Meet Bob Zelin, CreativeCOW.net Contributing Editor

Bob Zelin Orlando, Florida USA

The "Crazy Bob" reputation started when a customer support executive at AVID Technologies told NY dealers that any AVID system that Bob Zelin touched would be out of warrantee.  This led him to discover the power of the internet, and "going crazy" on people.  This AVID employee was soon released from his employment, but this event started the ranting on user forums that continues on to this day.

Today, Bob resides in Orlando, Florida, terrorizing southern editing facilities.  He hopes to one day become the janitor for AJA Video Systems in Grass Valley, CA.

You can find Bob Zelin hosting in Creative COW's COW: The Community Speaks, SAN - Storage Area Networks, AJA Kona - Mac, Maxx Digital, DaVinci Resolve, - ARRAYS & RAID Set-Up -, and Digital Delivery Forums.

Articles by Bob Zelin

	Blackmagic Design Bob Zelin Looks at the Blackmagic Design SmartScope Duo Stop using the high price of HD waveform/vectorscopes as an excuse for not checking your video. Join Bob Zelin for a closer look at a real-world installation of Blackmagic's new SmartScope Duo, a practical, flexible, and yes, affordable approach to broadcast-quality monitoring. Review, Feature

	Archiving and Back-Up NAB 2013: Bob Zelin: The Evolution & Revolution Calling Bob Zelin one of the industry's most respected voices of engineering and systems experience is an understatement. (We might also have to add "most feared.") For over 20 years, he has been at the leading edge of building next-generation post houses and broadcast facilities using the latest, greatest, and most affordable new technology. He's also been around long enough to have seen through an awful lot of hype, so when Bob drops the "R" word, it's because he really believes it's revolutionary himself. His coverage of the 2013 NAB Show is once again don't-miss reading. Editorial, Feature

	NAB Expo Zelinizing NAB 2012! Bob Zelin: The Future is Wide Open Industry leader, visionary, and wielder of baseball bats and shotguns Bob Zelin takes a look at the world through NAB-colored glasses and sees that, from now on, anything goes. Editorial, Feature

	Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design’s SmartView HD Monitor & Pocket Ultrascope With new shows coming in the door for Pink Sneakers Productions, Bob Zelin looked to Blackmagic Design's new SmartView HD Monitor and Pocket UltraScope to make the configuration upgrades while maintaining a sense of budget. Review

	NAB Expo You Ain't Seen Everything Yet! With one of the most trusted, respected and feared voices in the industry, Bob Zelin gives a no-holds-barred look at some of NAB ‘11’s Best of Show. Editorial, Feature

	Blackmagic Design The Blackmagic ATEM 1 M/E switcher: AMAZING When Bob Zelin saw the Blackmagic ATEM line of switchers at the 2011 NAB Show, he was blown away by the price and ease of use, and could hardly wait to get his hands on one. He was able to install a pre-release version of the ATEM 1 M/E Production Switcher for his clients at Matchpoint Studios in Tampa, FL, and the word you'll see repeated throughout his report is "AMAZING." Read on to find out why, and to see if the ATEM 1 M/E will work for you. Review, Feature

	Digital Delivery - NEW ! Avoiding Digital Delivery Disasters It used to be easy. A tape, an envelope, a finished delivery. Now there are many more ways for things to go wrong! Here are ways to keep your digital deliveries on track. Editorial, People / Interview

	SAN - Storage Area Networks Fast Enough? Data-Driven Broadcast Infrastructure We can always can count on Bob Zelin moving fast enough to keep up with the crazy number of new options for data-driven broadcast infrastructure. Read on for Bob's review of his findings - enthusiastic and exhausted (er.. exhaustive) - at the super-charged, super-fast NAB 2010. Review, Feature, People / Interview

	SAN - Storage Area Networks Changing the Game with the Blackmagic Design Broadcast Videohub Bob Zelin is always willing to integrate the newest solutions for his systems integration clients. Only this one was VERY new... and if everything didn't go exactly right, it was game over. Tutorial

