Barry_Green
04-13-2008, 02:02 PM
Hey folks, I'm typing here from the Panasonic press conference. I'll update you as anything new gets announced...
1:04 - still waiting. Place is packed.
1:05 - we just got told to turn off all our electronic devices. I ain't gonna.
1:06 - opening video. Direct reference to filmmakers, which is cool. Lots of home stuff, environmental initiatives, IPTV, interactive whiteboards, blah blah blah. Where's the new HVX? heh. :)
1:08 - Jim Wickizer, Nat'l Manager of Marketing Services is on.
Talking about leadership in solid-state production and broadcasting. He's promising a host of new product introductions.
1:09 - He's introducing John Baisley, president of Panasonic Broadcast. Claims that this is a time of clear industry leadership, including DVCPRO-HD, the VariCam, and now P2HD. Panasonic Broadcast had solid revenue increases for the sixth consecutive year.
Matsushita is changing its name to Panasonic Corporation.
By 2011, Panasonic pledges to reduce CO2 emissions to the level they were at in 2001.
Goal is to complete all P2HD repairs within 24 hours.
Says the 17" LCD has become the "de facto standard" in production monitors.
1:16 - switchers, studio cameras, etc. Where's the new HVX? Still waiting... (impatiently!)
1:17 - Gretzky says "skate where the puck will be, not where it is." He says that describes their idea for introducing P2. More than 80,000 P2 units in use worldwide, including 840+ television networks and stations.
In addition to adoption of P2 by all Fox stations and the Fox Business Channel, Fox News is converting everything to P2HD. The Gray Television Group (21 stations) converting to P2HD by year's end. ABC's flagship station KABC in Los Angeles has bought 28 P2HD cameras and 37 P2 Mobiles. The Meredith group has adopted P2HD for all 12 of its stations, over 250 P2HD camcorders. Reuters has adopted P2HD for its global network of news bureaus, with over 100 HPX2000 cameras. P2HD will be the official recording format of the Beijing Olympics, over 100 camcorders and 250+ P2 recorders. First-ever all-HD coverage of the Olympics.
1:20 - introducing 4th generation of P2 camcorders. Main advancement last year was the introduction of AVC-Intra, "the industry's finest recording format." The HPX3000 has just been certified by Discovery HD at its highest rating, Gold. National Geographic Films will be showing some stuff from the 3000 here later.
1:22 - P2 Capacity will double every year. Today they're introducing the 64GB card. P2 capacity has quadrupled within the last year. Says "No other tape or optical format can come close to the recording times of P2."
1:23 - AVCCAM. Says it's a new range of products. What the heck is AVCCAM?
1:24 - Joe Facchini, Director of Product Marketing. VariCam was first introduced 10 years ago. Lots of P2 cameras have been introduced since, so...
1:25 - TWO new VariCams. AJ-HPX2700 and AJ-HPX3700. Everything the VariCam was, plus 10-bit AVC-Intra 4:2:2 recording, P2HD recording, HD-SDI output of 23.98 and 23.98PsF, Film Rec, 1-frame intervals for variable frame rates, Chromatic Aberration Compensation, Dynamic Range Stretch, Full color matrix control and color correction. 3700 = 2/3" 2.2mpix CCDs, 4:4:4 RGB Dual-Link 1080 output (and can record 4:2:2 simultanouesly). HD-only, no SD. AVC-Intra 100, AVC-Intra 50, and DVCPRO-HD in 1080 only, no 720, 1fps increments up to 30P, plus 1080/60i.
VariCam 2700 gets 1mpix 2/3" CCDs. 720 & 1080, no SD, two HD-SDI outputs, 1-frame increments up to 60fps in 720p.
With five 64GB cards, the 3700 records for 5 hours, 6.5 hours in 1080/24pN, 13+ hours in AVCI-50 @ 1080/24pN.
Available this fall.
1:29 - AJ-HPM110 P2 Mobile. Turns your older VariCam into a full P2 system including 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra at full raster.
