Thanks NYC Vegas Users!

Spot|DSE wrote on 3/7/2005, 9:22 PM

Dang! What a fun night with a bunch of Vegas users, and a monster group of non-Vegas users who came to see what Vegas was all about. Bill Dyzel, Jay, and the rest of the NYC crowd pulled a bunch of non-Vegas users in. And the questions kept us there for an hour past our end-time, so they seemed to be into it.
Giveaway loops from Hark, and some Sony software rounded out a very fun evening. Biggest group of users I've seen in a meeting yet, with more than 60 folks there. The B&H crew got an eyeful of how many Vegas users are REALLY out there, too.
Kudos to the NYC group for such a great turnout.
Look out DC! (where we're heading next)

Comments

handleyj wrote on 3/8/2005, 3:20 PM

Thanks Spot! It was great to see you in action last night. A lot of information on sound. Too much in such a short period, I wish I had been able to attend the all day training today. Your quick-n-dirty Vegas demo was great! I think you converted some of the non-Vegas users!

cityanimal wrote on 3/8/2005, 4:18 PM

As a member of the NYC Vegas Users group I second that. Great turnout, and a great hdv presentation by Douglas.
I also attended his all day audio for video trainng today and learned a lot.
And with a great overview of audio gear and discounts offerered by B&H (who subsidized the event) I'm ready to upgrade some of my audio tools.
The next NYC Vegas Users group meeting April 5 (at B&H) will feature a creative contest in which participants will be given an asortment of audio and video clips and challenged to create a 1-2 minute video using Vegas onsite at the meeting. Prizes will be awarded for most the creative - stay tuned for more annoucements.
Charles Dennis

Spot|DSE wrote on 3/9/2005, 5:14 AM

Charles, you guys were awesome, thanks again. I couldn't believe how fast the audio day passed by. We'll be back again soon, B&H considered both the day and the training session, plus the Vegas Users Group as a success. So did we. Congrats to you all for putting together such a huge attendance and agenda.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/9/2005, 6:27 AM

It was an incredible evening indeed. Spot hit us with a firehose of information on audio for video and B&H offered some nice discounts. I’m definitely going to have to take advantage of some of them.

The demonstration of the Sony HVR-Z1U was quite impressive. The footage shot of the elk at 30p looked very film like (like something out of National Geographic). Seeing the camera 1st hand was definitely a bad financial idea though. It just went from my "nice to have" list to my "got to have" list. (maybe I’ll spring for the FX1) ;-)

I wish I lived a little closer to NYC so I could come down every month and join the User Group meetings. You guys are great. It was also great that the people who came for the audio talk stayed to see Vegas in action and some of them even won a copy of Vegas+DVD. It was funny how new people kept saying things like, “but you can’t just drop a MOV file on the timeline with that AVI file... can you?” It’s always fun to watch the jaws drop. Vegas ROCKS!

B&H should be commended for sponsoring this event. I had an opportunity to visit their store just down the street from where we met. OMG it is a candy store for videographers. I couldn’t believe how big it is and what a selection of pro gear. Think FAO Schwarz for video! If you’re ever in NYC, do yourself a favor and visit B&H, but make sure you have an afternoon to kill. It’s easily as big as your average Circuit City or Best Buy (except the sales people know what they’re talking about).

~jr

busterkeaton wrote on 3/9/2005, 7:05 AM

That was definitely fun. I was defnitely drooling over the prize that was a complete collection of Hark Loops. Hark doesn't even sell that.

Every time I go into B and H, I feel like a kid in candy store or more accurately an adult in a pro audio and video store. B & H, not only sponsored the event, it subsidized part of it. I'm guessing they rented the room. $50 bucks for an 8 hour audio session is fantastic. Just the section on microphones was worth that. The boundary mikes were very impressive. I don't think I would have ever thought of sewing my own windscreen. The audio scanning was great too. When I first heard that clip I thought the problem was in the high end of her voice, but the problem turned out to be around 1000Khz. A lot of non Vegas folks got a lot out of the audio event too. One attendee was about to do his first gig where he was going to wirelessly record a feed from a mixer board.

The NYC Vegas folks were impressed that Spot posted to the forum after staying late the first night.

