LIVE BLOG – UPDATED CONSTANTLY THROUGHOUT THE DAY AS THE SHOW PROGRESSES!!!
Can anything be more exciting than the first day of the 2016 NAB Show? I doubt it!!! The Broadcast Beat Crews are up and rip – raring to go!!! First things first however – let’s fiddle with these knobs and switches and see what we can get to come up…
Stepping back, look what we can see… The Broadcast Beat news desk – with three very familiar people (or, at least, we will be familiar to you SOON) sitting behind the desk!
Well, well, well… If it isn’t Janet West, Me (Ryan), and Jeff Adams – don’t we look comfy? Hee hee…
Almost airtime! I can’t wait!!! Let’s check-out a bot of the show before showtime, shall we? There’s SO MUCH TO SEE!!!
Can’t make it to #NABShow? Catch #NABShow LIVE online at nabshow.com or broadcastbeat.com 9am PST / 12pm EST – Be there… we’re looking forward to a GREAT Show!
Calling All #NABShow Foodies! Ryan’s top places to eat in #Vegas during the show! www.broadcastbeat.com/nab-show-foodies/
Our #NABShow After-Hours events & party list! www.broadcastbeat.com/2016-nab-show-parties/
Take home a piece of the #NABShow. The NAB Store is open till 6 every night! This is the place for all the “NAB Coolness” – from shirts to banners, and everything NAB! be sure to peruse the wares… There is nothing better than to leave the biggest Broadcaster’s Convention with a token that shows that you were a part of it! Relive the experience again and again with the memorabilia! 🙂 I have a special place for all my souvenirs at my place! Just such a perfect and beautiful reminder of the time I had!!!
From yesterday’s chaos comes today’s calm order. The #nabshow is THE show to see.
Even though the show hasn’t officially begun yet, everyone is about is getting things ready and making everything look just so; it won’t be long now – just about an hour to go! One of the nice things to do is to walk through the show before it opens… It looks all clean and shiny, and knowing that thousands of people will suddenly be let loose within it is an awesome thought. I don’t know about you, but we’ve been ready for days!
I think I’ll head to one of the many cafeterias and see if I can pick up a delicious Starbucks coffee – something else I look forward to at the show! (I wonder if there’s breakfast bagels??? YUM!)
MAKE WAY EVERYONE – I’m comin’ through!!!
Prepping our TVU pack for our live #NABShow broadcast at 9! @TVUNetworks
We are extremely honored to speak with the esteemed Bob Woodruff of ABC News!!!
Alberto Cieri demos the Matrox Monarch LCS lecture capture appliance, an encoder that allows end users to select the data & images they see. Look for it in educational markets for innovative video. The device is designed designed for professional video producers who need to simultaneously stream a live event and record the master quality version for post-event editing. Matrox Monarch HD can stream and record these signals using Matrox MC-100, a versatile SDI to HDMI convertor. See more at: www.matrox.com/video/en/products/monarch_hd/
Nikki with Greg LaPorte at the Sonnet Technologies booth and the world’s fastest external hard drive. The Sonnet Fusion™ Thunderbolt™ 3 PCIe® Flash Drive delivers: Data transfer rates up to 2100 MB/s to support 4K workflows and connects to any Windows PC with a Thunderbolt 3 port! Not only does it fit in the palm of your hand, it’s bus-powered, so it doesn’t need a power adapter. Nikki just couldn’t believe the size and how lightweight this wonderful SSD device is! It’s one thing reading the specs, but it’s entirely a different story when you’re holding it in your hand! Did I mention that it was fast? How’s this for speed: Sonnet designed the Fusion Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Flash Drive around a Gen 3 M.2 PCIe SSD module, the fastest standard SSD type now available. Explore it and more of Sonnet’s products here at this link: www.sonnettech.com/PRODUCT/fusiontb3pcieflashdrive.html
Ryan speaks with Kendall Eckman of Blackmagic_News while checking out their new 4K Duplicator. With this product, you can realtime encode, duplicate and sell Ultra HD content to customers at live events! The SD card duplicator with built in realtime H.265 encoding is the new standard for delivering Ultra HD, and the 4K Duplicator has it! The multi rate 12G-SDI connections let you record in all SD, HD and Ultra HD formats, up to 2160p60, while the H.265 encoding gives you higher quality video in smaller files so you can use smaller and cheaper SD cards. The machined metal design is durable, lightweight and small enough to take anywhere, and compact enough to use a single rack unit. For more information, please go to: www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicduplicator4k
Getting set up for an interview with Bethan Hill from QuicklinkLtd. This is her first interview ever – but she’s doing great! She’s talking about the entire line of Quicklink products, including a wide range of products and solutions that enable high-quality compressed media to be sent from low speed or unstable internet connections. Their solutions enable broadcasters, corporates, multimedia and production services to choose a solution that best suits specific needs and the daily challenges encountered on various applications. Bethan was an outstanding representative and does she know her stuff! A pleasure to meet her! If you can, stop by the Quicklink Booth and say hi! For more on Quicklink products, see: www.quicklink.tv/products/
At NAB, on booth SL8811, Facilis, unveiled some of the new features that will be added in 2016 to its TerraBlock shared storage system for content creation and post production. With 32Gbps Fibre channel connectivity and 12Gbps SAS SSD (Solid State Drive) hardware, Facilis remains the performance leader in shared storage networks. “While SSD technology continues to evolve, Facilis remains focused on best practices for post-production workflows,” said James McKenna, VP of Marketing and Pre Sales at Facilis. “Simply adding high-performance SSD drives to a storage environment is not enough. Using Facilis’ virtual volume system, and hybrid approach with HDDs in a tiered design, Facilis offers proportional bandwidth and throughput equal to the requirements of the job, instead of the overly-complex SSD-caching solutions that can fail to deliver the required bandwidth when it’s most needed.” Discover it firsthand here: facilis.com/facilis-technology-unveils-product-innovations-and-emerging-technologies-at-nab/
Look at everyone at NAB Show! (Recognize anyone?)