1:29 - New companies supporting AVC-Intra: Apple FCP 6.0.2, Rhozet, Harris, and Thomson. Harris has AVC-Intra native editing in new Velocity and Nexio. Thomson will show AVC-Intra editing in Aurora NLE's.
1:30 Patrick McLean, Director of Product Marketing for Avid. "Avid and Panasonic go back a long way, it's a close collaboration, we meet together often." Very proud of the workflows they have today for P2/DVCPRO-HD integration. Native MXF editing directly off the P2 cards, brings the metadata directly into the bins off the P2 cards. Two new important developments:
1) Next release of Symphony, MC, and NewsCutter will have native import and native editing of AVC-Intra50 and AVC-Intra100.
2) Tomorrow, will be introducing a whole new line of editing products. "These are gonna substantially enhance the type of performance that you can realize from Panasonic products. Remarkable performance increases. No rendering, direct output."
1:33 "This is just another step on the road. We look forward to a long relationship with Panasonic and continuing to improve, etc..."
1:34 Joe Facchini - HVX200 has been used on a gamut of professional productions. Most satisfying production may be the Wounded Marine Career Foundation. (www.woundedmarinecareers.org (http://www.woundedmarinecareers.org)). Marines train on HVX200s. Introducing the program's founders, Kevin and Judith. Panasonic is bringing the program to the press's attention because the press has the power to bring this program's existence to the world. Cool of Panasonic.
1:36 - the AG-HPX170! Looks like a new HVX. Weighs only 4.2 pounds -- MUCH lighter! Wider-angle lens, 3.9mm to 51mm. 1080P-capable camcorder, new advanced 1/3" 16:9 CCDs, high-performance DSP, 14-bit processing. 20 HD & SD formats, 16:9 and 4:3, time-date stamp function for legal deposition. 20 variable frame rates. Two P2 slots. Available in the fall, covered by 5-year warranty. HD-SDI output.
1:38 - P2 Gear HPG10. Sounds unchanged, see my prior article/review.
1:38 - new PCD35 ExpressCard drive. Looks like the PCD20 five-slot reader, but instead of USB or firewire it uses ExpressCard. Promises "faster, more convenient file transfer workflow with the latest generation of expresscard computers." Available this winter at the same price as the PCD20.
1:39 - Mike Bergeron, P2 Partner guy. Apple, Avid, Adobe, Harris, Qantel, and Thomson Grass Valley all support P2HD already. 27 partner companies for P2 and DVCPRO-HD support up to this NAB. Other companies now joining. Fuji recently announced P2 cards. Hitachi is adopting P2 for its SK-1000 high-definition cameras! A transmission server for P2 file transfer is coming as well. So that makes 29 partners. Oooh, 30 partners: AutoDesk!
1:41 Stig Gruman, from AutoDesk. $2 billion software company, with 9 million users. 2 million students per year learn these programs. Flint, Flame, Inferno, Smoke, Maya, 3DS Max. CNN, Fox, Sony Pictures, ILM, Weta all use AutoDesk stuff. "Great relationship with Panasonic." The industry's becoming tapeless, demand for P2 media support is "really high." We've been interested since the introduction, but after the HPX3000 was introduced, our customers really started asking. We've partnered with Panasonic. New versions of Smoke, Inferno, Flame, and Flint 2009 releases all fully support P2 media! No transcoding, no media duplication. Eliminates first offloading to tape. Realtime playback from P2 media in all modes. We've delivered on what our customers are asking for.
1:45 - Joe Facchini: BT-LH1760 widescreen monitor. 120Hz double-speed drive, advanced I{S+ panel. "Reduces image blur to a level never before seen in this class." Vectorscope, waveform monitor, pixel-to-pixel matching. Ships this month, at $4500.
1:47 - HD system cameras. AW-HE100 pan/tilt camera head all-in-one. Wireless remote control handles up to 4 cameras.
1:48 - HKC1800N 2.2mpix multi-purpose camera. Box camera. News studio, weather/traffic forecasting, unique sports angles. Ships this month @ $28,000.
