By Jonathan Neubauer, Senior Production Buddy, DotLot, The Buddy Group

On Wednesday a handful of things impressed us far more than anything else.

By far and away, Autodesk (NAB booth SL1420) had one of the best booths at NAB. They clearly and precisely showed off their post-production software and its capabilities. A combination of theatrical tutorials and hands-on computer stations allowed guests to better understand the power of programs such as Lustre, Flame, and Smoke. We sat in on a few of these tutorials and were incredibly entertained as well as informed. There is a reason why Autodesk is considered one of the leading software companies when it comes to post-production, and they clearly demonstrated it.

The sheer power of programs such as Flame is incredible. The tools it provides for compositing, lighting, and 3D modeling/lighting are fantastic. One of the most impressive features we witnessed was with rotoscoping. The Flame artist hand drew a mask (using a Wacom tablet) around a person. He then converted the points to tracking points, and analyzed the scene. The mask adjusted automatically, rotoscoping the shot in a matter of minutes. He was then able to manipulate the points to finesse the mask. All masks in Flame also have B-splines, allowing fine tuning of feathering and opacity. The new features of Flame 2009 seem even more incredible, including seamless integration with P2 media, (ensuring Panasonic’s power in the post production workflow).

Adobe’s dedication to its customer base was clear at NAB (NAB booth SL3220). They had one of friendliest and most informative booths at NAB. Their hosting staff was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and social - making sure we found everything we needed. The tech staff did a great job at demonstrating their CS3 suite either in theatrical presentations, or more personal tutorials. We learned a handful of things about the CS3 suite we had not known previously. The depth of the CS3 suite continues to amaze us on a regular basis. Adobe truly does allow its users to efficiently and effectively explore their creativity, continually improving on the leading industry products.

We also had a great experience checking out Sapphire at the GenArts booth (NAB booth SL14516). We were given an amazing demonstration by a motion graphics artist, further convincing us of the strength of their plugin suite. Even during the tutorial we were thinking of ways to incorporate the plugins into projects we’re currently working on. A successful sales pitch.