Questions: To be Answered at NAB 2007

[tj williams]

I've put together a partial list of the questions I want answered at NAB. Recognizing that it will be a madhouse at the RED Booth, I've published it here in hopes that more of it will be included in the handouts.

PLEASE DON'T TRY, AS WE ALL HAVE TO GUESS THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS!!! IF YOU KNOW WHERE RED TEAM HAS ANSWERED ONE PLEASE FILL IT IN.

MY HOPE IS THAT ALL OF US ON THE BOARD WILL HAVE A PLACE HERE TO PUT UP ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS WE WANT TO ASK AT NAB.

Hopefully this can serve as a way to make answering easier for RED team members at NAB. It may be a nice change to just ask questions rather than trying with inadequate information to guess the answers.

RED CAMERA QUESTIONS FOR NAB



Physical Properties of the Camera

What Lens Mounts are available fm RED or coming by fall?

How does the operator change lens mounts?

What are the Difficulties with changing mounts?

What does the body weigh?

What do the various accessories: rails cages handles
Monitor mounts etc. etc. weigh?

Is there a tally light for RUN indication?
(in multicam/Jimmy jib indicator. On our accessory fibre optic talley)

CAN WE GET A COPY OF THE DIMENSIONS of the
Body including screw holes etc. prefer in AutoCAD Format.
Any 3D format is OK.

Does the camera have a quick release system?

When changing from mounted to shoulder, is the camera balanced over the tripod head and over the shoulder without any need to adjust fore aft balance?

Is it possible to use the camera on the left shoulder?

Does the shoulder pad ride on the rails and adjust front and rear?

What do the various buttons and the rear screen do and show?

What buttons are programmable?

What are the functions which can be programmed?

Does remote start work from a distance?
what cable connectors ? wireless?

What power outputs for radio mic receivers, powered lens mounts,
Focus systems, etc are provided from the camera body?
What are the connectors and pin configurations?
What are the electronic draw limits?

Will my standard Anton Bauer V mount to AB plate with screws on the top screw down on your v mount?



RED ACCESSORIES Pricing Listing

The B to PL adapter from Abakus on the NY Dealer site
is $500 less than the RED What is the additional cost for? Perhaps cabling from the lens power input to RED output?
Anything else?

When will we see individual item pricing on the accessories?



Aftermarket Birger engineering company mounts?

How will the mounts be powered for ID or AF from the camera will you include a cable, or will RED sell a cable.

Some canon lenses,, allow the lens to work as a stabilizer, can those lenses be stabilizer powered?

Will you support Nikon Canon equally?

What difference in feature set will there be between the mounts for Nikon Canon?



USABLE Super 16 and 35mm LENSES

Will RED provide a list of lenses which won’t work either because of coverage or angle of incidence of light on the chip?

Many S16 lenses darken a bit in the corners on film at wide aperture and wide end of the zoom. Will this effect be more noticeable on the windowed red sensor or less than on S16 film?



CRANE STEADICAM SHOOTING WITH RED

Crane Steadicam shooting questions.
Top plate like the one pictured below available?
(allows easy low mode mounting with plate adjust ment
front and rear for lens differences matte box diff.)



Remote start stop. Will you supply a cable? What lengths?
( I need about 60’)

Will The LCD extend further than 10ft from the camera?
(I need about 60 feet for remote to 30/40 ft crane)

Can we get a cable to start stop from Preston/Barteck?

Can we use Stanton JimmyJib video stop start remotely?
(thru the HD Lens?)

Is there a Talley light? More than 1? Where?




MYSTERIUM CHIP questions

Can we adjust the sensitivity of the chip?

What is the actual dynamic range?

What is the EI of the chip allowed to be set to?

When shooting 2K either full sensor or windowed is there a noticeable difference in quality when downconverting to 1080 720 or 480
From the full 4K image? Will you be demonstrating this for us to see?

Regarding cleaning of the chip, will RED sell a kit for cleaning and examining the chip? Will they recommend tools and methods?



