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More Sessions for Post-Production Pros at NAB2005

Mar 16, 2005 4:59 PM, By Stephen Porter

After a hugely successful first year, the NAB Post|Production World Conference is back and bigger than ever

Sidebars
NAB Continues to Thrive
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When the NAB Post|Production World Conference made its inaugural debut at NAB2004 last year, it launched with a line-up of 160 sessions, enough for the conference to claim the title of being the largest post-production educational conference in the world. This year, the conference will be able to take that claim to new heights as the number of sessions has ballooned by nearly 50%. Attendees to this year's conference will be able to select from a list of 224 sessions that are divided among 24 different tracks. The sessions are so numerous that conference organizers have scheduled as many as 13 sessions to run simultaneously.

Given the increased breadth and depth of the session offerings, it's likely the attendance at this year's conference will top last year's impressive mark of 1,200.

"The debut of the conference last year was just enormously successful," says John Marino, NAB's vice president of science and technology. "We had estimated that we would draw about 600 attendees or so, and we wound up with double that amount. And everyone really enjoyed the sessions. The training we offered there was something they had been looking for. So this year we're hopeful that we can bring in even more people. We're certainly geared up for it. We have enough space, and we are well prepared for whoever registers."

Developed in partnership with Future Media Concepts (FMC), the nation's premier digital media training center, the NAB Post|Production World Conference will kick off on Friday, April 15, with 'Fast Start' Boot Camp. The Boot Camp is targeted at users who need to brush up on their familiarity with the interfaces of a few key software programs before plunging into the more advanced courses that form the meat of the conference.

While last year's Boot Camp consisted of four 3-hour sessions, this year's Boot Camp will offer 20 sessions. The bulk of the Fast Start sessions will be offered on Friday, but a select handful will be repeated on Monday morning. In addition to the sessions on Avid Xpress Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Apple Final Cut Pro that were offered last year, this year's line-up will include sessions on a variety of other programs, including discreet smoke, discreet 3ds max, Sony Vegas, and Macromedia Flash.

"We increased the number of Boot Camp sessions in response to the feedback we got from people at last year's conference who wanted more opportunities to take a refresher course before diving into the more advanced sessions offered during the rest of the conference, "says Ben Kozuch, conference chairperson and president and co-founder of FMC. "These sessions aren't necessarily for someone who is new to the industry, though they might be new to this particular application.

"These days," he adds, "its not unusual to see producers who want some editing and graphics training or to see editors who want learn how to design and manage websites. These courses are ideal for people who want to strengthen their knowledge of programs that are outside their primary area of expertise."

Conference Content

The conference begins in earnest on Saturday, April 16, and runs through Wednesday, April 20. During that time, those who've registered for the post-production conference will have the opportunity to move freely among the many sessions being offered. Like last year, the sessions are designed to provide attendees with intermediate- and advanced-level training in a wide variety of production and post-production tools and techniques. Among other things, the conference will offer sessions on video and film editing, compositing, lighting, shooting, sound design, 3D animation, web design, encoding, and DVD authoring.

The sessions are divided into 25 tracks, and many of the tracks are product-specific and are intended to help users develop a deeper understanding of a particular product's toolsets. Examples of such tracks include Avid DNA Editing, Adobe Photoshop for Nonlinear Editors, and Advanced Motion Graphics with After Effects.

Other tracks have a more general focus and are geared towards those who want to increase their knowledge in certain topics or techniques regardless of the equipment used. For example, the Digital Video Production track will offer such sessions as "Creative Shooting Techniques" and "Advanced Greenscreen Techniques." The Digital Facility track will offer such sessions as "24P Mastering" and "HD and SD 24P Integration." While most of the sessions are geared towards intermediate and advanced users, conference organizers have added a number of tracks this year that are geared toward highly advanced users.

"The research that we got back from last year's conference showed that there were people who wanted sessions that were even more advanced than the ones we had offered," says Marino. "A lot of NAB attendees are very proficient in the platforms that we cover in the conference, and they are looking for discussions with some of the gurus of the industry who have really done something impressive. So we've tried to meet their needs a little more this year."

