[Christopher Wright]

I’ll add my vote to Randall’s for exactly the same reasons he mentioned, and the ones I mentioned in a thread below this one. Following your logic, Apple is wasting all its money on all the trade mags advertising as well. Care to guess how much that sends them back?? We can much better explore any buying info needed on the web. Forget MacWorld, IBC, Siggraph, etc. Just stay home and be further disconnected from the world, your professional peers, the people who actually make and sell the products you buy, and any tactile sensation of a tripod, camera etc.

I’ll second Walter on his earlier observation as well:

“Not sure why we have yet another thread started on this topic when there’s a very good discussion going on down below. I can never understand that.”

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

I just did a project yesterday requiring ETT and ingest with machine control with Betacam and DV footage. No problems or dropped frames with 4.7.1 with the IO at all.

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

I initially had a problem with the AJA IO freezing up, but re-installing the drivers fixed that. 7.4.1 also fixed the AE rendering bug. So far 7.4.1 is working fine with the IO and LH on my dual G5 Power PC, and on my Octocore Intel with the MXO. Your mileage may vary.

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

There was a time when NAB was the only place to see everything important in one place…. and there were no local dealers who carried enough of this stuff.

Again there is still no substitute for NAB when shopping for lighting kits, tripods, wireless mics, HD monitors and even cameras all in one place. There are certain products you have to see and feel, tripods you have to actually try out with a camera mounted on them, dolly systems actually laid out to try, etc. For those of you who live in large markets, you can always spend your time at say B&H, or any other similar company which MIGHT have everything out and on display to do some real apples to apples comparisons, or driving to any of these companies separately and maybe getting a decent hands-on of an HD camera, but not be able to see a RED camera, Panasonic camera, Sony camera, Canon camera, Genesis camera, lens selections etc. all in the same afternoon. This especially goes for lighting kits and microphones. Reading specs online is one thing, actually seeing a unit and holding in your hand is another.

Again if you are talking editing and compositing software, you are correct in saying all you will get is the standard polished demo, thus the exodus by Apple and Avid actually makes me happy. A personal face to face is always better in these situations.

However, I have always enjoyed the demos that Adobe puts on for After FX and Flash, and as long as I have used these programs, I still always learn something new in the more advanced sessions they offer at the show.

Not only does “my local market” not have ANY dealers for ANY cameras or systems, pretty much the whole state has no certified Autodesk, Sony, Avid, ARRI etc., etc. dealer or representative of any kind! The closest places to visit VARS are Dallas, Denver, or Phoenix. Roadshows rarely if ever even stop in Albuquerque, and Vegas is only a quick, cheap flight (or drive)from here.

Also the Cow is really best at finding problems in software and hardware that even the manufacturers and coders don’t know about. In essence we are the “ultimate beta testers” of any product used in production and post. You only get that information from actually using a product day in and day out. These are “after the sale” discoveries. You will never find out about those issues even if you do have a special session with just the manufacturer or software company. They will always gloss over any problems in order to sell you anyway.

I have never come back from NAB feeling “wasted” and needing “a few days or weeks to recover.” I actually come back feeling energized and refreshed! Many of my friends use it as a break from the routine, and get a good luxury suite, see a few shows, and actually enjoy the nightlife and some very good gourmet restaurants while they are there. You don’t have to spend every waking moment on the NAB show floor.

As far as “missing production time” or someone “stealing my clients” if I am going to be out of town for 4 days, I say your business must be in very bad straights, you have very flaky clients, and/or you need to get a life and reset your priorities!

I can say that I completely agree that I would never want to see NAB or Las Vegas again if I was stuck in a booth or having to “work clients” all day, every day ad nauseum, not to mention having to pay out the nose for the priviledge. I have done road shows and home shows in a past life and would never wish that fate on my worst enemy.

And of course the highlight of NAB is sharing a stiff martini with Bob Zelin at the Hard Rock.

So NAB 2008 anyone??

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

I believe my rant was more specific than the thread started below! ;>)

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Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

Spoken like a true “roadshow” burnout. I can definitely say that the experience of attending NAB and the experience of “manning” a booth are quite different indeed! As someone who buys and uses film and video cameras, HD monitors, HD projectors, library music, all manner of production mics, lighting kits, lots of third party software, tripods etc. etc., there truly is no one place where one can go to get so much contact and information in so little time. I for one am glad both Avid and Apple won’t be there with their accompanying fan-boy circuses. My favorite part of NAB is getting to see and meet many third part software folks that I actually can have meaningful one to one dialogue with while in Lost Wages.
As far as having to pay for and man a booth for the onslaught of humanity that shows up every year, no wonder Tim and Ron want to flee and never look back!

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

Do this:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1342677&start=30&tstart=0

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

OK, maybe NOT AVID!! ;>)
But someone who will finally acknowledge the moniker Final Cut PRO and continue to develop and value the product, and more importantly its users…
I think you get my drift….

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

AND you can’t do copy protection yourself. For that you have to send to a replicating house and spend some bucks.

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects

[Christopher Wright]

I leased my Octocore this last round because I got a 0% 24 month lease. I am doing kind of what you are thinking about, I leased just the machine, with 8 gigs Ram, good video card and an internal striped Sata array, and one extra drive for Windows Vista for boot camp. I actually bought the Kona cards and external Raid arrays, as they can be used later on another system. It seems I am upgrading every two years now anyway, and I will probably always just trade the older MAC computer in for the newest, fastest model every 2 years, and just reuse the Raid arrays, Aja cards, etc. in the new model.

Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Octocore 8 GB Ram, Radeon card, MBP, MXO
Windows XP Adobe Studio CS3, Vegas 8.0, Lightwave 9.2, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 6, Continuum 5, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects