Las Vegas here we come! The Videomaker staff is gearing up for the annual trek to the mecca of broadcast tools and toys: The National Association of Broadcasters, better known as NAB. We will hit the ground running at this year’s NAB 2011, (literally – wearing the most comfy running shoes we can!) as we check out the coolest video production gear possible including cameras and camcorders, mics and lights, computers, drives, software and a myriad of other goodies.

Throughout the event we will be blogging about our finds, as well as Tweeting and sending updates to Facebook – be sure to “like” us and watch for updates – so you can see gear that we hope to have in our headquarters for review as soon as the manufacturers release them to us.

Some of companies we’re meeting with include Sony, Dell, Panasonic, Artbeats, BlackMagic, Boris, nvidia, JVC, Adobe, Grass Valley, Azden (WHEW!) Lowel, Glidecam, HP, Canon, Videssence, KinoFlo, Photoflex, RedRock, Apple, Avid, … well, the list goes on and on and on… like the Energizer Bunny, we’ll keep working the show until we have no more juice in our batteries!

NAB 2011 is jam-packed with video production gear for the Lone Wolf producer all the way to the mega Hollywood productions – If you could see our appointment calendar, you might be amazed that we can cover the NABshow floor so well.  Trying to sift through it all every year is a quest, but we love a challenge and we always look forward to not just finding out about the gear, but getting a hands-on chance to see it, hold it, test it out – we’re like kids in a candy store!

After attending more than 12 of these tradeshows, from CES to NAB, I decided to pack a pedometer at last January’s CES 2011. I clocked in an average of 6 miles a day – what an experience! I hope you enjoy the show – virtually – through our eyes. Be sure to stay tuned here, to the Videomaker blog for daily updates throughout the week – and let us know what you’d like to see.

In the ever increasingly complex world of company buyouts, Snapfish announced on Monday their purchase of Motionbox, a video platform for families and friends to share their memories online. To make things even more complex, this actually comes shortly after Motionb0x acquired the highly successful personal video blogging service Viddyou in October. While this may seem like a bold move for Snapfish, which deals mostly in printing and sharing photographs, it is upon closer inspection, a natural evolution for the company (which was bought out by computer giant HP in 2005). What Snapfish has realized is that even though photos are important ways to store and share memories, it’s no secret that with the dwindling cost of high end cameras and a veritable bevy of software to edit them with, that people have begun to turn to video as their main way of sharing memories with loved ones.  At the same time, not everyone wants that video to be seen by thousands of complete strangers on sites like YouTube and Facebook, which is one of the biggest reasons for Motionbox’s existence. This same idea also held a lot of promise as an upgrade to Snapfish’s service, so HP naturally decided to join the fray by buying the already developed technology of Motionbox.

As for the site itself, HP says the “current Motionbox site” will remain open until August 10, after which the service will be moved over to Snapfish.com. Unfortunately this means that for users of  Motionbox, their videos will need to be downloaded from the site before it moves over to Snapfish. Thankfully, for this trouble, Snapfish is giving Motionbox Premium members a free year of Snapfish’s video service.

An interesting article on CNET contemplates what is going on with the Voodoo brand, which was acquired by HP in 2006. The brand has been much less active compared to, say, Dell’s Alienware brand (coincidentally, acquired by Dell in ’06), which has remained fairly active by comparison.

When HP found Voodoo, Voodoo was a game system builder (that also happened to make some systems that were very capable of editing video.) Their claim to fame were systems that were highly optimized. Some features trickled into HP’s (numerous) other product lines, but unlike another HP-owned brand (Compaq), you’ll be hard-pressed to find any Voodoo references on HP’s Web site. However, Voodoo‘s Web site is alive and well, with several HP stamps present, but there are only two products (the Envy 133 notebook and the Firebird desktop).

Alienware’s Web site is quite active by comparison; there are two base models of laptop and two base models of desktop. We’ve reviewed Alienware iron in the past and it has always been very solid; we wouldn’t expect that much has changed there. Dell hasn’t trumpeted that a lot of Alienware innovations have trickled into other product lines (e.g. Precision, XPS) but it seems like many have gotten there.

Have PCs gotten to a point where we don’t really need the premium brands anymore? We began noticing that several years ago, it got to the point where pretty much any computer off the shelf can edit video, though for the best performance (shortest rendering times, etc.) you still need to change the stock configuration to switch to a faster processor, more robust storage, etc. Luckily, this is not a big deal to pull off. (The lackluster economy is almost certainly not helping the case for a premium PC, either.)