These highly advanced sessions are scattered throughout the 25 tracks, and they all take up double timeslots.

"For these sessions, we allow the presenter to assume that everybody in the room has used that software for a long time. This frees the presenter to go as deep into the software as they can without having to stop and ask if everybody's keeping up," explains Kozuch. "What they'll do in these sessions is deconstruct a real project. They'll take a complex scene, deconstruct it and rebuild it again while discussing the technical and creative issues. The projects will be pulled from Hollywood films, TV commercials, and award-winning independent movies."

Other Conference Enhancements

New courses for highly advanced users are not the only enhancements that have been made to the NAB Post|Production World Conference. In addition, conference organizers have expanded the amount of Macromedia training to nearly three full days in order to meet the interest shown by last year's attendees in web design; added training sessions for such 3D animation software as Alias Maya, Newtek's Lightwave, and discreet 3ds max; and added a number of panel sessions to what had previously been a single-instructor format.

"Typically our conferences are not panels based because panels sometimes tend to be fluff," says FMC's Kozuch. "Usually we prefer to do sessions that are centered around one presenter who is well prepared and who sits onstage for an hour or so providing practical instruction. But last year people told us that we had such an amazing body of speakers that we ought to put them on the stage together so that people could hear their thoughts on trends and challenges in the industry. So we've done that." These Power User Panels, as they are called, are offered every day and focus on a variety of topics such as Audio Post, Field Production, 3D Animation, and Small Business Owners.

"There are no vendors on the panels," Kozuch is quick to emphasize. "None of our sessions uses vendors. That is something we are very strict about. People who attend our sessions won't be seeing any marketing demos or sales pitches."

One other exciting enhancement to this year's conference is the addition of three training and certification sessions. Those who take the classes and pass the exams will become certified in Avid Express Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, and Apple Motion.

"These programs are offered year around at training centers like FMC but we've brought that feature into the NAB conference because this is a convenient location for many people to get their certification," Kozuch says. "People from around the world come to NAB, some of them from areas where no training centers exist while others may feel like they can't make time. Therefore offering these courses at the show makes it very convenient."

Unlike the rest of the sessions at the conference, these will be hands-on courses. Each student will be provided with a laptop computer that they can use to work on and to take the exam. The classes run two days—Friday and Saturday—and students must register for these classes separately.

With so many sessions to choose from, attendees may want to take advantage of the Orientation Session being offered on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. or Saturday morning at 8:15 a.m., just before the opening Keynote address. This session, entitled "How to Maximize Your Conference Experience," will help attendees map out a useful line-up of sessions for themselves based on their interests and skill levels.

Networking with Peers

While the NAB Post|Production World Conference is first and foremost about training and instruction, it also represents a unique opportunity for attendees to network with peers, potential employers, and potential customers. Understanding that, conference organizers have provided two ways to help encourage people to make those connections. One of the ways is the Birds-of-Feather networking event that will be held on Saturday from 6:45 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at the Beach Club across from the Las Vegas Convention Center, the site of NAB2005. Select sections of the club will be set aside as places where motion graphic artists, video editors, producers, and others can network with people in the same profession. For entertainment, attendees will be able to watch videos of last year's ICE Award winners.

FMC and NAB launched the ICE Awards competition at last year's NAB Post|Production World Conference with the goal of recognizing outstanding work in six categories: Editing, Graphics/Animation, Videography/Photography, Producing/Directing, Interactive, Sound/Music. Streams of last year's winners can also be viewed on the website. (Entries for this year's contest are currently being accepted. The entry deadline is June 1, 2005, and winners will be announced on NAB's website on June 30.)

The other networking tool that conference attendees can take advantage of is the NAB Connection matchmaking program. When people register for the NAB Post|Production World Conference, they will receive an email giving them the opportunity to fill out a form indicating their interests. If they are looking for a job, have a job to offer, or simply want to meet people with similar interests, the NAB Connection program will put them in touch with compatible people so that they can set up a time and place to meet.

To register for the NAB Post|Production World Conference, or to get more information on any of the conference activities, go to www.nabshow.com and click on the conference link. Full descriptions of all sessions are posted online, as are the full details on this year's ICE Awards. —SP

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