Try Jokerbox. No joke.
In freelance production, space is often at a premium. From the space you have to pack equipment in your car, to a slot on your production cart—your production package is often dictated by space. One of the biggest space-eaters, albeit an important piece of production gear, is the Apple Box. Bringing it on location is like packing a basketball in your suitcase for an overnight trip.
Describing the highlights of this year’s National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual show in Las Vegas is like having a child explain all of their birthday presents in thirty seconds. So here I go. NAB highlights the trends of the video production community and is good barometer of the industry. Some of the major trends and main attractions from this year’s NAB show were 4K and beyond, lower costs for better resolution, gyro stabilization, helicopter shooting, and the Cloud and video.
As a DP at this years NAB, I am seeing some new trends. With the advent of 4K cameras, more and more accessories are being used to mange and control the image. The camera battery is becoming the main source of power for these items. Wireless transmitters such as the Paralinx, external recorders such as the Pix 240 or Ki Pro. Zoom and focus controls have been the standard in feature film production, but are now seeping into our side of the world. The Scatter box by Solid camera and the Jet Pack by Switronix are power distribution boxes that attach to the back of the camera and provide multiple sources for power. USB, P-tap, lemo, even 4-pin XLR.
Although there have been wireless devices in the past that have connected to smart devices to send camera information and metadata, this is a major step forward to utilize cloud services to send high resolution files.
“Production in the cloud has grown to a point where people are less confused about how it works, and they more fully understand the value of it. In fact, more people are making decisions on how they execute their shoots based on the tools and apps they can use that live in the cloud. This truly is a breakthrough that is taking off like crazy. We’re excited to be at the center of this, and to unveil our new tools in the Crews Control booth.” says Mark Davis, CEO of Scenios.com