Where Are They Now?

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Every magazine gives awards. We just did it again with Vanguard 2001(see page 32). So what about Vanguard 1998, 1999, and 2000? Did anyonecheck to see whether our judges chose wisely or well? Well, in fact, wedid. Following is an update on the 45 products we considered innovativeenough to rate Vanguard-worthy in years past. We believed theseproducts represented outstanding price/performance advances, orgroundbreaking innovations that would change the way videoprofessionals worked. We even thought some of them would havereverberations beyond production, changing the way media wasdistributed. That was before the dotcom crash. We chose these productsin a haze of optimism that came from years of booming technology stocksand an infatuation with all things technical. We were caught up in akind of euphoria that came crashing down in this, the first real yearof the new century.

But hey, we still did pretty well. See what you think of our picksnow.

Although the NT port seemed Vanguardian in those NT-obsessed days,Maya 3 was a more subtle choice, primarily impressing the judges withsub-d surfaces and a nonlinear animation editor. Today, the news isMaya for OS X, an elegant match that has produced the first noteworthyharvest on Mac's new OS.

Verdict: A perennial Vanguard.

If the goal of a Vanguard is to cause a commotion, Final Cut Pro wasthe easiest call our judges ever had to make. When it first appeared atNAB '99, the buzz at the Apple starship was intense, as people crowdedaround to gawk, argue, marvel, and speculate. You didn't want to soundtoo convinced (what if there was a catch?) or too skeptical (what ifthis was the next big thing?). Indie filmmakers claimed FCP as theirown, but now there are FCP-cut commercials and entire news crews totingFCP-equipped laptops. Collaborations with Matrox and Pinnacle haveproduced eye-catching products, though not without pain. FCP hasn'tunseated Avid for those who need Avid, but for others it's a potentoption for one-tenth the price. On the other side of the coin, FCP hasusurped Premiere in the hype wars and put Adobe in the position ofproving its relevance. All this for less than $1,000.

Verdict: The very definition of Vanguard (even though ourjudges were careful not to get too excited in 1999).

In a comeback year for Apple, Vanguard judges just liked seeing areturn to form. Now with OS X on the inside, G4 is an even moreexciting graphic workstation in a world that seemed only a few yearsago to teeter on the brink of Windows domination.

Verdict: Vanguard judges prefer a two-party system.

Consider our reasoning for choosing the Universal in 1999: “Asthe broadcasting world prepares for the DTV/HDTV onslaught … theright tool at the right time.” We certainly called that one,especially the onslaught part. Yet in the television world, Symphonyeventually fulfilled its promise, becoming the unquestioned standardfor finishing TV and commercials on the coasts. Especially incombination with Avid Unity, it certainly is the right tool for theright facility with the right budget.

Verdict: Vanguard judges can dream too.

How could this not be a Vanguard? Especially in theInternet-euphoric year 2000? This unique optical system enables thecreation of 360-degree, navigable video that has enlivened interactiveweb programming for the NFL, NBA, NHL, ESPN, Fox, E! Entertainment, andBMG. This year, Entertainment Tonight's 2001 Academy Awardscoverage was the first-ever broadcast television outing for thishead-turning tool. Now it has been adopted outside the entertainmentfield for security surveillance, which may turn out to be theopportunity of the century.

Verdict: Clearly Vanguard-worthy.

Then and now, the only DV camcorder with interchangeable lenses.When it came out, it made a bold — even radical — statementabout the professional potential of DV camcorders, an attitude laterechoed by JVC's DV500 and Panasonic Proline miniDV cameras amongothers. Quirky at times, some even say awkward, it remains a seminalinnovation, while inspiring the kind of user affection normallyconfined to Saab owners. Canon has continued to refine the product andthis year brought out a sister camera, the XL1S, with new features anda sharper, more detailed alternative to the famous XL1 “filmlook.” (See next month's Video Systems for a review of theXL1S.)

Verdict: Vanguard with a vengeance.