Spot and Manny, next time you come, ask the board for some restaurant tips and you won't have to eat every meal at the Tick Tock Diner.

JR, you looked smart in your VASST shirt. I think you're going have tons of fun at NAB. Maybe Manny and Spot will spring for some shoes with laces for you, then you'll be set. ;)

I think NAB is going to be fun for everyone on this board even if they aren't attending.

busterkeaton wrote on 3/9/2005, 7:22 AM

Charles, I just looked at Boxxtech.com and looked at their cheaper workstations. You can get them with a SoundBlaster card if you decide to go with a firewire audio card, but once you start configuring them, they start climbing above $2K fast.

BillDyszel wrote on 3/9/2005, 8:53 AM

That was a phenomenal set of presentations! A total knockout! Several non-Vegas users just stood there, slack-jawed as they watched you demo. The free audio session and the HD session we're complete hits, too. And the all-day audio session was an absolute feast!

Thanks for giving the New York user group such terrific momentum!

-Bill Dyszel

busterkeaton wrote on 3/9/2005, 9:09 AM

Bill nice to see you on this board. Congrats again to you and JV for helping put this together and promoting it.

rextilleon wrote on 3/9/2005, 9:46 AM

Hey Johnny----FAO Schwartz went out of business! (Couldn't resist) By the way, I missed the event but was in B&H today to play with the Z1---very impressive. The salesman kept telling me, hey, you have to buy one soon because Sony is going to raise the price when Panasonic comes out with its' 720 version---I had to laugh---the things aren't walking out the door........

I want one!

busterkeaton wrote on 3/9/2005, 10:40 AM

Hey Rex,

FAO Schwartz is back in business. They got rid of most of their stores and are going back to specializing in one of kind toys, but the NYC store is open.

Lili wrote on 3/9/2005, 11:03 AM

I've been trying to convert a NYC friend of mine from FCP to Vegas and telling him about this event just might do the trick. congratulations on such a great turnout. Wish I could have been there too.

lili

JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/9/2005, 2:01 PM

I didn’t realize FAO Swartz went out of business for a while. I’m glad to see their NYC store is back. I just remember Tom Hanks in BIG at FAO Swartz and that’s what I felt like yesterday.

Hey, just to show you how good B&H is, I bought an Audio Technica Pro 88W wireless system from their web site last week. When I got it, the package had been opened, the Styrofoam inside had a big piece missing, the bags were all opened and the transmitter and receiver were repackage in the opposite places. I thought perhaps this was a floor model or a returned item so I emailed them about it. I got a phone call from them today assuring me that it was brand new and offering me a $20 discount or I could return it for another one. That’s $20 on a $169 item! For $149 I kept the unit (which works perfectly). That just goes to show you that they do care about their customers. I’ll be buying all my gear from them from now on.

~jr

cityanimal wrote on 3/9/2005, 6:20 PM

Kevin, Thanks for the info on the Boxx workstations. I'm definitely considering them for my hdv work..
Nice to hang out with you again.
Charles

Jessariah67 wrote on 3/9/2005, 7:42 PM

Spot,

Glad to hear all went well. I really wanted to get down there and hook up with you guys, but right now with 2 industrials on the board and a feature shoot 3 weeks away, the only things that make my radar are those that are on fire...

Sounds like it was a great time & learning experience for all. I LOVE it whenever the FCP & Premiere elite watch their darlings in a side-by-side with Vegas!

K

busterkeaton wrote on 3/10/2005, 12:34 AM

That reminds me, Barry from B&H, kept asking me, but you have to render, right? You have to render, right.

I kept telling him that during editing, all effects could be previewed even when mixing DV, mov, wmv, etc and that you could do RAM renders, open two versions of Vegas, etc, etc.

He said a lot of his customers won't go beyond that it has to render. Sony should put together a promotional DVD of how to gain effeciencies in the Vegas workflow. All the little tips and tricks we pick up, like working in multiple instances, network rendering, RAM renders, etc, etc. After NAB, they should put something together that just focuses on that and the speed of the basic Vegas workflow.

Also another bit of news that we learned at the Vegas Users Group meeting is that Nightline is going to start using Vegas. (For non US readers, Nightline is the longest running late night news show in the US. It's very well respected.)