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NAB 2012: Autodesk Unveils a New Smoke | Debra Kaufman | Creative COW
Autodesk has announced a new version of Smoke that is more Mac-like....and they dropped the price to $3,495. I've seen impressive demos of Smoke in the past, but was always turned off by the non-intuitive interface, so this could be interesting:

More specifically, the brand new design is intuitive and gestural or, as Hamaker put it, "Mac-like where it needs to be." "It unifies in a single application all the effects tools that an editor will need," he says. "But it's designed in a way that editors are used to using." That means that common tasks are on the menu bar and the UI is dynamic. ConnectFX enables Smoke users to work in the timeline.

Autodesk Smoke 2013 - First Look | Oliver Peters | Creative Planet Network
Oliver offers his take:

Autodesk was successful in attracting a lot of trial downloads, but realized that the biggest hurdle was the steep learning curve even expert Final Cut and Media Composer editors encountered. Previous Mac versions of Smoke featured a user interface and commands inherited from the Linux versions of Smoke and Flame, which were completely different from any Mac editing application.

Smoke - Features | Autodesk



Future Features in Final Cut Pro X | Larry Jordan | Blog
Apple isn't at NAB officially, so instead they whisper in Larry's ear, and then Larry tells us that Apple really is serious about this editing business:

Here are the bullet points (none of this was demoed):

• Multichannel Audio Editing Tools
• Dual Viewers
• MXF Plug-in Support
• RED camera support

4 Days with the Sony NEX-FS700 | Andrew Young | Vimeo
If you're interested in this camera, you'll want to watch this video: Andrew had a pre-production NEX-FS700 to test for a week, and he does a fairly extensive (16min) demo/review of the camera that includes lots of sample footage. There's lots of slow-mo "will I over-user this feature? Yes; and I'll enjoy every minute," and he also demonstrates pulling focus with the mythical Birger Canon EF adapter.

There's also some interesting comments about using an auto-focus Alpha lens with the camera; while it wasn't perfect, he found it did better than when he tried to pull focus manually during some action sequences.

He doesn't like everything about the camera; he finds the EVF awkward, and the camera is a bit too heavy to hand-hold in front of you; he thinks it wants to be shoulder mounted with an EVF mounted in front, and wishes Sony would make one.



Panasonic Sleeps Through 2012?

Interesting non-news from Panasonic so far. They announced a software update for the AG-AF100, a sneak peak at a 4K camera that looks like it just came out of the lab and isn't ready for release, a new P2 small-chip camcorder, and new P2 support for SD media that won't be out until 2013!
Good thing for them Sony and Canon aren't announcing anything interesting(!)

Panasonic Announces Software Release for AG-AF100 Large Imager HD Cinema Camcorder | Creative Planet Network
Panasonic plans only a little software update:

The upgrade (AG-SFU100) will enable acquisition in the 1080/60p and 1080/50p HD recording formats (in new 28Mbps PS mode), and will substitute the 2.39:1 aspect ratio marking for the current 2.35 marker.

Sneak Peek Pictures of the Panasonic 4K Varicam Camera? | Cinescopophilia
Release date? Price?

Panasonic have given us a very quick sneak peek at what looks to be a modular 4k Varicam camera during their NAB press conference. The camera looks to sport 3 separate units which may be upgradeable with new technology from Panasonic like their AVC-Ultra codec.

Panasonic AG-HPX600 P2 HD Camera AVC-ULTRA Recording Coming
| Cinescopophilia

Panasonic unveiled the AG-HPX600 a new P2 HD camcorder with 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra recording and the lowest weight of a shoulder-mount unit. Weighing less than 7 pounds and using low power, the HPX600 incorporates a newly-developed 2/3 type MOS sensor to produce beautiful HD and SD images.

Panasonic Press Release | "At NAB 2012, Panasonic unveiled the AG-HPX600, a new P2 HD camcorder with 10-bit, 4:2:2 AVC-Intra recording and the lowest weight of a shoulder-mount unit."


Panasonic Announces Dramatic Innovation in P2 Media with the Introduction of MICROP2 Card Series | Panasonic
Interesting stuff; but it won't be out until NAB 2013!!

The microP2 media and microP2 Card Adaptor will be available in spring 2013.
* The microP2 card and microP2 card adaptor will not support all P2 products. To use the microP2 card adaptor, a firmware upgrade of current P2 hardware is required and a fee will be charged.

Adobe Production Premium CS6 | Vincent Laforet
Vincent and his team offer their thoughts on the new release which they have been playing with:

Premiere Pro has some cool new features – the most noticeable of which is the new default "two up" workspace, which places the source monitor and program monitor side by side at the top of the screen. Both monitors have also been given a sleek, new look, with panel bars that can easily be reconfigured. You will also notice that the Audio Mixer has undergone a redesign – acquiring some features from Adobe Audition.

Offer terms | Adobe
If you buy CS5.5 now, you'll get CS6 for free:

Customers who purchase the most current Adobe® Creative Suite® software version, available through the online Adobe Store or Adobe Call Center, from 12am (PDT) on March 26, 2012, through 11:59pm (PDT) on May 6, 2012, will receive a one-time upgrade to the equivalent Adobe Creative Suite 6 product (download version only) at no additional cost when it ships publicly

Carl Zeiss Lenses - Introduction NAB 2012 (Part 3) | Carl Zeiss | YouTube
A short video with Michael Schiehlen, Sales Director at Carl Zeiss, talking about what Zeiss will be showing at NAB, including the two lenses they have already announced (see below), as well as a sneak peak at three new CP.2 lenses that are superfast (1.5 compared to the standard CP.2 lenses that are T2.1)

Carl Zeiss Is Expanding its Compact Prime CP.2 Product Range with 15mm and 135mm lenses | CreativePlanetNetwork



NAB 2012 is Underway: Canon, Sony, and RED are in a 4K RAW Battle (Panasonic and Aaton Aren't Far Behind) | Joe Marine | No Film School
Joe offers his own thoughts on the HD and 4K cameras currently available, complete with a table comparing prices. Includes some interesting observations comparing the cameras:

What’s Canon doing? I’m not really sure, but they are certainly pricing themselves out of the market in features alone. Both of their new cameras are going to produce amazing images, but their top-of-the-line camera should really be much more comparable to the F65 or the Epic. If you’re going to make a camera that expensive, it makes sense to me that you would go all out and put the biggest sensor and the highest bit depth and frame rates that you can into it. The C500 fits much, much better as a $15,000 camera, and the 1DC should be half that price at around $7,500 (closer to the FS700).