The Deuce was designed to replace line doublers and quadruplers andissued a clear price performance challenge to the market. Today theoriginal Deuce is joined in the product line by Deuce Pro, Deuce HD,and Deuce MC.

Verdict: Solid if not necessarily Van-guardian.

Fast, flexible, built by pros, Digital Voodoo's D1 desktop, likePinnacle's CineWave, got off to a slightly rocky start after catchingthe attention of Vanguard judges for its HD-on-the-desktop potential.Clearly Vanguardian in its concept, it continues to offer promise forFinal Cut Pro moviemakers. A leader in FCP boardsets, with impressivetechnology to back up the promise, it is vulnerable to the weaknessesof the HD market. It may yet lose out if other technologies withdifferent software present more attractive HD platforms.

Verdict: Jury is still out.

Magazines have lined up to give Edit awards from 1997 to the present— Vanguard, User's Choice, Readers' Choice, Editor's Choice, PickHit, Platinum… Now in version 6.0, Edit is more integrated thanever into the power of the Discreet workgroup, including the popularCombustion, itself the winner of at least six awards in 2000 and 2001.Video Systems spotted Combustion first with a Pick Hit award atNAB 2000. Vanguard judges liked the intuitive GUI, and artists did too,making Combustion … well, hot, especially running on a powerfullaptop at the beach. (Try doing that with a Flame.) A great companionto 3D Studio Max and a terrific mid-level compositor.

Verdict: The Vanguard flame still burns in Combustion.

The respected Echolab (now e-Studio) dazzled Vanguard judges withthe Commander, a tactile interface that literally commanded everydevice on a switcher-based network through an irresistible combinationof LED displays and remappable buttons. In 2000, the Commander becamethe linchpin of the e-Studio, a system that promised to ease video prosinto webcasting with a switcher-based model they could relate to. Asother streaming products sprang forth from computer roots, e-Studioprepared to lead veteran videographers to the streaming horizon.Unfortunately, it was more like a streaming sunset. The e-Studioconnected with its users, especially for live webcasting overintranets. But this killer tool turned out to be a tough investment tojustify as streaming became more of an experiment.

Verdict: Being right is only half the battle.

Chosen by Vanguard despite its ill-advised name (SMPTE would notshare the 601 moniker, and who can blame them?), Fast 601 grew into afamily of products with the same software interface: the flagship Blue(the native editor), uncompressed Ivory, mainstay MPEG-2-based Silver,and DV-based Purple. Recently, Fast was acquired by Pinnacle Systems.Regardless of what becomes of Silver and its siblings, the former 601remains a fascinating Vanguard: It was the first successful,competitively priced, high-quality, MPEG-2 compressed NLE in a worldwhere Motion-JPEG systems were dominant. At the time, there was no MPEGinteroperability to take advantage of the theoretical value of MPEG.Yet the advancement of MPEG postproduction will continue on with 601 aspart of its history.

Verdict: Deserving.

The first truly serious performance graphics card. But Intergraphgot out of the film and video business when SGI acquired the assets ofthe Zx10 family of Vizual Workstations and servers. Intergraph hadalready spun off the Wildcat division as Intense3D and built anenormous OEM market-share among workstation vendors. 3D Labs bought theIntense3D assets and continues to produce new Wildcat cards (now in the5100s) that set the standard for speed. In truth, you can probably getsomething like 60% of the performance from a cheaper card. But at thevery high end, where every ounce of performance counts, Wildcat isstill the screamer.

Verdict: Vanguard likes screamers.

In the early days of what would eventually become an orgy ofinnovation and debate in digital cinema, these projectors helped touchoff one of the most fascinating evolutions in video history. And it'sfar from over. Certainly the technological battle is waged over D-ILAand DLP. But cultural and business issues will determine whether GeorgeLucas lives to see multiplexes abandon the analog vestiges of thepast.

Verdict: The ghost of Vanguards yet to come.

Like the Canon XL1 before it, the DV500 showed just how real DVcould be — though in different ways. The first implementation ofa DV camera that looked like a serious, professional ENG camera, ithelped make JVC a contender and inspired DV developments at Panasonicand Sony. Sometimes the measure of a Vanguard is how quicklycompetitors join in.

