NAB 2014 Wrap-Up

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 6:26pm

NABShow NABshow has disbanded for another year, leaving nothing but scattered press releases and the faint aroma of mag tape in the air. Come with us then, friend, and relive the magic through videos and staff picks.

Dan Joseph, Sales

Orca Bags look to be a great new player to the bag market. Their audio bags, as well as camera bags, backpacks, etc, are rigid, light, and ergonomically. They have almost everything you would want in a audio bag. Orca told us the changes they plan to make to the prototypes and are interested in feedback from the end user.

K-Tek's new harness for the Stingray may be the last harness you need. It is built with a metal frame and transfer weight to your hips, like a hiking backpack. Universal fit, the only con is that it is meant to work with the Stingray, but I am sure we can adapt it for use with other bags.

Phonak has a remote link in the pipeline that lets your pair your smartphone via Bluetooth to a transmitter that will broadcast to an Invisity. Phone -> SmartLink (I think that's the name) -> Invisity. This makes doing undercover reality shows much easier. And the SmartLink has a on-board mic that can broadcast back to your phone.

NAB 2014 - Orca Bags

Paul Padilla, Rentals

Check out Orca Bags! They are a rigid design but surprisingly light! Orca also makes an awesome harness with built in iPhone charger.

Also keep an eye out for PortaBrace. They have been revamping their audio bags and I like their progress!

Natalie Lowe, Sales

My NAB pick is the Lectrosonics's L Series. Their own wideband contribution to the growing movement features mini USB ports to enable firmware updates from home or in the field. With both a fixed antenna transmitter and a higher power switchable-option I see their new wireless reaching out to a greater number of production flows small and large alike. The LR's LCD screen has deep detail and the widebandfrequencyscan is super intuitive. There is also and infrared sync emitter to quickly set the new transmitters, which also featurethe same screen. Aimed at ENG, 4K and DSLR users this won't compete with a 411a but "comes pretty close". See my video with Karl Winkler for more details!

NAB 2014 - Lectrosonics Part I

Sal Barra, Sales

Wisycom, Wisycom, Wisycom.

NAB 2014 - Wisycom

Peter Schneider

I was excited about the developments from Ambient and Timecode Systems LTD - the promise of shared metadata seamlessly flowing between both production and post-production departments is within reach. I am particularly interested to see how automatic proxy video playback is handled on set.

But what struck me the most when shooting and editing the videos this year was the incredible passion behind the products. The excitement in the eyes of Ambient's Yannic Hieber, PSC's Ron Meyer telling us the best ideas for products come from customers, the intensity of Orca's Offer Menache, the incredible knowledge and vision of James Stoffo, and the sweetness of Rycote's Odette Davies' family, just to name a few. It was a very humbling experience.