Digital Video - February 2009 - (Page 6)

PREROLL BY DAVID E. WILLIAMS VOLUME 17 NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY 2009 BLACK DIAMOND REVIEWS REVISITED DV.COM EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF David E. Williams dwilliams@nbmedia.com MANAGING EDITOR Katie Makal kmakal@nbmedia.com TECHNICAL EDITOR Jay Holben jayholben@gmail.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS J.R. Bookwalter, Ty Ford, Chuck Gloman, John Jackman, Matt Jeppsen, Nels Johnson, Kendal Miller, Carl Mrozek, Oliver Peters, Stefan Sargent, Jon Silberg, Ned Soltz ADVERTISING EAST COAST SALES MANAGER Susan Simon ssimon@nbmedia.com 914. 607. 2192 WEST COAST SALES MANAGER Paul DaCruz pdacruz@nbmedia.com 707. 537. 7769 MIDWEST SALES MANAGER Jeff Victor jvictor@nbmedia.com 847. 367. 4073 EUROPE SALES MANAGER Bob Kennedy bkennedy@nbmedia.com 011. 44. 1279. 861264 DV EXPO SALES Contact your DV representative CLASSIFIED AD SALES Jessica Striano jstriano@nbmedia.com 212. 378. 0467 ART & PRODUCTION SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Nicole Cobban ART DIRECTOR Annmarie LaScala PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Fred Vega PRODUCTION MANAGER Aaron Stone CIRCULATION ASSOCIATE CIRCULATION DIRECTOR, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Anne Drobish CIRCULATION MANAGER Kwentin Keenan CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE Michele Fonville SUBSCRIPTIONS: DV, P.O. Box 221, Lowell, MA 01853 Telephone: 888-266-5828 (USA only, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST) 978-667-0352 (Outside the US) Fax: 978-671-0460 E-mail: newbay@computerfulfillment.com NEWBAY MEDIA VIDEO/ BROADCAST GROUP EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Carmel King VP SALES/GROUP PUBLISHER Eric Trabb EDITORIAL/CREATIVE DIRECTOR Anthony Savona EDITORIAL DIRECTOR - VIDEO Cristina Clapp EDITORIAL DIRECTOR - BROADCAST Carter Ross ONLINE PRODUCTION MANAGER Robert Granger WEB ANALYST David Leach WED AD PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Lesley Keller NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATE PRESIDENT & CEO Steve Palm CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Paul Mastronardi VICE PRESIDENT OF WEB DEVELOPMENT Joe Ferrick CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Denise Robbins IT DIRECTOR Greg Topf CONTROLLER Jack Leidke HR DIRECTOR Ray Vollmer REPRINTS AND PERMISSIONS: Please contact our Reprint Coordinator at Wright’s Reprints: 877.652.5295 PUBLISHED BY NEWBAY MEDIA L.L.C. 810 Seventh Avenue, 27th Fl. New York, NY 10019 Tel: 212.378.0400 Fax: 212.378.0470 Web: www.nbmedia.com I recently received an e-mail from a major equipment manufacturer quite pleased to find that one of their new products had scored a very positive review in our pages, earning it the DV Award of Excellence. But, they wondered, what exactly did that honor mean? And why does it seem that so many items reviewed in DV rate highly? How can everything be great? First things first: The DV review score chart seen above is quite simple to understand. Judged on a scale of one to five black diamonds (hence our annual Black Diamond Awards handed out at the NAB Show), products that earn better than four diamonds are given our Award of Excellence. So where are all the single-diamond reviews? The scathing, merciless rants against the poorly conceived, overly-marketed wastes of money introduced every year? The complete junk we have all succumbed to buying at one time or another? To be honest, we could run nothing but negative reviews if that’s what readers really wanted, but I personally prefer to focus on what’s useful rather than useless, so products that fall into the “Don’t Bother” end of our spectrum simply don’t receive equal space. Unfair? Possibly, but with editorial real estate at a premium, I’d rather give our readers information and opinions on notable or breakthrough products than editorial vitriol. With that bit of editorial bias in mind, we have started a new In Review department dubbed “Black Diamond Essentials,” in which we will showcase top-notch products in a different category each month — from grip gear (this issue, on page 10) to special-use optics, from portable storage to plug-ins, from microphones to HD camcorders. Finally, although 2009 has just begun, I’ve already started reading early announcements touting wares to be seen at the upcoming NAB confab, and buzz is beginning to reverberate around the Web. (And, no, I’m not talking about RED’s decision to forgo exhibiting this year.) Look for our NAB Special Edition in April, which will serve as our unofficial In Review hit list for the rest of the 2009, as announced products are made available to our intrepid team. David E. Williams, Editor dwilliams@nbmedia.com 6 dv February 2009 www.dv.com http://www.nbmedia.com http://www.nbmedia.com http://www.dv.com

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Digital Video - February 2009 Contents Stasis Flex Black Diamond Essentials Instant Expert Close-Up: Larry Blamire They Like to Rock the Party Close-Up: Gregg Kita Click to Play DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - February 2009

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