NAB Show 2024: Massive post-show roundup

Strap in for a fairly Brobdingnagian round up of all the essential news from NAB 2024, including: RED & Nikon, Miller Tripods, Accsoon, Lightbridge, 7Artisans, Colorfront, Hedge, SmallHD, Lawo, FilmLight, Western Digital, Colourlab AI, SSL, and DPA Microphones.

One of the images of the show for us was the one at the top of this piece which gave us a decent view into how RED will be folded into the Nikon family, at least as far as initial marketing goes. It wasn’t the biggest stand at the show — and with prices starting at $50 per square foot, who can blame them — but it will be fascinating to watch how this all evolves over the next few years. And yes, years is what we’re talking about.

““Both companies working together and injecting their technologies together is starting now, but will take a few years to release. It will take time. So new products will use RED features and technologies as well as Nikon’s. Nikon mirrorless cameras will integrate features of RED cameras, too,” new RED CEO Keiji Oishii told PetaPixel during the show.

Moving on, the SkyFX 9 is an updated version of Miller Tripod’s SkyX 8, and comes equipped with pan and tilt positioning encoders to satisfy customers’ requests for a larger capacity live VR fluid head that can accommodate larger lenses and cameras. The SkyFX 9’s 40kg (88lbs) capacity head boasts 16 positions of counterbalance and 7 +0 positions of drag. It is fitted with an ARRI style side loading camera plate capable of 150mm travel. The SkyFX 9 employs non-contact high-resolution magnetic encoders with pan resolution of 2.1 million and tilt resolution of 1.05 million. The tripod attachment is a 150mm clawball, however, an optional Mitchell-base may be used if desired.

Miller Tripod’s SkyX 8

The CineView 2 is the latest addition to Accsoon's CineView product family. Expanding on the company’s US patented 2.4GHz+5GHz Dual-Band technology and featuring an all-new antenna design, the CineView 2 can seamlessly transmit 1080P 60fps video and audio signals across a 1500ft (450m) line of sight range, all while maintaining an impressively low latency of under 50ms. Each CineView 2 transmitter can wirelessly send the video to up to four dedicated CineView receiver units and smart devices ( both iOS and Android).

Lightbridge has created a new Cine Reflect Lighting System kit. Selected with input from top DoPs and lighting designers, the new C-Move Core features 100% authentic CRLS components, hand-crafted in Vienna. It offers various light shaping configurations: DIFF 1 Hard circular light ray, DIFF 2 Medium circular light ray, and Diff 3 Soft circular light ray. Everything fits in the waterproof ultra-organized padded Movebag with shoulder strap, which safely stores the collection in smartly positioned compartments, along with extra space for grip gear and ample space to grow. Inside are the most asked-for Precision Reflectors in neoprene sleeves: 15x15cm (DIFF 1-3), 25x25cm (DIFF 1-3), 50x50cm (DIFF 1-3), 2 each C-Wheel Receivers and cables, 2 each Rigging and Safety Wedges, a black C-Pouch, and extra cleaning aids.

Lightbridge's Cine Reflect Lighting System kit

7Artisans has released the 50mm F1.4 APS-C Tilt Shift Lens, which is available from Amazon and elsewhere. It features 7 elements in 6 groups, weighs only 364g, has a de-clicked Aperture ring, and a 46°Angle of view. “Its wide F1.4 aperture and shift axis is unparalleled, allowing you to explore new dimensions in photography,” says the company. Mounts available are E/X/M43

Colorfront was off the show floor an in a hotel suite as usual, but those that hiked out to see the company got to see new Dolby Vision features enabling content owners to leverage their asset catalogs, AI tools that accelerate the QC processes, plus automation and connectivity applications powered via a newly-enhanced Colorfront Engine. This has been updated to further optimize color volume remapping and the rendering of extreme colors in new digital cameras, including the Sony Burano and ARRI Alexa 35. Along with Colorfront’s own product line, Colorfront Engine is also integrated into AJA’s popular, compact, high-performance FS-HDR and Colorbox convertors for color-managed workflows in broadcast, live events, and on-set applications. 