1:49 - AV-HS400 HD/SD switcher. "Best value ever in a switcher." 10-bit, HD & SD, DVE, chroma key, 4 SDI inputs/outputs, 8 HD, SD, and DV I/O's, can convert all inputs to high def, can view 10 HD signals on one single screen, no other switcher in this price range can do. Comparable products are around $30,000+; this is $10,990.
1:50 - VP of Marketing Bob Harris. "How do we address the needs of thousands of users (schools, churches, government, law enforcement, event videographers) who can't necessarily afford to migrate to P2 or other HD systems?" Panasonic's solution is file-based, solid-state recording of AVC-HD. "Same compression used in blu-ray players." New, advanced industry standard format. Basis for the new professional AVCCAM product line. Uses readily-available and affordable SD and SDHC cards just like digital still cameras use it to record pictures. Content can be transferred to a PC for playback, editing, or storage; or it can be inserted into the SD card slot of a blu-ray player, a compatible plasma display, or any compatible AVC-HD products. Eliminates the need for a special format deck and the time required for ingesting, fast forwarding, rewinding like older HDV products. Allows recording much longer than any tape, and upgrading that recording time as SD cards grow in capacity and decline in costs. Panasonic is shipping 32GB SD card in June. Eliminates the problem of relying on proprietary tape or decks that may be obsolete in the next few years.
AVCCAM offers significant improvements in quality at half the bitrate of HDV. Amazing full 1080 quality on the same reusable SD cards as your digital still camera. Brought the quality up a notch with a new exclusive 21 megabit mode 1920x1080 at amazing quality.
FCP, Pinnacle Studio, GV Edius editing platforms.
1:55 - AVCCAM for institutional and budget-conscious videographers. AG-HSC1 was first in the line. This month the HMC70 ships. 3-CCD, lightweight, shoulder-mount design, widescreen 1080i HD recording, 12x Leica Dicomar zoom lens, a range of professional interface connections like BNC component outputs and XLR inputs. HD requires highly accurate focus and stable shooting; the HMC70 offers image stabilization and a rapid autofocus. Captures still images even while recording moving video. Time/date stamp, pre-record, USB, HDMI, and component connections, 3.5" LCD. Delivering this month at $2495 MSRP.
1:57 - HMC150! New, full 1/3" 3-CCD handheld camcorder. Looks like it's very similar to the DVX form factor. Versatile, solid-state, affordable HD camcorder that will exceed your expectations. Stunning HD in four recording modes: 21, 17, 13, and 6 mbps. Full horizontal resolution images at 21, 17, and 13 mbps (1920x1080) and 6mbps = 1440x1080 for extended HD recording times. Supports a range of frame rates in both 1080 and 720 (24p, 30p, 60p/60i). Incorporates three 1/3" "production quality" CCD imagers, 19-bit processing, 14-bit DSP, 13x Leica Dicomar 3.9mm zoom lens, manual/auto focus and aperture operation, a range of selectable gamma functions for use in cine-style productions. Using a single 32GB card you can record 2.5 hours of 1920x1080 21mbps, or 12 hours of 6mbps video. Content can be played back directly on a growing number of affordable consumer players. Priced "under $4500" available this fall.
AVCCAM is the next generation in affordable HD camcorders; makes HD as easy to use as your digital still camera.
2:01 - Chris Miller, Head of Production and Post-Production for National Geographic Films. This is the company that brought us the academy-award-winning March of the Penguins. Shot their newest film on the HPX3000, in Botswana. They "love" this camera. This film will be released theatrically in both film and digital projection. "I have to say, it was amazing how much flexibility we had in grading, the best I've ever used by far in HD." Nat Geo Society produces these films for commercial entertainment but also to raise awareness for the conservation of these animals. The lions we're about to see have dwindled from 50,000 down to 5,000 today.
Clip is playing. "Dereck & Beverly Joubert" are the filmmakers. HOLY CANNOLI this looks frickin' amazing! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. National Geographic on steroids. Beautiful. Awesome. Now I know what I wanna do when I grow up - I want to shoot for National Geographic Films. Breathtaking.
Sheesh. That does it. Kevin Railsback, pack your bags, I'm grabbing an HPX3000 and we're goin' to Africa. Geez this is good.
