoring the Digital Media Theatre that displays the latest developments in digital media, including what's new in broad-cast, video-on-demand, hosting and play-back. The Adobe Solutions Network Pavilion in the Sands will showcase Adobe's plug-ins and solutions for special effects, media authoring, 3D, painting and streaming.

For specific times and locations of these and other events at NAB go to www.nab.org/conventions/nab2002. Special registration is required for some for workshops and seminars.

Check out some previews of the new products at this year's convention in this issue and look for more on Posts Web site (www.postmagazine.com).