Summer 2005 Tv Schedule

Byline: Trevor Boyer

If the last few NAB shows have been about the democratization of HD and the pieces of a "real" HD production puzzle, this show was clearly about how to fit those pieces together in a realistic workflow. Indeed, workflow was the buzzword of NAB 2005. Video Systems' annual Pick Hit awards, however, do not honor macro approaches to the daily work of production and post - they're all about individual products.

As such, though, these very deserving winners are generally "team players" in real-life workflows. Our judges have always made it their mission to pick products that not only show technological innovation, but also promise to have a positive impact on the every-day professional lives of intended users.

Pick Hits are awarded to products that are set to ship in the calendar year. (Check out videosystems.com for complete judging criteria.) Thank you to each of our judges, and congratulations to the winners of Video Systems' NAB 2005 Pick Hit awards.

Sony HVR-Z1

As if its 1080i HDV recording weren't enough, Sony's well-balanced, ergonomically sound HVR-Z1 is packed with startling innovations that would be reason enough to merit designation as an NAB Pick Hit. It has 16:9, 1/3in. CCDs; a shutter lens cap; a handle-mounted LCD screen; and a personal menu option that allows you to cherry-pick favorite menu functions and group them as a subset for personal use. Shot Transition is a unique, useful feature that lets shooters store settings of focus, zoom, iris, gain, and more and label them as shots A and B. With one button push, the camera robotically performs a perfect zoom and focus-pull from one shot to the other. On top of all that, as serious HDV camcorders go, it's also first out of the gate. "Sony's Z1 owns year one of HDV," says judge D.W. Leitner. Currently available. Price: $5,946 (www.sony.com/professional)

Panasonic AG-HVX200

Last year Pick Hits awarded Panasonic's standard-def cameras that record to solid-state P2 memory cards. This year, it's HD to P2. The AG-HVX200 is the smallest DVCPROHD camera ever and the smallest Varicam ever, and records to tape as well as to P2 cards. The revolutionary HVX200 wowed crowds at NAB 2005, and for good reason. Here is a legitimate 100Mbps HD camcorder (not MPEG-2-based HDV) that can shoot variable frame rates, scanning modes, and resolutions from DVCPRO25 to DVCPROHD at 720p or 1080i, at 24p, 30p, and 60i. Panasonic also promises several over- and undercranked frame rates that have yet to be announced. Clearly, this is a remarkable camera - even if you don't record to the P2 memory cards. Available in Q4. Price: $5,995; $9,995 for camera plus two 8GB P2 cards (www.panasonic.com/broadcast)

JVC GY-HD100U

"This robust JVC camcorder smashes the invisible barrier separating prosumer and fully professional gear," says judge Barry Braverman. One look at the robust HD100U confirms that it's certainly no toy. With its rugged alloy construction and ability to interchange lenses, the HD100U provides true 24p capture previously unseen in the HDV format. Also, while most HDV camcorders capture only MP2 audio as part of the video recording segment, the HD100U (with its "ProHD approach") captures 2-channel PCM audio in a segment separate from the MPEG-2-encoded 720p video. The included 16X Servo Fujinon lens can be traded for other options, including a 13X wide zoom and even standard 1/2in. lenses (with an adapter). A patented focus assist function exaggerates the detail in the viewfinder to facilitate focusing in HD. Available this month. Price: $6,295 including 16X lens (pro.jvc.com)

Chyron ChyTV

ChyTV is a smart little device that's essentially a digital signage downstream keyer, from a company that's been overlaying graphics and text as long as just about anyone. With the growing use of plasma screens and other digitally addressable signage, Chyron's ChyTV is the right device at the right time. It's inexpensive, easy to configure, and it provides an effective way to incorporate high-quality broadcast graphics, text, and audio into an existing video infrastructure, or simply onto a single screen. ChyTV takes in a live (such as a cable TV channel) or recorded (such as a DVD) video source via RCA composite. A USB port on the device interfaces with a computer, allowing users to literally use PowerPoint to build layouts for graphic overlays. Users can schedule playlists, create fluid transitions, and output the results to a display. Currently available. Price: $1,395 (www.chytv.com)