2:08 - They're handing out gifts to all the P2 Partner companies. Avid, AutoDesk, Apple, Adobe, Harris, Focus Enhancements, Hitachi, Rhozet, Omneon, Quantel, SGI, Fujifilm, Thompson Grass Valley, Microsoft, Nexio servers, Bit Central, NLG, MainConcept, EVS, For-A, and a bunch more.
2:12 - Okay, they're taking photos, and that's boring, so: AVCCAM? Weird. Why not AVCPRO? DVCPRO = AVCPRO, right? Sheesh, missed opportunity.
2:15 - Jim Wickizer again, thanks and goodbye.
Okay, now this is weird. What about the HVX200A? Mentioned in that other magazine ad, but no mention on the stage. Maybe they figure it's a streamlined introduction, not groundbreaking like the HPX170.
HPX170 looks very cool. It's so small! It's a little bigger than the 150, a lot smaller than the 200. Much lighter, and it's not a big puffy fatboy like the 200. Very easy to handhold. And get this: a six-pin firewire port! (you hearin' me, David S? Six-pin! Sweet!) It's got HD-SDI and 8 positions on the scene file dial, and they got rid of that stupid component connector, instead it has a small mini-D connector (more like I recall the Sony FX1 having). Seems like a step up. This model on display isn't a functional model, but inside the LCD it's got the WFM button as shown in the 150's pictures.
And it's got a menu navigation pad more like the DVX100's, with a little joystick. I think I like that -- no more complaints of the buttons being arranged 90 degrees off angle.
Actually, the 150 and the 170 look very much identical. Same lens markings (3.9 to 51mm), same buttons, oooh -- three filter settings (1/8, 1/16, and 1/64). Very nice. No firewire output on the 150, but that makes sense as AVC doesn't do streaming anyway. It's got USB though. 150 has an HDMI port. One SD slot, the 170 has two P2 slots. HVX200 was 5.8 pounds, the HPX170 is 4.2 pounds, that's dramatically lighter. Overall, very cool. No mention of 50/60Hz switchable, so I'll have to chase 'em down in the booth for more info.
1:04 - still waiting. Place is packed.
1:05 - we just got told to turn off all our electronic devices. I ain't gonna.
1:06 - opening video. Direct reference to filmmakers, which is cool. Lots of home stuff, environmental initiatives, IPTV, interactive whiteboards, blah blah blah. Where's the new HVX? heh. :)
1:08 - Jim Wickizer, Nat'l Manager of Marketing Services is on.
Talking about leadership in solid-state production and broadcasting. He's promising a host of new product introductions.
1:09 - He's introducing John Baisley, president of Panasonic Broadcast. Claims that this is a time of clear industry leadership, including DVCPRO-HD, the VariCam, and now P2HD. Panasonic Broadcast had solid revenue increases for the sixth consecutive year.
Matsushita is changing its name to Panasonic Corporation.
By 2011, Panasonic pledges to reduce CO2 emissions to the level they were at in 2001.
Goal is to complete all P2HD repairs within 24 hours.
Says the 17" LCD has become the "de facto standard" in production monitors.
1:16 - switchers, studio cameras, etc. Where's the new HVX? Still waiting... (impatiently!)
1:17 - Gretzky says "skate where the puck will be, not where it is." He says that describes their idea for introducing P2. More than 80,000 P2 units in use worldwide, including 840+ television networks and stations.
In addition to adoption of P2 by all Fox stations and the Fox Business Channel, Fox News is converting everything to P2HD. The Gray Television Group (21 stations) converting to P2HD by year's end. ABC's flagship station KABC in Los Angeles has bought 28 P2HD cameras and 37 P2 Mobiles. The Meredith group has adopted P2HD for all 12 of its stations, over 250 P2HD camcorders. Reuters has adopted P2HD for its global network of news bureaus, with over 100 HPX2000 cameras. P2HD will be the official recording format of the Beijing Olympics, over 100 camcorders and 250+ P2 recorders. First-ever all-HD coverage of the Olympics.