Everyone loves #drones! Stop by @djiglobal and check out the new Phantom 4. The sky’s the limit for this high-flyer: fly for 28 minutes (an increase in effective flight time of 25% from the Phantom 3 Professional) and enjoy 3.1mi (5km) of range, with complete control and a live 720p HD view of everything the camera sees. This is possible due to Phantom 4’s magnesium skeleton that reduces weight while keeping stiffness at a maximum to minimize vibration. The new core design lifts the center of gravity closer to the Phantom 4’s heart, improving balance, making it more agile and impressively precise. Drone technology is expanding in leaps and bounds, with more sophistication occurring at an exponential rate! See more at: www.dji.com/product/phantom-4
Here, Steve Israelsky introduces Tightrope Media Systems for multiple image display to Jaime Alexander. Carousel Digital Signage is, in one word, amazing! Carousel is an intelligent digital signage system that is designed with simplicity, security, scalability and economy in mind. Adding high-resolution digital images that can be still or in motion is a brilliant way to add a splash of color that constantly changes – and it’s not only just pretty, it can be informative! You can start with a single display and expand to nearly limitless channels of signage – even in multiple buildings. Ever seen the “You Are Here” maps in the mall? You can add interactivity to your Carousel digital signage system with Carousel Interactive Touch, and have the map not only show the direct path to here in the building you want to go, but also product information and commercials! This is an entirely new approach to the old flat printed signs! See all of the functionality at: www2.trms.com/signage/carousel
Kate was pretty worried when @band_pro asked her to see their
Raptor… thankfully turns out “Raptor” is the name of their line of lenses. Whew!
Nikki has some fun playing with Teltra’s new action cams – Sweet helmet, Nikki! Multi-award winning live point-of-view miniature camera technology for use at sporting events through its Globecam business. Umpirecam??? Sometimes, I think they’re needed, to understand just where the ref is coming from with some of their calls!
While Arby’s might “have the meats,” you can’t convince me – after I see the burger grill at NAB Show! Time for the crews to take a much-deserved break and grab a burger and some fries… I wonder if they have milkshakes? I can tell you THIS – the smell of all those grilling patties has my mouth watering! (I guess that that was the point of setting-up an open grill in the middle of a convention… Hmmm…) In any event, it definitely is working on me! I wish this blog had “Smell-O-Vision” – I’d certainly send along the heavenly aroma!!! Bon Appetit!
We’re here at #NABShow at the @bitcentral booth with Ron Rosenthal, talking about what’s been happening recently with their acquisition of Fission Software. While Bitcentral already provides technologies for streamlining and unifying new production, the range of technologies it can offer broadcasters is now expanded. “This acquisition is a critical component of the strategic plan we have mapped out for Bitcentral and provides the range of solutions that our customers have been asking for,” said Fred Fourcher, founder and CEO of Bitcentral, Inc. “The companies share the vision to provide trans-formative solutions that streamline, unify and extend broadcast and media operations through innovative, easy-to-use software and an exceptional customer experience.” NOW, what do we have here??? LOOK DOWN!!!
I’m definitely rubbing elbows with “royalty” at this year’s Show! That’s me with NAB President Gordon Smith (above, L) and me with legendary producer Chuck Lorre (above, R), who won an award at NAB!
One of the things that caught my eye was Brainstorm’s Infinifty Set – a virtual reality solution that provides graphics integration and trackfree technology, as well as other features that just boosts Infinity Set up to a superior level. Infinity Set is the most advanced solution for broadcast design and virtual set production. It combines the raw power of the eStudio engine and the simplicity of use of EasySet to create a new environment for next-generation cross-media broadcast requirements. It is designed to cope with any need from advanced tracked virtual sets to inexpensive trackless environments, and seamlessly integrates 3D graphics in the Virtual Set. Check-out this and other products at: www.brainstorm.es/products/infinity-set/
Chris Scurto of ZeeVee, talks about the HDBridge3000 – the newest in its line of video and signal distribution technology. The HDBridge3000 is a high density, small footprint system for broadcasters to distribute HD and SD video throughout their facilities in a compact 3 RU chassis. “The new HDBridge3000 video distribution solution provides hot swappable fans and power supplies with a slot for command control and 12 customizable input slots. This makes it ideal for commercial grade video distribution applications,” said Chris Scurto, vice president, marketing and North American sales, ZeeVee. “We have no doubt that the increase in channel density and unparalleled flexibility, combined with an intuitive, yet powerful management system and better price per channel performance, will be a winner with broadcasters and entertainment venues alike,” he added. See what the HDBridge can do for you at: www.zeevee.com/blog/nab-broadcast-market-hdbridge3000/
Our own Janet West is right at home behind the Desk, taking her turn at hosting NABShow LIVE!



Finally, here I am on BeTerrificTV!! – a terrific end to a terrific Day One of the 2016 NAB Show!
There’s just too much show for one day, and we’ve run out of time. I hope you enjoyed our production as much as we did! Time to unwind and see what the city has to offer – check-out the NAB Show Party List – I hope to see you at some of the events tonight! Remember to stay blogged-in and tune-in tomorrow for more of Broadcast Beat’s 2016 NAB Show coverage! GOOD NIGHT, and thank you for watching!