Matt Cooper, a former rAVe employee, enjoyed the endless opportunities for creativity in many different formats. Whether it was print, web, e-mail, 3D illustration, video, screen printing or any number of new forms of media – he had the opportunity to try it all while getting rAVe’s message out.
Every day has new design and project management challenges – but it’s what he loves to do and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Matt lives in Durham with his wife and two cats. He likes fiction podcasts, NPR, game nights and watching obscure television on stations you’ve never heard of. Matt knows a ton of facts about random topics, and he regularly likes to correct Gary and Sara when they are wrong.
I was excited to attend and shoot videos at DSE in Las Vegas again this year. DSE is one of my favorite shows, It’s a great size to get the chance to feel like you really got to see all the products and talk to all the companies you want. Altinex caught my attention first […]
Dave Haynes, founder and blogger over at Sixteen:Nine, has launched an innovative service for digital signage operators in need of high-quality video content to run on a DS network. Spotomate is a cloud-based video template creation platform. Which, is a fancy way of saying that you drag-and-drop photos and enter text onto a template in a […]
The 2014 Toshiba LEAD conference in Dallas was great, and we’re glad rAVe could come and cover it again this year. It was my first time venturing into the strange world of Managed Print Services (MPS) and seeing how Toshiba ties AV into its business model. For those unfamiliar with this gathering, the show is primarily aimed at […]
Fall is officially here and there have been many updates to the major consoles as well as a few big game releases this summer. You’ll want to keep up on the new abilities of the major systems so you’ll be able to answer questions from customers, as well as new ways to integrate gaming into a theater. […]
I’m back from CEDIA 2014, and had a blast. As a video shooter, I had the unique perspective of checking out EVERY booth in my section, no matter how big or little. As usual, I saw more new products and ideas than what I expected going in to the expo. Like my other tradeshow blogs, I want […]
On a random side-note, has anybody really read Frank Sinatra’s lyrics to “High Hopes”? They are weird. For instance — a ram trying to destroy a hydroelectric plant? I’m coming to CEDIA this year with an open mind — and like many attendees, I really want to be blown away with a clear winning product or […]
Happy Friday #avtweeps!Here are some of the top stories that we think deserve a second look. This week’s wrap-up features a blog post from Gary Kayye, a new partnership between Polycom, Crestron and Sharp means competition for Cisco, theCEDIA Expo is only a few weeks away and more! Enjoy! • Choosing Between Wired or Wireless: http://bit.ly/1t2p8oH • Polycom and Crestron Electronics […]
DropCam’s head of marketing Sean Lindo speaks with Johnny about the brilliant cameras that Nest now has to offer. They’re small, have two-way audio, and are easy to setup. All this and more on this episode of AV Insider. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Despite some negative stereotypes about people who enjoy video games, most modern games have a social focus. From massive multi-player games that host thousands of people in the same persistent world like World of Warcraft and Dota II, to party matching systems for match based games, which is most of them. Even solitary games now […]
Very recently, virtual reality has finally grown out of the ridiculous spectacle of the early ’90s into a legitimate display peripheral. Much of the credit for bringing VR back from the brink and into the mainstream consciousness goes to the Oculus Rift, started by a 22-year-old with the world’s largest head-mounted display collection, Palmer Luckey. […]
This year at InfoComm, I had the good fortune to have time to walk the halls and just talk in person to some of the great exhibitors in more depth. Here are few more products that caught my attention. Joel Rollins really put me on this camera. The Cisco SX10 has some feature other than […]
I wasn’t kidding when I came up with this title – I think I really found a company that’s pioneering future methods for sales and planning for particular segments of the AV industry. The company is World Viz: Interactive Virtual Reality. They are embracing the current rapid advance in affordable and high-quality virtual reality hardware. World Viz […]
LED display wall manufacturers are always present at InfoComm, but I saw a few demos that really showed off the quality of the product and also were an entertaining draw to the booth from some of the lesser known contenders. One of the most newest examples of impressive specs and visual performance is Christie’s new Velvet […]
I’ve been told that given the cost and time involved in careful commercial display calibration, there was a lull in integrators offering calibration services for the bulk of display installs. With the increasing popularity of video walls over large projectors the market pressure for calibration services is on the rise. When displays are that close, […]
While walking the the halls of InfoComm, you run across things that are worth seeing, but not necessarily in a Disruptive/GameChanging(tm) kind of way. Please ignore my emo selfie that accidentally came out in the viewing window at the Digital Projection booth. You should by all-means check out their impressive new offerings this year, including […]
I know how hard it is to exhibit at tradeshows, and I especially feel for the rugged small business exhibitors who brave the formidable expense intense labor that comes with doing most of your own setup. Sometimes I feel these booths don’t get all the attention they could and you end up finding some particularly […]
This is by no means a comprehensive list, but just the first few excellent giveaways I’ve seen at the show so far. I’d be remiss if I didn’t push our own amazing giveaway – The GAME 5 with over $30,000 in prizes at our Sponsors booths. You have 3 hours as of publishing this post, so […]
I’m starting the day off with one of the biggest feature buzzwords of InfoComm: 4K. And rightly so, 3D in the commercial world has safely faded into obscurity for what it should be – a gimmick to be used sparingly when you need to catch people’s attention for applications like digital signage. At a certain […]
I’m always up for a challenge and recently, Mark Coxon threw down the gauntlet and asked me to get a little more specific on what a home theater gaming setup would look like. Although it’s true I haven’t worked directly for a true AV integrator — I have done some HomeAV design and install work […]
Yamaha and Revolabs announced today that the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement in which Yamaha will acquire Revolabs, which will operate as a subsidiary. Yamaha, an audio manufacturer that already offers voice communication and pro audio equipment, will be able to expand its portfolio to include wireless microphone systems and conference phones. […]
Last column, I went over some basic types of gamers based on preferred hardware. Beyond that, it’s worth understanding gaming genres, as it can relate to some particular accessory sales and furniture placement. I’m also going to paint in some broad strokes to keep this article from taking 18 years to read. But, rest assured, […]
In my last article I got pretty specific with theater customizations that not every theater gaming client would need. This month I’ll dial it back in a and give a broader field guide to identify the particular genus and species of your gamer client. This will give you an edge on design recommendations, as well […]
Well, made it to Atlanta, after an evening of hiking through the Charlotte and Atlanta airports – two of the largest (read: longest) airports in the country. By the time I got here around 2am, I felt like I had walked to Atlanta. Anyway, the event is just kicking off, and the venue is spectacular – […]
Although this year’s DSE was full of great technology, the items discussed below are indeed a few of my favorite things. Before going into detail, let me just say that it has been a crazy DSE — I haven’t seen the official numbers, but attendance feels way up. I know this because part of my […]
