Lacie's "Little Big Disk" Thunderbolt Drive

Lacie has the most applicable solution so far for fast, portable DIT drives.  These little guys are the Little Big Disk with dual Thunderbolt ports, each housing two 500GB 2.5" drives for a total of 1TB each.  In their demonstration, the first two drives and last two drives are setup in a software RAID 0 (striped).  Final Cut Pro is playing back full 1080p Uncompressed 10-bit footage, one resized and overlayed over the other, and is playing back at FULL speed.  The laptop?  Just the 13" Macbook Pro.  Scary how good the performance on these little drives are.

This drive is also available retail with FireWire 800, eSata, and USB if you want it now.  The prototype, however, only had dual Thunderbolt ports, limiting its connectivity.  There is no word on the final shipping product.

Behind the scenes on Thunderbolt

Before I get in to showing all the products with Thunderbolt in the works, I need to mention that there is a feud going on.  Every Thunderbolt cable on the floor was a very recognizable white, manufactured specifically by Apple.  Why?  They're fighting with Intel for exclusivity on the damn port.  (Don't forget that Intel is actually the owner of the technology)  Apple I get it, you want world domination, but stop being the whiney kid in the corner of the sandbox.  Making the port exclusive will reduce adoption of the protocol and raise prices across the board of hardware.  What about exclusivity makes this a good idea!?

All these third-party companies clearly have Thunderbolt working in various forms, but as explained to me by the folks at Lacie, the only holdup is manufacturing and shipping rights.  When I asked about pricing from G-Tech, they mentioned that a Thunderbolt-equipped drive system will likely be more expensive, because of the port.  Because of these fusses, no one has a manufacturing and shipping date, or a price point.  Right now, all they have to offer us is a dream in the form of a prototype.

Nebtek's new 5.6" DLSR savior

Nebtek has been specializing in tools that make AC's and camera operator's jobs easier.  So their new 5.6" monitor is a hero for one specific reason: a built-in HDMI to SDI crossconverter.  Anyone who has dealt with long cable runs or multiple monitoring with DSLR's know the pain of having to split and amplify HDMI.  Doing the same with an HD-SDI is significantly simpler in that regard.  It's also built like a tank, with a metal housing and 1/4"-20 on all sides.  It is still well in prototyping so forgive the hand-written stickers.

In the back, connections include HD-SDI in/out, component (the RCA connectors) and composite in/out.  Power options also have interchangable battery plates for all the popular DV-type options.  They are discussing an option to use Canon's DSLR E6 batteries, but it'll have to use two simultaneously.  On the right, there's also options for a 2.5 AC plug, or a 2-pin LEMO (or Fisher, I can't remember).  Price points will be somewhere in the $1500-2000 range, right where a professional monitor with a built-in crossconverter should be.

HDMI - HDSDI crossconverter

Not pictured is a separate HDMI to SDI crossconverter.  Essentially it's a rehoused Blackmagic mini converter, with a permanently attached Nebtek DV battery plate and hotshoe.  The advantage is the unit is more compact and solidly built, and the battery plate's wire is now internal.  The AC connector is still on the box for a wall option.  Nebtek is offering a rehousing if you already own the converter.

Director's Monitor

Lastly is their director's monitor, based off of oldschool UHF wireless video systems.  The handle bracket is unique, and the monitor pictured is powered off of DV batteries in the back.  Runtime on a full Sony L battery is somewhere between 2.5 to 4 hours.  It isn't as cheap as a consumer monitor off the street, but they are becoming extremely rare following the FCC shutdown of analog TV broadcasts.  The signal on the monitor is being broadcasted by a very small transmitter at Nebtek, but is not available for sale, only rent.  If your signal broadcaster dies, it might just be time to go HD.

Lilliput

A surprise to see was Lilliput.  Not that I wasn't expecting them, I just wasn't looking for them, and happened to walk past.  They're just so odd to me; their most popular 7" monitor has a terrible battery system, weird menu, a battery gauge that won't go away, two power switches, and a cheap-feeling plastic housing; and yet we have three of them.  There's just something about it that everyone loves: it's cheap as hell.