LCD Questions

Does the LCD also have focus capability like EFV?

How long a cable can we run for crane work?

Does RED sell the cable is it standard or custom?

Is there a need for Fibre optic or repeater?

How does the monitor mount ¼ 20 screw hole?



Viewfinder Questions

How doest the focus feature work?

How does the VF mount to the body?

Can the VF rotate on the eye?

Can the VF rotate up down by use of a standard
Arri type rod for support?

Is the VF mounted on a ball as shown in early
Renderings therefore adjustable to the side.

Is there a side to side adjustment in the VF mount.
(to align with operator eye on the shoulder)

What information is displayed in the VF

Run stop
4 audio levels
exposure
focus overlay
¾ 16/9 185 235 etc frame lines
other?
other?


Camera Accessories both RED and third party

ERGONOMICS
Will the camera balance on tripod and shoulder w/o moving
Parts the mag and battery on the rear rails?

Limits of adjustment of shoulder pad “is it rail mounted?

Light weight support in 60mm 15mm available fm RED?

Are there other third party suppliers announced at NAB

Cooke lens announced support what does it consist of?

Light weight top plate allowing lowmode steadicam and
light weight handle
(repeated here as this is a potential RED accessory)

How will the accessory mount by the Birger engineering
company be powered?

Nikon Canon Focus by Birger others available meet them?


Workflow of the Camera

LUT will it send out over HDSDI in real time for video village dir. monitor?

Is it applied to RGB to RAW?

Does it limit later changes?

What controls are there in our LUTS to match other cameras and create various film stock looks?

Can we set in luts from our laptop over USB?

Will RED Cine just process the LUT we set in or will we have additional control of the output?



IN CAMERA MEDIA MANAGEMENT

Can we erase clips?

Is there other clip management?

Is there partial clip selection?

Can we add comments etc thru USB2 connector?

Can we star clips, or mark them for erase? How?


TIMECODE ISSUES

User bit, or ability to input comments over USB2?

Timecode track in DF and NDF when converting to other
Formats from RAW etc?


THE DATA WORK FLOW FROM MAG/SmartCARD On

Workflow with RED Cine software

What will be the times to render 1 minute from 4K raw to
HD 1080I 1080P 720P?

What will be the times to render 1 minute of 2K raw to HD 1080I 1080P 720P?

Will windowed or full sensor 2K cause differences in render times?

Will it allow key-framing from large to small etc during a
cut out of the 4K raw frame. Or even repositioning over time?

Cam we choose part of a clip to convert by timecode?

What are the look LUT controls capable of in the first gen. software?

Can Red Cine output to NTSC 480I in ¾ or 16/9?

Is there a limit to 480/525 that it must be progressive?

Can it output to PAL ¾ or 16/9?

If so: How fast will it render to Pal and NESC SD?

What are the render times. Do they change fm 4K output to 2K does a windowed 2K sensor make any difference?

When will RGB recording directly be available?


After output of RED Cine….

Editing HD 1080 720 computer capabilities needed?

2K 4K editing computer capability needed.

HD Disk array for direct HD SDI output and related computer stuff.?

Full output by optical port disk array needed?

What formats not supported by RED Cine
What is needed to obtain them mostlySD?

Field down-convert and backup workflow ?
What computer and raid will I need to bring on shoots?

What type drives for delivery?

What formats of SD for delivery to various editing systems?


BIRGER ENGINEERING

Will Preston Bartech control the canon mount
Will the canon mount support stabilized lenses ie 17/50 Canon
Can I use the focus manually
How is the iris set?


SOUND RECORDING:

Confirm 4 digital channels of audio?

Are the four channels encoded in the HDSDI?

Where are the level controls?

Will I see the levels in the VF/LCD?

Can I adjust the quality of audio 48kz?

Will RED make right angle mini XLR, adapter cable to snake?

Will RED make right angle mini XLR, adapter cable to std. XLR?

Will the levels show on the rear body screen?