Reprinted from a HP press release:

Today at SIGGRAPH 2008, HP expanded its DreamColor technology portfolio with the introduction of a powerful mobile workstation – the HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation with DreamColor Display – that offers professionals exceptional color accuracy.

In addition, HP introduced the HP EliteBook 8530w Mobile Workstation, the HP EliteBook 8530p Notebook PC, a customer calibration kit for the now-shipping DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display, and two additional high-performance displays to meet the demands of a new generation of visual computing customers.

“Mobility is becoming increasingly important to our most demanding, power-user customers,” said Stephen Dewitt, senior vice president, Personal Systems Group – Americas, HP. “HP is delivering on creative professionals’ most exacting computing needs by enabling power users to take their highly tuned graphics workstations with them wherever they go.”

Mobile workstations for the ultimate creative professional
Designed for the most sophisticated graphic-intensive applications, the new HP EliteBook 8730w is the only mobile workstation on the market to offer a 17-inch diagonal HP DreamColor Display, which offers millions of colors, a significant improvement to the 260,000 available colors on traditional notebook PCs. The notebook also offers an Intel quad-core processor, 8 gigabytes (GB) of memory and NVIDIA’s next generation of Quadro FX cards with up to 1 GB dedicated video memory.

The HP EliteBook 8530w and HP EliteBook 8530p add professional graphics capabilities in a convenient mobile format, making the notebooks ideal for extreme power users in fields such as animation, video production, broadcasting, photography, design and engineering. Both systems include a 15.4-inch diagonal display, Intel CoreTM 2 Duo processor and 8 GB of memory. Additionally, HP EliteBook 8530w supports Intel quad-core mobile processors.

Incorporating the latest mobile technologies and engineered to meet multiple durability tests, the EliteBook series features the HP DuraCase, a visually appealing, brushed anodized aluminum exterior combined with a magnesium alloy chassis designed for maximum protection to keep the PC looking good, longer.

Delivering on DreamColor display technology
The HP DreamColor LP2480zx Display, the world’s first affordable, color-critical display, was developed through a first-of-its-kind technology collaboration between HP and DreamWorks Animation SKG. The 24-inch diagonal HP DreamColor liquid crystal display (LCD) provides a range of more than 1 billion colors in a 30-bit, LED-backlit widescreen display.

The new HP DreamColor Advanced Profiling Solution, now shipping as an option, allows users of the HP DreamColor LP2480zx Display to custom calibrate color settings beyond the built-in factory pre-sets. The solution includes a customized DreamColor colorimeter and calibration software.

The DreamColor Display becomes even more powerful when combined with the new generation of 30-bit graphics accelerator cards – such as the ATI FireGL V7700 – for the most advanced application performance and visualization beyond 3D. The ATI FireGL V7700 delivers true 30-bit color, enabling never-before-achieved color palette ranges. When the display is combined with a 30-bit card, the user can both generate and display content using the full pallet of more than 1 billion colors, providing unrivaled color accuracy and the smoothest color transitions.

Widescreen displays for workstation users
The new HP LP2475w 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor and the HP LP2275w 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor are designed for workstation users who appreciate an expansive presentation for graphics, video and data projects. With high-resolution onscreen presentation, the monitors also offer a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and extra-bright screens.

The LP2475w holds a sharp resolution at 1,920 x 1,200 and has a 102 percent color gamut; the LP2275w has a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 with a 92 percent color range. Both displays have wide viewing angles and feature height adjustment, tilt, swivel and 90-degree pivot rotation – including a built-in HP Quick Release stand that enables wall and arm mounting for panoramic presentation. Both displays also meet stringent ENERGY STAR guidelines and are EPEAT Silver registered.

Pricing and availability
The HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation is expected to be available later this month at the starting U.S. list price of $1,699. The HP EliteBook 8530 series is expected to be available in September starting at $1,499.

The HP LP 2275w 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor is available today and the HP LP2475w 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor is expected to be available in North America in September for estimated starting U.S. street prices of $459 to $649, respectively. The HP DreamColor Advanced Profiling Solution is now available for Microsoft Windows users for a price of $349. It is expected to be available for Macintosh users in September.