Verdict: Still going strong in DV land.

Both boardsets have become industry staples in the lower end of theprofessional video desktop market. The products have drawn a largenumber of software partners, from Adobe Premiere and In-Sync SpeedRazor to China's MagicEditor, and from Discreet Edit to IMC Incite, aswell as turnkey integrators like Specialized Communications and MinaSystems. The RT2000 was really the first board to realize C-Cube'svision for its DVExpress technology and Vanguard judges predicted itwould redefine the low end of the video editing market. The RT2000 hassince evolved into the RT2500, continuing Matrox's success in thesometimes controversial real-time videoboard arena. The Digisuite lineuses Matrox's “mathematically lossless” compression, stillthe best way to edit analog source without breaking the bank. Today,the DigiSuite family, the Mac-based RTMac, and the RT2500 hold theirown.

Verdict: Not a giant killer, but continues to innovate.

The No. 1 choice of the 2000 Vanguard judges, Media 100i wasdesigned to take advantage of the Internet boom that went bust soonafter the product was announced. The product, based upon the originalMedia 100, is growing a bit long in the tooth, but continues to be soldand supported. The Vanguardian concept of adding html events to thevideo editing timeline was copied by Adobe. Media 100 sold assetsincluding Media Cleaner and the DV editing software to Discreet thisyear to finance the completion and marketing of a bold new product,presently codenamed Pegasus. Will Pegasus fly to the rescue of Media100i, tying it into a workgroup scenario with a companion product? Staytuned.

Verdict: It ain't over 'til it's over.

The littlest Vanguard. This tiny, powerful downconverter mountsneatly on the bottom, rear corner of your Sony HD camcorder where itnibbles daintily on camera battery power and pounds out downconvertedHD component analog to the nearest handy field monitor. Fluent in PAL,NTSC, 1080i, 24p, 1035i, 720p, 16:9, and 4:3. Still translating.

Verdict: Clever, practical, innovative. Vanguard.

A Vanguard favorite, Omneon was introduced as a low-cost,open-architecture, integrated Video Area Network based on an IEEE-1394networking architecture and Fibre Channel storage. Modular andscalable, the system can input, route, store, share, and distributedigital media — be it audio, video, or any type of related data.Today it is combined with Sundance Digital's FastBreak NT Spot PlaybackSystem and Fast Electronics editing products to offer broadcasters acomplete digital architecture solution for far less than other digitalbroadcast backbone solutions.

Verdict: Good Vanguard values: original in concept;potentially solves an urgent problem for broadcasters.

A classic price/performance product, the D400 ENG camcorder became amainstay of local broadcast. For many broadcasters, it was their moveto digital. For corporate/industrial, it was entry level DVCPRO. Itdemonstrated that tape recorders can last a very long time, which isnot a sexy quality, but for maintenance-sensitive local broadcasters, agood one. Though some users who could afford to eventually moved on towidescreen cameras, the D400 is still widely used. Panasonic recentlyreplaced it with the AJ-D410, a much more sensitive camera sporting thelatest generation of CCD chip and capable of three hours of recordingas opposed to 36 minutes.

Things did not go quite as well for the AJ-HDC20A, at least not inthis country. Very popular in Japan, where 1080i HDTV is a reality, ithas been less successful here due to the painfully obvious absence ofHDTV. It has also been somewhat overshadowed by Panasonic's ownAJ-HDC27A (a 2001 Vanguard) with its flashy filmlike capabilities suchas variable frame rate. Optimists would say that the 20A remains readyand waiting for an HDTV market yet to come.

Verdict: D400, a Vanguard classic. HDC20A, a Vanguardvictim.

Pinnacle was a darling of the 2000 Vanguard judges for two productsat opposite ends of the resolution spectrum in two markets thatproceeded to flounder almost immediately after NAB. The StreamGenie wasan interesting idea in a time of great streaming optimism. A realtimeswitcher in a luggable field unit computer, it was webcasting in a box,designed to go wherever streaming called. It didn't.