Is there an internal 1000hz tone generator?

[Tonaci Tran]

Nice TJ, very thorough.

[Zakaree Sandberg]

NICE work TJ

[Alex Boothby]

Great job TJ. At the moment I think I'm most interested in RED lens announcements. The used market is crazy right now and I think that the first major player to bring an affordable, quality PL mount high speed prime lens set will do very well - fingers crossed that RED will be that player.

[Jaime Vallés]

Great list! Hopefully, most of these will be answered in a couple of weeks. I'm mostly interested in how the Focus Assist will work with Nikkor lenses.

[Steve Gibby]

Geez TJ...do you have any questions? Just kidding...very thorough list!

It will obviously be impossible for RED's staff to sit down and verbally answer all of those questions while sitting in a busy booth at NAB.

I have no direct knowledge of this, by IMO most of those questions will be answered by a combination of these:

1) demos and handouts at the RED NAB booth

2) the new info that goes up on the RED web site the week of NAB

3) other online articles and blogs the week of NAB

4) posts here and elsewhere the week of NAB

5) the RED manual they've said they are making, which will deliver with the cameras, I would guess. Whether that is hardcopy, PDF, or both (my guess), will remain to be seen. If it's just in the form of a PDF file I'd be perfectly happy with that. If that manual was eventually available for download from the RED web site, that would be way cool.

I would also guess that some of the exact questions on your list won't be specifically addressed at NAB or during that week. My thinking is that we will be able to extrapolate most of the answers to those other questions from the info that is specifically given in my list above.

In just 11 days we should have a lot of those answers...

[jbeale]

According to the connector diagram
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1119
there is monitor output via connector G labeled "HD-SDI and HDMI 720P preview output." One might logically ask if the HDMI output includes audio, or is it video only.

[LighthouseMEdia]

Well now id say that is uhmmm very....thorough. Now in a few weeks we expect a follow up post with the answers ;)

[Andrew M.]

TJ, nice job!

On my part I will add few questions about lenses.

1) When RED ZOOM will be delivered?
2) Is it achromatic design?
3) Is it using aspherical lenses?
4) What is the Lp/mm rating
5) Are we going to get MTF charts with it?
6) Type of focus gear system used?
7) Lens type?
8) Weight?

[Michael Hastings]

TJ: Great list Thanks. We have been discussing the Birger mount extensively in the Bubble Blowers user group as it is like the Holy Grail for us, so maybe I can quickly give a little of what we know.

The idea of the mount is that you can use the latest lenses which generally don't have manual iris, rather than just the older manual lenses like the Canon Nikon mounts from RED.

Birger has been making a mount for Canon EF lenses for several years that is used in the industrial and scientific markets, so it is mostly a matter of physically adapting to the RED ONE.

It is a physical and electronic mount - it has all the pins that are on the normal Canon camera, so supplies power and transmits all of the info and electrical to drive the iris and focus motors. Presumably power can be tapped from the B4 connector - but that is to be confirmed.

The Canon lenses are all electronic with motors, and they even give some positional feedback - Nikkors use a physical pin to drive the iris (more on that later). Apparently there are a large number of "step codes" so adjustment can be pretty precise. Different lenses have different precision abilities. Adjustments are made through RS232. Birger has sort of let us know that they will have a control box for iris and focus, but if not it is a fairly straightforward control and we (AquaVideo) already have small LANC boards that could be easily reprogrammed to provide that control if it is not immediately available from them. (Not that I want to sell it, but that it is a relatively easy project)

Image stabilization is supported and should work well.

There are some lenses that work better than others but Erik has already said that they know the EF-S 10-22 works (which is of great interest to the underwater guys) as well as some really high quality primes such as the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM. BTW The L-series are the Canon pro line lenses. I would have to go back and look through the posts but I know there are some very good IS lenses and I think these will be phenomenal for nature/sports shooters.