Lots of new stuff from Hedge. PostLab 2.0 has a revamped command center engineered to streamline collaboration, supporting a wide array of creative apps and featuring a perpetual license model. There’s a sneak peek of Mimiq 24.2, with some interesting new features including Bin Refresh and NEXIS-coexistence with Mimiq 24.2 currently in Beta. Simplify LTO backup solutions with Canister Pro, featuring support for tape libraries and simultaneous backups with multiple drives. And Arctic, formerly known as Final Cut Library Manager, joins the hedge family and receives a comprehensive makeover with essential fixes and enhancements, including a new license model. There are updates to OffShoot, FoolCat & EditReady as well.Busy old show for them.

We wrote about the SmallHD Quantum 32 Quantum Dot OLED HDR Reference Monitor when it was announced. Developed by Samsung Display, QD-OLEDs direct high-energy light from blue organic LED (OLED) into a layer of printed red and green quantum dots. The quantum dots are optimized for maximum light transmission; when the quantum dot sub-pixels are excited by blue light, they become photoluminescent, emitting very pure red and green light while the blue light is directly passed through. The result is an exceptionally wide range of volumetric color expressions that more closely approximate human vision when compared to conventional OLED. It sounds cool, it looks great, and now we know a price: $12,999.

The SmallHD Quantum 32 now has a price attached

Lawo introduced a significant expansion of its NDI support within the Lawo HOME Apps family. This includes the addition of NDI Advanced capabilities as well as future support of the latest NDI 6 technology. The Lawo HOME Apps now also support multichannel audio transmission via NDI, enabling users to leverage the full potential of NDI with its latest Lawo HOME App family member – the HOME mc² DSP app.

Baselight developer FilmLight has diversified into a new media tool that provides integrated media access, streaming and indexing. Dubbed Nara, at its heart is its ability to natively decode and play back a wide selection of media without the need to transcode to proxy files. Its streaming engine minimises bandwidth usage while its advanced indexing system ensures rapid data retrieval. Key features include: a Web UI, mirroring the facility’s security protocols; colour accurate streaming; a comprehensive back-end index; and unparalleled codec support (including RAW camera formats, intermediate formats like EXR, as well as IMF, DCP and other complex deliverables).

The new Nara UI from FilmLight

For professional videographers and moviemakers, Western Digital unveiled its first and fastest 2TB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I and Extreme Pro microSDXC UHS-I memory cards. The new 4TB SanDisk Extreme PRO SDUC UHS-I memory card, meanwhile, delivers huge capacity in the same-size SD form factor. “Truly a gamechanger for professionals who need reliable, sizeable, and fast storage,” says the company. The 2TB memory cards are expected this summer, the 4TB SanDisk Extreme PRO SDUC UHS-I memory card is expected to be released in 2025.

Colourlab Ai v3 has officially graduated from beta and is now available. It’s latest release features what the company says is its most advanced AI color matching engine yet—a culmination of state-of-the-art performance and novel color encoding architecture. Self-supervised and trained on millions of images, key features include seamless working with DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro; cross-platform compatibility on both Windows and macOS; and a brand-new AI Reference Library, Showlooks, and specialized color science tailored for the iPhone 15. Current launch pricing is $99.

Over on the audio side of things, Solid State Logic announced the launch of the System T S400 console. Following the recent launch of the Tempest Control App, the new S400 console is the latest control solution for SSL's System T production platform. Available in standalone frames of 16+1, 32+1, or 48+1 fader versions, the S400 sits between the compact, fixed frame S300 and flagship, modular S500. The S400 console offers the same high-quality fader experience as the S500, featuring premium 100mm touch-sense faders and a dedicated OLED display for every fader. Level metering and status LEDs covering dynamics, automix, and external control are also present by every fader to further enhance visual feedback for operators. 

The System T S400 console - mid-range would you believe

And DPA Microphones has introduced its new AIR1 Universal Miniature Fur Windscreen. Intended for quick mounting on round, omnidirectional headset or lavalier microphones between 0.1-0.23 inches (2.5-5.8mm), the AIR1 has a patent-pending design guaranteeing highly efficient and consistent wind protection. This is achieved through the fixed size of the air cavity surrounding the microphone capsule, which provides complete and consistent acoustical transparency that enables it to capture the voice with perfect intelligibility.

Small, furry, and essential: the new AIR1 Universal Miniature Fur Windscreen