The CineWave was one of the hottest ideas at NAB 2000, a $50,000 HDdesktop edit system that presaged an HD future for Final Cut Pro.Pinnacle's reputation, FCP mania, and the sheer audacity and potentialof this product raised a lot of expectations. As with the similarDigital Voodoo, the reality set in after the show. Early problemseventually gave way to a solid product. It is now a serious HD edittool in a market where there is a place for serious HD — just noton TV.

Verdict: It's not easy being Vanguard.

A glimpse of the one-upsmanship in plasmas that would reachhysterical proportions. A huge step forward in brightness and contrastat the time and part of an ongoing race to drive Vanguard judges madwith flatscreen lust. Rumored to be available on the Internet today fora mere $8,000, down from its debut price of $18,000.

Verdict: Vanguard judges do not get any specialdiscounts.

Never boring, and by no means a unanimous Vanguard, Trinity came tomarket after a development saga of epic duration. When it finallyshipped, it had to be Vanguard for the sheer scope of its mission andeccentric panache of its marketing. Unfortunately, the fun endedabruptly when Play founder and visionary Paul Montgomery (who alsohelped start NewTek) died unexpectedly in 1999. Play itself closedshortly after, with various assets including Trinity going to PlayStreaming Media Group (now Global Streams). Today, Trinity users willturn to GlobalStreams for technical support and future enhancements totheir big, crazy, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink boxes. GlobalStreamsalso continues to market the various flavors of Play's Globecasterwebcasting product. The ingenious Holoset is now the driving technologybehind GlobalStreams Chroma Key Technology. For more information, visitwww.globalstreams.com.

Verdict: Can GlobalStreams resurrect the gallant but doomedPlay?

This was the first glimpse of a direct-view 16:9 monitor capable ofdisplaying all HDTV formats while maintaining compatibility with NTSCsignals. Remarkably sharp and clear, it is now available as theAS3.0HDW upgrade at a lower price. The new product takes one of twoYPbPr component inputs and makes it compatible with componentinterlaced video.

Verdict: A leader in a Vanguard trend.

Puffin Designs Commotion started out as a graphics/FX/compositingpackage for the Mac that could make rotoscoping easy and trackingpossible. The company that brought RAM playback to the desktop, andthus mega-buck functionality at an affordable price, is owned byPinnacle Systems and continues to develop and win fans with CommotionPro 4. It is the only desktop application to offer instant playback ofmoving video, DTV, HDTV, and film images directly from RAM or disk,using the proprietary SuperCache technology.

Verdict: The Little Vanguard That Could.

EditDV was Vanguardian in the sense that it foreshadowed the arrivalof Premiere 6 and Final Cut Pro. It was also a very good DV editor inits own right with some intriguing, unique performance enhancements.Radius begat Digital Origin, which Media 100 bought to get a bettersoftware application suitable for DV. This begat CineStream and came toinclude EventStream. The technology has now gone to Discreet as part ofMedia 100's fundraising effort to finish and market the new Pegasustechnology. Still with me? Today, the questions are: Will the oldEditDV be Discreet's entry into a Mac-based editing system? Will it bemarketed and developed as low-cost editing software the way Combustionevolved from acquired Paint and Effect products? Will Discreet retirethe product?

Verdict: So many questions for a product that was an obviousVanguard.

According to the August Nielsen NetRatings, Real had 55% of thestreaming media market; Windows Media had 28%; and QuickTime had 17%.But that's a relatively small part of the Real story. The next chaptermay be affected by the recent announcement of the first standard— ISMA 1.0 — that specifies a single, unified plug-in forMPEG-4 compliant audio and video. Only QuickTime will include thenecessary codecs. Real and Microsoft are not joining the internationalopen-standards process, and Real has not yet announced a player for OSX.

