has anybody here bought one of these yet?

It looks nice but I couldn't help but notice the F3 and F9 keys look normal, not labeled or colored in any way.

And the backspace key is one of those tiny ones.

The people at Bella Corporation have a universal AV keyboard with a Vegas sticker set. But that means no color coded keys. I'm still waiting for them to design an all out version. When that happens, buddy, I'm buying.

By the way, try emailing them and suggest they go with a full design for Vegas. Maybe if there are enough of us.

JBJones

>>you should attend the WEVA convention

As I recall, it seemed a little pricey for someone not actually in the business? It looked to me like the exhibits only, unlike similar events (e.g. DV Expo and NAB), wasn't free?

Did I miss something? What did it cost just for the Exhibits?

You are probably right. Although "pricey" like everything else is relative.

If I recall correctly WEVA members paid $269. for a full pass. They do not sell show passes only. WEVA membership costs $150. per year. There are many more benefits to membership other than the convention ie. reduced rate insurance, great credit card merchants plan, quarterly magazine, and many others outlined at the WEVA website.

The convention lasts three days and is very intense with seminars starting at 8AM thru 9PM (usually a 4 hour mid day break). Most topics are wedding specific subjects, but many relate to things like camera skills, business enhancing, etc. This year, there was about 60 seminars with titles as diverse as "Successful Selling" "Power Video Tools: Business Essentials" "Advancing with Premiers" and so on.

I usually go to the convention alone, then my wife joins me after the convention, and we spend a little R&R time in Vegas and the surrounding areas.

It works for me, but I can understand and appreciate anyone's reluctance to spend $400 plus for a convention if they are not in the business.

Sincerely,
Jerry Black

Still looking for JUST a sticker set for Vegas to put on a normal keyboard. I don't need a shuttle control, don't like USB keyboards and don't want to spend a hundred clams.

Anyone found anything that fits the bill?

There's been posts about these stickers and yes, I think it exists. And it's not very expensive.
Try the search engine with keywords "keyboard stickers" or "keyboard shortcuts"...

Also:
http://www.bella-usa.com/Products-Stickers.asp
... as a pre-sales item...

I was a WEVA member the first year my company was in business. I have to say that given 20/20 hindsight, I probably would not have joined. The money would have been better spent on a subscription to DV Magazine, insurance premiums, and advertising on The Knot.

I never attended the show in Las Vegas unfortunately, but I did attend a local meeting when the WEVA road show passed through Chicago. They showed the best videos from the previous year's expo, and my opinion was that they were well edited home videos. I didn't see anything that approached the quality I would expect for my own wedding video, and likewise nothing that represented a product I would strive to create for a client.

A lot of attention was paid to editing tricks (chroma keying, time lapse) and little emphasis on quality photographic framing and tempering effects. Where the WEVA personnel saw innovative wedding video editing, I saw cheese. When they were enthusiastic, I heard "join WEVA." It's as though their aesthetic values are rooted in the 1980s. I think it's time for a new generation of wedding video guys to bring broadcast and motion picture caliber professionalism to the wedding industry, something Vegas makes possible.

Great inspiration can be had by turning on IFC or Sundance, watching feature-length documentaries, and always being self-critical. I see WEVA as an organization leeching off its own members and feeding them low bar goals in return. But that's just my opinion.

PS. Thanks for the link to the keyboard, fc. I ordered one today from Ventura. He said I was the first.