Birger has said they are working on a Nikon mount, but just from my own research it sounds like a significantly tougher task since the Nikkors have a pin that extends into the camera body and is physically moved motors in the camera body - a much more difficult, more physically precise, engineering feat to achieve when you are talking tens or maybe a few hundred pieces as opposed to Nikon doing it for tens of thousands of camera bodies.








Aftermarket Birger engineering company mounts?

How will the mounts be powered for ID or AF from the camera will you include a cable, or will RED sell a cable.

Some canon lenses,, allow the lens to work as a stabilizer, can those lenses be stabilizer powered?

Will you support Nikon Canon equally?

What difference in feature set will there be between the mounts for Nikon Canon?

BIRGER ENGINEERING

Will Preston Bartech control the canon mount
Will the canon mount support stabilized lenses ie 17/50 Canon
Can I use the focus manually
How is the iris set?

[tj williams]

Hey aqua you bubblers know how to have fun.

Thanks for all the info summary. What is the B4 connector?

The PL mount on the camera will not have power. I'm assuming that Birger will have a power input into the side of the adapter. We will then need a cable to a power output on the RED body. Most of the places where this might be seem to be on the dummy side of the camera. Given an adequate power output. Since the RED runs on a nom. 12V battery actually full up around 14.4V Birger may have to change voltage etc to correctly power the lenses. This is usually done with a box on the cable. slick if they built the electronics into the mount!

[Anders Holck]

Tj not to hijack your thread, but just for your last post:
- Connector L on my Red diagram is 12v regulated using the B4 connector, I think thats a 12 pin hirose.
- The old birger EF323 mount needed 6v +/- 5% at 1A
- As they already have a PCB with the microcontroller I'm sure they'll include an internal power regulator. I woudn't expet it all to fit inside the mount though.

[Jannard]

We have been development for 15 months. And you want what?

We have already stated that we will not ship the 1st cameras fully feature enabled. If you expect that we will fill your list completely, ask for your money back.

Jim

[Michael Hastings]

Jim:

I don't think TJ was looking for features, it was more to summarize a list of the questions that have been asked on the forum - some have been answered, some partially answered, some just speculated upon. I think everyone has seen NAB as the target date for a lot of things to be pinned down. It was more about having a list so we can check off things that we get answered by looking at the camera or handouts, and then being able to ask about the others. Not wanting to go home Friday and slap yourself on the head because you forgot to ask about something when you had the chance in person. Some things may still be unresolved - and that's OK - but at least it won't be because we forgot to ask.


We have been development for 15 months. And you want what?

We have already stated that we will not ship the 1st cameras fully feature enabled. If you expect that we will fill your list completely, ask for your money back.

Jim

[Andrew M.]

We have been development for 15 months. And you want what?
Jim

Jim, we just want to know what your team members do already know.
Anticipation kept us information hungry, so we just want the answers to many questions that were asked on this forum before but we were told that we will get the answers during or right after the NAB. I understand that RED project will not freeze the specs after April 16-th so specs can still change but under current status disclaimer I think most of our questions could be answered? Correct?

Andrew

[Jannard]

Sorry... my short attention span kicked in. I didn't read the 1st post carefully enough.

Jim

[Roxco]

TJ's list is the beginning of RED FAQ or a really great article we can all refer too. Shall we assume all the questions will get answered on the RED website after NAB or should we try to put together a Public Document and how would that be accomplished?

Could we put his List Of Questions (LOQ) on Wikipedia as an outline?

Rosco

P.S. How is Boris travelling to Vegas?

Make sure to use multiple vehicles
and don't stop for food in Barstow!

[Michael Hastings]

Only 10 days left so probably should just wait until NAB. We'll all get a shot at the questions and I'm sure Mike Curtis/HDforIndies will give some thorough updates along with numerous other publications. Once the dust settles we can all chip in to create the ultimate FAQ and Wikipedia article.


TJ's list is the beginning of RED FAQ or a really great article we can all refer too. Shall we assume all the questions will get awnsered on the RED website after NAB or should we try to put together a Public Document and how would that be accomplished?

