Conventioneers imagine the future of the big picture at NAB Show

Is it filmed live or is it digital? A cinematic effects expert told a National Association of Broadcasters Show audience on Sunday that computer imaging is now so good that it’s almost impossible for audiences to tell.

Oscar-winning visual effects artist Rob Legato described the blazing-fast speed at which filmmaking techniques are evolving Sunday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Many fast-evolving broadcast trends will take center stage at NAB, which will feature technology and wares from 1,700 companies and cover 1 million square feet of Las Vegas Convention Center space.

The show, which is closed to the public, drew more than 100,000 people last year, and officials say attendance is on track to reach a similar figure this year. More than 750 educational sessions will be held at NAB by the time the show ends Thursday.

Although the show floor won’t open until Monday, speakers began taking to lecterns Saturday. Legato, whose work can be seen in the 1997 blockbuster “Titanic” and in last year’s “The Jungle Book,” said computers have changed how filmmakers imagine scenes and tell stories.

“We have to kind of step out of the way of all the things a computer can give you and treat it like it’s a camera,” he said to 150 people who came for his 45-minute presentation on the making of “The Jungle Book.” He said the movie was shot in front of two blue screens in downtown Los Angeles and filmmakers cautiously worked within the computer’s limits so images looked live and not animated.

Legato argued the use of computer-generated images to create a scene is no less real than the use of props on a set.

NAB’s scenes will spring to life with Monday’s show-floor spectacle. And Sunday, conventioneers from across America and around the world were wandering the Las Vegas Convention Center’s halls, attending seminars and preparing.

Roberto Altieri, who works for LinkedIn, said he traveled to the show from Santa Barbara, California, to see how he can apply virtual reality to educational content on Lynda.com. LinkedIn acquired the educational video website in 2015.

Amy Roberts, a video production instructor at a technical college in South Carolina, said she is visiting NAB for the ninth time. This time, she is looking for new tripods and lighting setups for her video production students.

Nino Vongphachanh, an 18-year-old student at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, said he traveled to Vegas with a professor to explore ways to expand his school’s video production capabilities.

“Well, there’s not much that Hope College has to offer for film or anything, so I’m just trying to search out everything I can do with it,” he said.

Google and its video-sharing competitor Vimeo will lead a list of 215 first-time participants at NAB, which will generate about $96 million in economic activity for the city, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority projects. Caesars Palace, Harrah’s and MGM Grand are among the 14 hotels cooperating with the show.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.