1:20 - introducing 4th generation of P2 camcorders. Main advancement last year was the introduction of AVC-Intra, "the industry's finest recording format." The HPX3000 has just been certified by Discovery HD at its highest rating, Gold. National Geographic Films will be showing some stuff from the 3000 here later.
1:22 - P2 Capacity will double every year. Today they're introducing the 64GB card. P2 capacity has quadrupled within the last year. Says "No other tape or optical format can come close to the recording times of P2."
1:23 - AVCCAM. Says it's a new range of products. What the heck is AVCCAM?
1:24 - Joe Facchini, Director of Product Marketing. VariCam was first introduced 10 years ago. Lots of P2 cameras have been introduced since, so...
1:25 - TWO new VariCams. AJ-HPX2700 and AJ-HPX3700. Everything the VariCam was, plus 10-bit AVC-Intra 4:2:2 recording, P2HD recording, HD-SDI output of 23.98 and 23.98PsF, Film Rec, 1-frame intervals for variable frame rates, Chromatic Aberration Compensation, Dynamic Range Stretch, Full color matrix control and color correction. 3700 = 2/3" 2.2mpix CCDs, 4:4:4 RGB Dual-Link 1080 output (and can record 4:2:2 simultanouesly). HD-only, no SD. AVC-Intra 100, AVC-Intra 50, and DVCPRO-HD in 1080 only, no 720, 1fps increments up to 30P, plus 1080/60i.
VariCam 2700 gets 1mpix 2/3" CCDs. 720 & 1080, no SD, two HD-SDI outputs, 1-frame increments up to 60fps in 720p.
With five 64GB cards, the 3700 records for 5 hours, 6.5 hours in 1080/24pN, 13+ hours in AVCI-50 @ 1080/24pN.
Available this fall.
1:29 - AJ-HPM110 P2 Mobile. Turns your older VariCam into a full P2 system including 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra at full raster.
1:29 - New companies supporting AVC-Intra: Apple FCP 6.0.2, Rhozet, Harris, and Thomson. Harris has AVC-Intra native editing in new Velocity and Nexio. Thomson will show AVC-Intra editing in Aurora NLE's.
1:30 Patrick McLean, Director of Product Marketing for Avid. "Avid and Panasonic go back a long way, it's a close collaboration, we meet together often." Very proud of the workflows they have today for P2/DVCPRO-HD integration. Native MXF editing directly off the P2 cards, brings the metadata directly into the bins off the P2 cards. Two new important developments:
1) Next release of Symphony, MC, and NewsCutter will have native import and native editing of AVC-Intra50 and AVC-Intra100.
2) Tomorrow, will be introducing a whole new line of editing products. "These are gonna substantially enhance the type of performance that you can realize from Panasonic products. Remarkable performance increases. No rendering, direct output."
1:33 "This is just another step on the road. We look forward to a long relationship with Panasonic and continuing to improve, etc..."
1:34 Joe Facchini - HVX200 has been used on a gamut of professional productions. Most satisfying production may be the Wounded Marine Career Foundation. (www.woundedmarinecareers.org (http://www.woundedmarinecareers.org)). Marines train on HVX200s. Introducing the program's founders, Kevin and Judith. Panasonic is bringing the program to the press's attention because the press has the power to bring this program's existence to the world. Cool of Panasonic.
1:36 - the AG-HPX170! Looks like a new HVX. Weighs only 4.2 pounds -- MUCH lighter! Wider-angle lens, 3.9mm to 51mm. 1080P-capable camcorder, new advanced 1/3" 16:9 CCDs, high-performance DSP, 14-bit processing. 20 HD & SD formats, 16:9 and 4:3, time-date stamp function for legal deposition. 20 variable frame rates. Two P2 slots. Available in the fall, covered by 5-year warranty. HD-SDI output.
1:38 - P2 Gear HPG10. Sounds unchanged, see my prior article/review.
1:38 - new PCD35 ExpressCard drive. Looks like the PCD20 five-slot reader, but instead of USB or firewire it uses ExpressCard. Promises "faster, more convenient file transfer workflow with the latest generation of expresscard computers." Available this winter at the same price as the PCD20.