Miranda HD-Bridge DEC

Miranda's HD-Bridge provides a piece of the HDV workflow that was previously missing for facilities that use HD-SDI. With realtime HDV-to-HD-SDI conversion, long-GOP MPEG-2 looks less scary to local broadcasters, and local news in HD looks much more real. The "little purple box" accepts HDV via FireWire from a deck or camera and outputs HD-SDI at either 1080i or 720p with embedded AES audio and timecode. Dual HD-SDI outputs provide one clean feed and one feed with timecode and graticule markers. The HD-Bridge DEC also provides analog HD plus AES and analog audio outputs. Available in production quantities in July. Price: less than $3,000 (www.miranda.com)

Silhouette Roto

Rotoscoping once was a job only for the big, bad postproduction machines. Silhouette Roto, now available in a standalone version, works on a single-processor G4, as well as Windows and Linux machines. The new version features motion-stabilized roto, which means objects can be extracted with fewer keyframes required. That, of course, leads to greater productivity. For high-end users, the software's support of high dynamic range lighting formats like DPX, Cineon, and OpenEXR makes for easier roto in areas that are over- or underexposed. Silhouette Roto's user interface has been praised as intuitive and clean. The software features shape import or export compatibility with Avid's Elastic Reality, Pinnacle Systems Commotion, Autodesk Discreet Combustion and Flame, and Adobe After Effects. Currently available. Price: $495 (www.silhouettefx.com)

LitePanels Infrared and 1'x1'

LitePanels introduced two breakthroughs in LED lighting at NAB: Infrared and 1'x1'. The fully dimmable Infrared is the first practical on-camera infrared unit we've seen. This IR version of the LitePanels Mini emits no visible light, making it ideal for shooting in total darkness, when the camera's presence must go undetected. The LED light's small size (6.75"x2.25"x1.25"; 9.6oz.) and low power consumption help support the usual stealth applications. The appeal for reality TV programs and documentary shooting is undeniable. As the name suggests, LitePanels 1'x1' is a 1'x1', 2.5in. thick, 100W LED dream light. Output is comparable to 500W, and the LED is fully dimmable. The LitePanels 1'x1' can be set to output any color temperature from tungsten to daylight with a turn of a dial, thus obviating the need for multiple instruments and light-sapping conversion gels. Using flat plastic fresnels, shooters can control the beam from spot to spread, from 12 to 90 degrees. Lamp life is 10,000 hours. Infrared: currently available; price: $700. 1'x1': available later this year; price: less than $3,000 (www.litepanels.com)

Echolab Nova identity 4

An incredibly compact SDI production switcher with a huge feature set and 10BaseT Ethernet capability. The Nova identity4 uses "system-on-chip" architecture to centralize the firmware and allow for hardware configuration updates via Compact Flash cards. Eight custom or previous versions can be stored on the card. This means the switcher can be easily tailored to a specific repeated production task. The Nova id4 features six keyers (two downstream), four chroma keyers, five pattern generators, two 2D DVEs with rotation, 16 SDI inputs and 16 SDI outputs, and more. Currently available. Price: $18,995 (www.echolab.com)

Lectrosonics SM

Lectrosonics' Super-Miniature Digital Hybrid Wireless transmitter is hardly bigger than two AA batteries, but its splash-proof, machined aluminum body signals cutting-edge design. The company's Digital Hybrid Wireless technology uses a proprietary algorithm to encode the digital audio information into an analog format. This opens up the RF-range advantages of analog transmission to the SM's 100mW signal. The UHF beltpack transmitter offers 256 synthesized UHF frequencies, four-level audio metering, and nearly six hours of operation using a single AA lithium battery. Currently available. Price: $1,650 (www.lectrosonics.com)

