This year’s National Association of Broadcasters convention will see more than 70,000 engineers, broadcasters and post-production folk making the trek to Las Vegas, April 9-13, to check out trends, product launches, and look for that piece of technology that might give them an edge over the competition.

The convention that just keeps getting bigger will expand into another exhibit hall this year, accommodating the more than 350 companies that were on the waiting list for the spring ’95 event. More than 250 sessions at 11 stand-alone conferences will happen over the five days. Media managers will wander among more than 1,000 exhibitors, set up in an area bigger than 10 football fields. NAB MultiMedia World also beckons, a part of the conference geared towards those interested in working the Internet, cd-rom and interactive tv into their business plans.

This year, nab attendance is expected to exceed 1994’s record of 71,082 attendees, 14,669 of those from 99 countries outside of North America. The evolving global nature of the telecommunications industry will be driven home by secretary general of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, at the April 12 International Broadcasting Leadership Dinner, hosted by Montreal-based Teleglobe.

With the dawn of digital behind us, the days of going to nab looking for big-ticket items to convert analog studios are in the past for many of the bigger Canadian companies. This year, Canadians are going to nab hungry for information, anticipating new products from manufacturers who wait until the annual convention to spring them on potential buyers. nab-bound Canadians are packing limited shopping lists, and looking for products that have potential for the future, says Sylvain Taillon, an animator at TOPIX Computer Graphics and Animation.

The growth of multimedia over the past year is reflected in the size of MultiMedia World, which, in addition to aisle after aisle of exhibitors, will host 35 seminars on topics like ‘Profiting from Multimedia: Economics of Title Publishing’ and ‘Using Multimedia in Animation and Graphics Creation.’

topix’s first forays into multimedia include two cd-roms for the children’s market, currently in production. Taillon will be scouting MultiMedia World for ideas.

‘We always spend time in the multimedia wing. A lot of the products are interesting, not necessarily to purchase, but to keep an eye on. In time, smaller products often wind up at the high end. This gives you an idea of where things are going, as does eavesdropping on everybody,’ says Taillon.

For most nab goers, as cd-rom, the Internet, and interactive applications play a greater role in the communications environment, MultiMedia World is becoming an increasingly popular part of the symposium. CHUMCity traditionally sends only its engineers, but this year, Michael McHale, director of new media and project development for CHUMCity International, will join the posse.

The conferences are appealing, says McHale, but the most important part of the trip will be the workshops where he can compare notes with colleagues from all over the world.

He predicts the Internet and what different producers are doing on it will be popular fodder for conversation.

The entry of Mosaic and Endscape, digital graphic interface programs, will open different possibilities for broadcasters on the Internet, says McHale. ‘They call nab multimedia boot camp. Talking to people in the field is the main interest for me.’

Another attraction, he says, will be information on the set-top dvc boxes, where the technology is, and what the boxes will be able to do. ‘That’s key for the whole interactive television battle.’

McHale says his interest was piqued when he heard Ian Diery, executive vice-president and general manager, personal computer division, for Apple Computer, was going to be MultiMedia World’s keynote speaker. Over the nab week, McHale will be trying to pin down exactly what role Apple and other computer companies plan to play in the broadcasting industry.

Other speakers of interest include members of the u.s. Federal Communications Commission, including commissioner James Quello, who will deliver the opening keynote address for the Broadcast Engineering Conference, April 9.

Peter McAuley, an editor at The Daily Post, says he’ll roam MultiMedia World ‘to case the new editing toys,’ even though it’ll be some time before Daily Post invests in advanced multimedia tools.

According to McAuley, only a couple of multimedia projects came through the company last year. Visually, most of them are running fewer than 30 frames per second, making for small, very pixilated, pictures. ‘I’ll wait until the technology is more quality-driven before I get into multimedia on a large scale,’ he says.

Kibitzing on the whats and hows of the future of multimedia is sure to be on the nab agenda. Apres casino conversation will also run to the mid-term and long-term effects of new mergers, including Toronto-based Alias Research’s merger with California computer systems giant Silicon Graphics and u.s. software developer Wavefront Technologies, and Microsoft’s acquisition of Montreal-based Softimage.

‘I’m curious to see what kind of presence they’ll have on the floor and what sort of moves and approaches the changes will bring about,’ says Taillon.

Taillon says topix is planning to buy Flame editing and compositing software later this year, but staff are off to nab to do some comparison shopping before signing the final purchase order.

The exhibition has evolved into a huge four-day snapshot of what’s happening in the industry. It’s become more of an exercise in comparison, he concludes.

‘For major acquisitions, nab has become a broad-stroke kind of exercise. The direction for digital video is pretty much set. We know who the players are and their big products. Now, it’s a matter of seeing where the big hitters are and comparing it with what the new, smaller guys are coming up with.’