1:39 - Mike Bergeron, P2 Partner guy. Apple, Avid, Adobe, Harris, Qantel, and Thomson Grass Valley all support P2HD already. 27 partner companies for P2 and DVCPRO-HD support up to this NAB. Other companies now joining. Fuji recently announced P2 cards. Hitachi is adopting P2 for its SK-1000 high-definition cameras! A transmission server for P2 file transfer is coming as well. So that makes 29 partners. Oooh, 30 partners: AutoDesk!
1:41 Stig Gruman, from AutoDesk. $2 billion software company, with 9 million users. 2 million students per year learn these programs. Flint, Flame, Inferno, Smoke, Maya, 3DS Max. CNN, Fox, Sony Pictures, ILM, Weta all use AutoDesk stuff. "Great relationship with Panasonic." The industry's becoming tapeless, demand for P2 media support is "really high." We've been interested since the introduction, but after the HPX3000 was introduced, our customers really started asking. We've partnered with Panasonic. New versions of Smoke, Inferno, Flame, and Flint 2009 releases all fully support P2 media! No transcoding, no media duplication. Eliminates first offloading to tape. Realtime playback from P2 media in all modes. We've delivered on what our customers are asking for.
1:45 - Joe Facchini: BT-LH1760 widescreen monitor. 120Hz double-speed drive, advanced I{S+ panel. "Reduces image blur to a level never before seen in this class." Vectorscope, waveform monitor, pixel-to-pixel matching. Ships this month, at $4500.
1:47 - HD system cameras. AW-HE100 pan/tilt camera head all-in-one. Wireless remote control handles up to 4 cameras.
1:48 - HKC1800N 2.2mpix multi-purpose camera. Box camera. News studio, weather/traffic forecasting, unique sports angles. Ships this month @ $28,000.
1:49 - AV-HS400 HD/SD switcher. "Best value ever in a switcher." 10-bit, HD & SD, DVE, chroma key, 4 SDI inputs/outputs, 8 HD, SD, and DV I/O's, can convert all inputs to high def, can view 10 HD signals on one single screen, no other switcher in this price range can do. Comparable products are around $30,000+; this is $10,990.
1:50 - VP of Marketing Bob Harris. "How do we address the needs of thousands of users (schools, churches, government, law enforcement, event videographers) who can't necessarily afford to migrate to P2 or other HD systems?" Panasonic's solution is file-based, solid-state recording of AVC-HD. "Same compression used in blu-ray players." New, advanced industry standard format. Basis for the new professional AVCCAM product line. Uses readily-available and affordable SD and SDHC cards just like digital still cameras use it to record pictures. Content can be transferred to a PC for playback, editing, or storage; or it can be inserted into the SD card slot of a blu-ray player, a compatible plasma display, or any compatible AVC-HD products. Eliminates the need for a special format deck and the time required for ingesting, fast forwarding, rewinding like older HDV products. Allows recording much longer than any tape, and upgrading that recording time as SD cards grow in capacity and decline in costs. Panasonic is shipping 32GB SD card in June. Eliminates the problem of relying on proprietary tape or decks that may be obsolete in the next few years.
AVCCAM offers significant improvements in quality at half the bitrate of HDV. Amazing full 1080 quality on the same reusable SD cards as your digital still camera. Brought the quality up a notch with a new exclusive 21 megabit mode 1920x1080 at amazing quality.
FCP, Pinnacle Studio, GV Edius editing platforms.
1:55 - AVCCAM for institutional and budget-conscious videographers. AG-HSC1 was first in the line. This month the HMC70 ships. 3-CCD, lightweight, shoulder-mount design, widescreen 1080i HD recording, 12x Leica Dicomar zoom lens, a range of professional interface connections like BNC component outputs and XLR inputs. HD requires highly accurate focus and stable shooting; the HMC70 offers image stabilization and a rapid autofocus. Captures still images even while recording moving video. Time/date stamp, pre-record, USB, HDMI, and component connections, 3.5" LCD. Delivering this month at $2495 MSRP.