Century Optics Xtreme Fisheye

Century Optics' Xtreme Fisheye was demonstrated on a Sony Z1 during NAB, but this may be the widest fisheye on any video camera ever. The skateboard crowd will love it: Its incredible 160-degree field of view (180 degrees measured diagonally) is sure to inspire plenty of tail-grind action in coming months as DV/HDV shooters place themselves, their cameras, and their lenses ever more perilously closer to the action. It's all about perspective, after all, to make the star's leaps seem higher, his speed greater. This is an expensive piece of glass, however - nearing $3,000 - so sports shooters in particular will want to take care to avoid making contact with (and damaging) the lens' extraordinarily large (and exposed) front element. And keep some lens cleaner handy - everything is in focus. Available in fall. Price: less than $3,000 (www.centuryoptics.com)

Ciprico Huge MediaVault 4212

Ciprico's MediaVault 4212 is one of the first 4Gbps Fibre Channel systems to come to market. That's good news for anyone considering moving into HD postproduction. But it's also a good deal since the storage array actually comes from recently acquired Huge Systems. "Huge has built a reputation for delivering easy-to-deploy storage gear, which does just what it says it will, and at very reasonable prices," says Pick Hits judge Dan Ochiva. The Huge MediaVault 4212 is also the first implementation of RAID-6, which means that even if two drives were to fail at any one time, you wouldn't lose data. This, in turn, allows digital content creators to build storage arrays out of affordable Serial ATA drives, which, in other contexts, are considered less reliable than SCSI or Fibre Channel drives. Capacity ranges from 1.28TB to 3.2TB. Available mid-summer. Price: starts at $7,378 (www.ciprico.com)

Reel Stream Andromeda

This is probably the first Pick Hit winner that will void your warranty if you install it. Reel Stream Andromeda extracts uncompressed data from DV camcorders, starting with the Panasonic DVX100 and DVX100A. The hardware connects internally to intercept raw CCD data, after digitization and before color-space reduction and compression. This means improved spatial resolution and an increase in color data, dynamic range, and latitude. Shooters also can record to tape normally as the Andromeda hardware intercepts data and records it via USB 2.0 to a hard drive, so that producers essentially have a proxy to edit. Included SculptorHD software processes the data into many popular data formats, compressed and uncompressed. The DVX100A was a great choice for the first supported camera - not only does it have superior optics for a DV camera, but it shoots 24p, an ideal frame rate for an eventual transfer to film. The Reel Stream team configures your camera for you. Available in summer. Price: $2,999 (www.reel-stream.com)

Avid iNews Instinct

We're all doing three people's jobs nowadays, so it's nice that companies like Avid are looking out for those of us whose professional skill sets are not expanding as rapidly as the requirements of our jobs. Avid iNews Instinct is designed for journalists - not professional editors - who are expected to put together rough cuts of stories that include voiceover, text, and video. The unique workspace is oriented vertically, resembling a script and designed to be familiar to the way that journalists work. Instinct's interface is divided into activity panes and includes a script and video story assembler, video monitoring window, access to the newsroom database, and research query and results area. Of course, it's an integrated component of Avid iNews, so a professional craft editor can easily pick up the story down the production chain. Available later this year. Price: $3,995 per seat (www.avid.com)

Stocking Stuffer G-Tech G-Drive (100GB)

Weighing less than 9oz., this DV- or HDV-capable drive is literally small enough to fit in a pocket. It holds up to 100GB yet takes all the power it needs from a FireWire bus - no batteries or AC power needed. Editors on location with no access to a power outlet can still have access to tons of fast storage for backups. The drives feature a fanless cooling system for quiet operation. Attach a G-Drive to your computer, initialize, and you're ready to go. FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0 versions are available. Currently available. Price: $269-$329 (www.g-technology.com)

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