Clearly, the outcome of the player wars is still to be determined.In this context, it's also interesting to note that Real is trying tobroaden its mission and business plan. It has been producing contentespecially for its RP 8, available for an extra charge. The mostnotable offerings have been the Big Brother 24-hour feed and thenew Survivor Insider, with never-before-seen footage from eachweek's show. We're not saying that's a good thing. For more on Real'sbusiness strategies, see next month's Video Systems.

Verdict: Why Real?

This is the board that first made nonlinear HD postproduction areality. First designed for the Onyx2 and Origin platforms, this yearit became available for the Octane2 and went full realtime. Today, morethan a dozen products use this SGI board. The only things dimming thesuccess of this board are the financial pundits out there who questionthe parent company's survivability.

Verdict: Definite impact on our industry, which continues tothe present.

DVDit! was one of the first basic interactive DVD authoring packagesthat could be bundled with desktop video products. It has become a bigseller due to bundling basic versions with most DVD-RW drives, as wellas offering various upgrade options. The program is currently atversion 2.5 and offers DVD+RW support, improved cDVD support, WindowsXP support, and realtime transcoding. Two years later the DVDit!software looks smarter than ever, as inexpensive writable DVD drivessuggest that a mini revolution in media distribution looms on thehorizon.

Verdict: Vanguard spots a good idea.

The DSR-70 DVCAM portable editing recorder and the DXC-D30WS cameraboth caught Vanguard's eye for a similar reason. Both suggested animpulse toward freer and more portable field production, an impulsethat would ultimately be taken up by other technology.

Still, at the time, these two products — a portable fieldeditor and a lighter and portable, switchable, widescreen camera— were Vanguard in spirit. The 16:9/4:3 switchable capability ofthe D30WS ensured that many of today's cameras would be switchable. Ayear later, the DSR-500WS DVCAM camcorder ensured the same thing forcamcorders. But even as switchable widescreen capabilities have becomestandard, the HDTV-saturated future that the Vanguard judges envisionedin 1998 and 1999 has not come to pass.

This reality contributed to the Vanguardian qualities of theHDW-F900, which was an ingenious new take on the 1080 format. The 108024p format was aimed at film-based shooters. It was designed to providethem with a familiar tool, giving them a digital option and theadvantages that go with that. Marketing 24p to film people also ensuredthat the camera would touch off a raging, fascinating controversy.George Lucas has made up his mind, but many professionals will debatethe merits of this camera for a long time to come. The introduction ofthe HDW-F900 will always remain a watershed moment, truly a Vanguardboth for what it is and what it isn't.

Verdict: Vanguard in spirit, and the HDW-F900 is a Vanguardclassic in the making.

Who says Vanguard isn't practical? With their heads spinning from amyriad of seductive streaming products, our 1999 and 2000 judgesmanaged to close in on one of the few web streaming products that wouldlive to see NAB 2001. These simple, appliance-style products solve areal problem by allowing you to move compressed media around the globewith the ease of a fax.

Verdict: A Vanguard no-brainer.

Vanguard loves clean media, so Terran got the nod two years in arow. In 1999, with “streaming video taking off like arocket” (our assessment), Terran was operating as part of Media100, and George Lucas chose Cleaner 4 to put Phantom Menace onthe Web. Judges hailed the fact that Media Cleaner 4 was available forWindows, and it was pretty much a must-have product. In 2001, tofinance its new Pegasus development, Media 100 sold the Cleaner assetsto Discreet. The family now includes: Cleaner 5 Supercharger andCharger, Cleaner Live, and the oft-bundled Cleaner EZ.

Verdict: A true Vanguard. Too bad about the dotcoms.

The designer helped found Abecus and the product started out asDance, evolving through the Zydeko/Kalypso stage into an effects enginethat cost far less than the previous incarnations. At a time when NLEsystems were demanding more powerful effects engines, its releaseappeared to be timed correctly. But the connection between the productand the NLE software manufacturers never happened. Today,workgroup-networked effects/compositing workstations and plug-ineffects are diminishing in importance. Videonics merged with FocusEnhancements and continues to produce innovative products, includingFireStore.

Verdict: A pedigree wasn't enough.

Email the editorial staff at vsfeedback@primediabusiness.com.