1:57 - HMC150! New, full 1/3" 3-CCD handheld camcorder. Looks like it's very similar to the DVX form factor. Versatile, solid-state, affordable HD camcorder that will exceed your expectations. Stunning HD in four recording modes: 21, 17, 13, and 6 mbps. Full horizontal resolution images at 21, 17, and 13 mbps (1920x1080) and 6mbps = 1440x1080 for extended HD recording times. Supports a range of frame rates in both 1080 and 720 (24p, 30p, 60p/60i). Incorporates three 1/3" "production quality" CCD imagers, 19-bit processing, 14-bit DSP, 13x Leica Dicomar 3.9mm zoom lens, manual/auto focus and aperture operation, a range of selectable gamma functions for use in cine-style productions. Using a single 32GB card you can record 2.5 hours of 1920x1080 21mbps, or 12 hours of 6mbps video. Content can be played back directly on a growing number of affordable consumer players. Priced "under $4500" available this fall.
AVCCAM is the next generation in affordable HD camcorders; makes HD as easy to use as your digital still camera.
2:01 - Chris Miller, Head of Production and Post-Production for National Geographic Films. This is the company that brought us the academy-award-winning March of the Penguins. Shot their newest film on the HPX3000, in Botswana. They "love" this camera. This film will be released theatrically in both film and digital projection. "I have to say, it was amazing how much flexibility we had in grading, the best I've ever used by far in HD." Nat Geo Society produces these films for commercial entertainment but also to raise awareness for the conservation of these animals. The lions we're about to see have dwindled from 50,000 down to 5,000 today.
Clip is playing. "Dereck & Beverly Joubert" are the filmmakers. HOLY CANNOLI this looks frickin' amazing! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. National Geographic on steroids. Beautiful. Awesome. Now I know what I wanna do when I grow up - I want to shoot for National Geographic Films. Breathtaking.
Sheesh. That does it. Kevin Railsback, pack your bags, I'm grabbing an HPX3000 and we're goin' to Africa. Geez this is good.
2:08 - They're handing out gifts to all the P2 Partner companies. Avid, AutoDesk, Apple, Adobe, Harris, Focus Enhancements, Hitachi, Rhozet, Omneon, Quantel, SGI, Fujifilm, Thompson Grass Valley, Microsoft, Nexio servers, Bit Central, NLG, MainConcept, EVS, For-A, and a bunch more.
2:12 - Okay, they're taking photos, and that's boring, so: AVCCAM? Weird. Why not AVCPRO? DVCPRO = AVCPRO, right? Sheesh, missed opportunity.
2:15 - Jim Wickizer again, thanks and goodbye.
Okay, now this is weird. What about the HVX200A? Mentioned in that other magazine ad, but no mention on the stage. Maybe they figure it's a streamlined introduction, not groundbreaking like the HPX170.
HPX170 looks very cool. It's so small! It's a little bigger than the 150, a lot smaller than the 200. Much lighter, and it's not a big puffy fatboy like the 200. Very easy to handhold. And get this: a six-pin firewire port! (you hearin' me, David S? Six-pin! Sweet!) It's got HD-SDI and 8 positions on the scene file dial, and they got rid of that stupid component connector, instead it has a small mini-D connector (more like I recall the Sony FX1 having). Seems like a step up. This model on display isn't a functional model, but inside the LCD it's got the WFM button as shown in the 150's pictures.
And it's got a menu navigation pad more like the DVX100's, with a little joystick. I think I like that -- no more complaints of the buttons being arranged 90 degrees off angle.
Actually, the 150 and the 170 look very much identical. Same lens markings (3.9 to 51mm), same buttons, oooh -- three filter settings (1/8, 1/16, and 1/64). Very nice. No firewire output on the 150, but that makes sense as AVC doesn't do streaming anyway. It's got USB though. 150 has an HDMI port. One SD slot, the 170 has two P2 slots. HVX200 was 5.8 pounds, the HPX170 is 4.2 pounds, that's dramatically lighter. Overall, very cool. No mention of 50/60Hz switchable, so I'll have to chase 'em down in the booth for more info.