According to Bill McKinnon, president and co-owner of Scene By Scene, Toronto, seeing what the small players are developing is reason enough to go to nab. Since most have purchased the big-ticket items that make up a new digital environment, it’s pieces of technology, however small, that can give your services an advantage over the competition, says McKinnon.

Obscure booths advertising unfamiliar brand names will be part of Scene By Scene’s itinerary, but the priority will be finding a disc drive for Jaleo compositing software. Jaleo, based on an sgi system, operates outside the edit suite, like an edit suite in a box, and allows the shop to work in several layers of tape in a non-linear environment.

The necessary disc drive would save material in D1 quality and get it out of the box quickly. The Accom disc recorder currently in use is slower, designed more for the edit suite than the Jaleo application, says McKinnon.

Sony upgrades

Sony’s upgrades on digital products are also on the Scene By Scene agenda. Four digital Betacams are carried in the shop. Digital switchers are on the agenda too, although there’s no immediate demand for any additions. ‘We have no pressing needs right now, except the disc drives,’ says McKinnon.

The panic to upgrade analog facilities to digital may have slowed down, but nab will never go out of style, McKinnon adds. ‘It’s the largest toy show in the whole world, and the truth is most of us are toy crazy. nab is the chance to see all the technology in one place.’

Andy Sykes of Toronto-based Command Post and Transfer says the company’s nab delegation isn’t going south with a shopping list like they have in the past. Smaller companies that are moving into digital more slowly may still prowl for big pieces of equipment, but for post houses like Command Post, the years of taking a cheque book and a purchase order to nab are long gone, he says.

Command Post is kept abreast of advancements in equipment in-house through sales reps and suppliers, so the show serves to let them gauge alternative technologies, Sykes says. ‘We’re interested in items related to the new technology we’ve put into our scanner suites at Command and (sister company) Medallion/PFA.’

Curtis Staples, vice-president and general manager at Vancouver’s Gastown Post and Transfer, says the launch of new products is of interest. As helpful as the suppliers are, they won’t divulge new products until they’re launched at nab, so you have to be there to see them, says Staples.

At nab, Daily Post’s McAuley will be on the lookout for new products from Sony, including a non-linear editing system for its high-powered pcs, rumored to be launched at this year’s conference. Also of interest are Quantel’s advances with Henrys, which Daily Post rents regularly, and digital posting equipment like Flames and Flints.

Software rushed out

‘People display software they kind of rush out, even with bugs in it, because their competitors are in the booth next to them. Because of that, nab is more of an information thing for us. When I get back, I call the rep and set up a proper demonstration,’ says McAuley.

Taillon says topix learned the hard way to be wary of demonstrations that promise the world. A piece of equipment the company bought last year isn’t everything it was cracked up to be and Taillon will be pouncing on the manufacturer’s booth attendants early in the week.

‘We bring a gripe list and drop bombs on everybody. Often you do get the answers because you get to talk directly to the people who had a hand in developing them.’

Besides having some of the original designers on hand to answer questions, another nab advantage is being able to go from booth to booth and compare systems. The sales reps can always bring the product to your door, but when demonstrations are weeks apart, it’s a little less easy to make comparisons, says Doug McCormack, director of operations at ytv.

ytv is in year four of a five-year plan to convert into a fully digitized studio – from production through transmission. McCormack and a team from ytv will be scouting for several new pieces at nab this year, including digital tape recorders, digital disc recorders for post-production, digital switchers and digital audio equipment, and another editing suite to add to the Avid 1000 purchased last year. Total budget for this year: $2.5 million.

Servers

Besides the shopping spree, McCormack will be evaluating master control video servers for purchase next year. Ideally, he says, the video server will store all commercial information, which will eventually link up with the library system. Last year, British Television Systems, Hewlett Packard and Abekas were producing the product. This year, he’ll be looking at the upgraded versions with an eye to completing the in-house transition, budgeted at $8 million to $10 million over the five years.

Similarly, the cbc is holding off purchasing digital studio cameras for the new CBC Broadcast Centre until they look at all the manufacturers at this year’s nab, says John Wonsowicz, a cbc broadcasting systems consultant.

Digital video servers are of equal priority in terms of purchases for the Broadcast Centre, says Wonsowicz.

For the most part, demand for production equipment to fill the new studio has peaked. What’s left is to upgrade niche products like studio cameras, says Wonsowicz. The cbc will buy between one and two dozen high-end studio cameras by late this year or early ’96.

‘We’re waiting for some that have had some life in the field so we can benefit from other people’s experience,’ says Wonsowicz.