	SAN - Storage Area Networks Build your own affordable SAN -- that works! Want to let everyone in your shop use the same media at the same time? The Cows Bob Zelin shares the secrets for affordable shared storage that you can build yourself, and that WORKS. Start with big, fast storage from your favorite pro vendor, then follow along. Bob even shows you a few hazards to avoid along the way. Tutorial, Feature

	Adobe After Effects Techniques Ask Bob and then stand back If you don't want to know, don't ask. Bob Zelin is one of the industry's straightest shooters, and he'll tell you how he's seen things work during his 30+ years in the broadcast trenches. Feature, People / Interview

	Apple Final Cut Pro Bob Zelin Looks at Dulce Systems Pro EX PCI-Express expander WELL, it happened again. Today, I installed the new Dulce Systems Pro EX PCI-Express expander. This product is amazing, and this review will be very short, as it's such a simple product, that has been LONG OVERDUE. Review

	Media Formats | Media Capacities Disk Drive Storage Systems: Where Are We Today? In this Creative COW Magazine article, Bob Zelin talks about where we've come from, and what's ahead in professional storage. Editorial

	Adobe After Effects Techniques The Importance of Monitor Calibration In this article from The Creative COW Magazine, Bob Zelin discusses the imporance of monitor calibration, different monitor options and how to execute the calibration on these monitors. Editorial, Tutorial

	AJA Kona - Mac Bob Zelin Looks at The AJA GEN10 The AJA GEN10 is a cost effective and flexible Blackburst and Tri-level Sync Generator. While reminding you of why blackburst and sync are very, very good ideas, Creative Cow leader Bob Zelin takes you through the GEN10's ins and 7 outs. Review

	Apple Final Cut Pro SAS RAID from Dulce Systems Creative COW Contributing Editor Bob Zelin talks about the latest step in the Serial Attached Storage revolution: full RAID 5 protection with read speeds over 350 mb/sec. from Dulce Systems. At least that's what Dulce claimed. When he heard the rest of what Dulce had to say, Bob simply didn't believe them. When he put those claims to the test, he got a lot more than he bargained for. Will you? Review

	Adobe After Effects Techniques Favorite Things for Video Production In this editorial from The Creative COW Magazine, Bob Zelin unearths some of his favorite things that pass his grueling daily video production torture test. Lyn Norstad joins Bob for his own personal favorite. Editorial

	Convergent Design Convergent Design HD-Connect MI Converts Firewire to HDMI..RS-422 RSystems installer Bob Zelin torture tests every device that comes into his orbit. If he says it works in the real world, it does. If he says that it doesn't, it doesn't. He tests the Firewire to HDMI conversion feature at two Orlando facilities, as well as the Firewire to RS-422 conversion. Does the HD-Connect MI make the cut? Review

	Adobe After Effects Techniques Building a Professional Machine Room You bought a new Final Cut Pro system to go with your Avid Media Composer or your other Final Cut Pro systems. You have an After Effects system with an AJA, Blackmagic or other card in it, so you can capture video and audio on this station as well. Your neighbor in the next office has a ProTools or a Logic system, and he wants to tie into some of your machines. You're on your way to becoming exactly what you didn't want to be - a facility. Oh no! Tutorial

	HD High-End Building a Modern Professional Editing Room In this Creative COW magazine article Bob Zelin discusses what it takes to build a professional, modern, nonlinear editing machine room. Bob covers storage, monitors, scopes, audio mixers, routing, power, cables and more. Tutorial, Feature

	AJA Kona - Mac Cal Digit S2VRHD CreativeCOW's Bob Zelin tests a Cal Digit S2VRHD with a host card for a PCI-X computer, and a PCI-E computer. He used the incredible AJA Kona System Test, to evaluate the drive speeds. He was determined to 'break it.' Did he? No. He determined that...''If you want to do uncompressed HD, for a fraction of the price of an Apple Xserve RAID, or other hi end SCSI or Fibre Channel drive arrays, THIS IS YOUR BOX.'' Read the rest to find out why. Review

	AJA Kona - Mac AJA HD10AVA Converter CreativeCOW's Bob Zelin discusses how to turn your HDV VTR into a professional product using the amazing AJA HD10AVA converter. It takes the analog component HD signal from your Sony or JVC HDV VTR, and converts it to an HD-SDI signal that can go right into the HD-SDI input of your capture card. Review