They are releasing a new 5" monitor that's perfect for DSLR shooters, featuring a significantly improved battery system and sun shade.  Batteries it accepts are the Canon LP-E6 from DSLR's, keeping weight and profile down.  There may be adapters for other batteries like Sony L or Panasonics.  HDMI in, no loop out.  There's also composite and component BNC inputs.  There is no price point yet, but I highly doubt it'll be higher than the 7" price.  Shipping in the past has also been very quick; turns out they have been shipping from California, not China as we had thought.

Flanders Scientific (FSI)

I visited FSI specifically as a favor to a friend, hearing that their monitors have been designed by someone who basically said "screw it I'll build it myself."  Speaking with their engineer and looking at the panels, that's exactly what I saw: field and suite monitors that made complete sense.  There's only three panels in their lineup: the flagship 17" in either fluorescent or LED backlighting, and a 7" onboard monitor.  Their 17" monitors have been factory-calibrated to have the most true color reproduction from any signal; and by any, I mean composite, component, SD/HD-SDI, and DVI with support for HDMI.  Hey Panasonic, let's see your 1700 do that.

The menu system is just as impressive as the rest of the monitor.  There are TONS of software scopes on this; somewhere over 12 individual scopes and meters that can be assigned to a large set of shortcut buttons to be quickly toggled on and off.  Up to five color profiles can be saved in the monitor, with a permanent default setting with the factory calibration.  The 7" has all the same features, though they say the 7" won't be as color accurate as the 17".

All of my photos are an example of the 17" mounted on a branded VF Gadgets mount and housed in a Petrol screen bag, doubling as a weather cover and screen shade.  It's far simpler and more versatile than current setups with a separate screen shade that has to be done and undone on every location move.  It all just makes sense.

EDIT: I forgot to mention their 24" monitor.  I hadn't had time to look specifically into it, though from a quick glance all the scopes are there and I doubt any functionality has been reduced.

GoPro Hero 3D...it works.

GoPro blew everyone away with how simple yet incredible the Hero HD was, and we all have war stories about it.  They've been working on a side-by-side 3D system for a while now, and, if I overheard the story correctly, they looked to Cineform for a post workflow to match their hardware; well it didn't go the way they wanted it to, so they bought them.  So it seems GoPro is serious about 3D.

This is the rig; it's as simple as the original is, just two Heros next to each other, with the lenses as close together as possible.  I was skeptical about how well its effect will be, considering the wide angle of the lens and the closeness of the lens centers.  I should have known; of course it does.  Both booths in the production and post pit had the 3D system playing, showing a surfer going through a barrel, kids leaping in a skatepark, and a girl in a bikini snorkeling (all of which looked like Oahu's north shore).  A connector in the back links the two cameras so they stay synced at all times; unfortunately it means there's no Backpack screen.  As with the Hero, the shot is only really effective when the subject is close to the lens; and the case is the same for the 3D effect.  If you try to use 3D on a wide shot, your eyes will nearly bleed.  But that's not what 3D is made for!

Sachtler Artemis Handheld

I've never been a fan of Steadicam's Merlin stabilizer from the start; and when I used it, it turned into a hate.  It's damn near impossible to balance, and the inertial stability is very low.  If you let the gimbal (or lack thereof), it will move on its own.  Well the geniuses (and I've met him) has recognized the demand for a simple stabilizer for the huge DSLR market, and have designed a baby Artemis with the operator in mind.

There were a few things that immediately stuck with me: to control the Merlin, the operating hand needs to grab the plastic gimbal just above the handle.  Its minuscule on the Merlin; on the Artemis it's huge.  It's both taller and thicker, made of metal, and has a knurling for easy grip.  Curvature and a rubber material on the grip also means your hand isn't struggling just to hold up the rig.  Second thing was how balanced the rig is; after letting it go, the unit just sat there.  No spin, no rocking, nothing.  Even when spinning the rig from left to right, it stayed level.  It was completely predictable, unlike the impossible-to-balance Merlin.

They were also smart enough to add a monitor as a counterweight; it's the thing I miss the most.  The optional monitor is powered by a Canon LP-E6 battery keeping overall weight low and compatible with the camera.  The example on the floor looked like it had a Manfrotto 557 QR plate system, though the brochure says its compatible with their heads.  If it can be changed over to my 357, it's even better.

Becuase it's a Sachtler, it's going to be expensive; well count me surprised.  Quoted from the floor, the rig without monitor will be $650, and the monitor shown with the E6 battery mount is $350.  It should be available very soon.