Could we put his List Of Questions (LOQ) on Wikipedia as an outline?

Rosco

P.S. How is Boris travelling to Vegas?

Make sure to use multiple vehicles
and don't stop for food in Barstow!

[Stuart English]

What's wrong with the food in Barstow ?

[Roxco]

Only 10 days left so probably should just wait until NAB. We'll all get a shot at the questions and I'm sure Mike Curtis/HDforIndies will give some thorough updates along with numerous other publications. Once the dust settles we can all chip in to create the ultimate FAQ and Wikipedia article.

I was also thinking after NAB this LOQ can be addressed. I hope the RED dust never settles, but I always appreciate a good article or FAQ from an unbiased resource or multiple resources like Wikipedia can be at times.

I know the LOQ will expand and so I was thinking more on what is the proper place for such documents? Is Wikipedia the best place or is there some other software? Is this something that could be printed out and used on the set to teach newbies?

Some of this relates to when FireWire and the VX-1000 came onto the scene as there was a tremendous need for good accurate info before the technology was well understood and simplified for all to use.

Maybe my question should read: "Where are all of you expecting to find the best information in a concise form other than on the RED website?"

Rosco

[Steve Gibby]

"Where are all of you expecting to find the best information in a concise form other than on the RED website?"

My suggestion would be for a comprehensive RED FAQ to be an updatable Sticky right here on RED User. RED User is already "Info Central" for seekers of interactive RED info.

[Roxco]

What's wrong with the food in Barstow ?

All successful launches at NAB are preceeded by a stop at the Mad Greek in Baker. Feel free to stop and get a drink in Barstow, but continue on to Peggy Sue's and the Mad Greek if you want to guarantee a successful trip to Lost Wages.

And never never never get off at ZZYZX for any reason!

You have been warned,

Rosco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker,_California

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/eats/madgreek.htm

http://www.barstowchamber.com/visitors/dining/peggysues/

[Roxco]

My suggestion would be for a comprehensive RED FAQ to be an updatable Sticky right here on RED User. RED User is already "Info Central" for seekers of interactive RED info.

But who is going to edit and stick together this sticky?

Is there a way we can all edit the same document?

It is too big to tackle unless there is compensation,

My take,

Rosco

[Steve Gibby]

Peggy Sue's seriously rocks...50's style music, memorabilia, burgers, shakes, etc.. 4 miles north of Barstow on the I-15.

[Steve Gibby]

But who is going to edit and stick together this sticky?

Is there a way we can all edit the same document?

It is too big to tackle unless there is compensation,

My take,

Rosco

I'm sure Jarred will have some good ideas on my suggestion...how to do it, format (wiki, etc.), updates, etc.

[Jaime Vallés]

But who is going to edit and stick together this sticky?

Is there a way we can all edit the same document?

It is too big to tackle unless there is compensation,

My take,

Rosco

The best way to do this is as a Wiki page. Anybody can add info, but it can be highly structured, and others will verify the accuracy of any changes made.

[Steve Gibby]

What's wrong with the food in Barstow ?

He was just joking about the security of the stuff in the RED van if you stopped for anything along the way to Vegas, even food. ZZYZX road just an empty offramp on the I-15 before Baker...not a good place to stop unless you have to.

[Steve Gibby]

The best way to do this is as a Wiki page. Anybody can add info, but it can be highly structured, and others will verify the accuracy of any changes made.

I believe adding a wiki page to RED User wouldn't be a huge technical challenge. Again, when Jarred gets a chance to respond, I think he'll have an idea on that.

[Adrian T.]

An open wiki might not be the best idea because of all the trolls... It should be maintained by a small group of respectable members of the forum.

[Steve Gibby]

An open wiki might not be the best idea because of all the trolls... It should be maintained by a small group of respectable members of the forum.

Good point...pre-screening for trolls, duplicity of info, etc. would be wise. Essentially a layered wiki.

[Roxco]

He was just joking about the security of the stuff in the RED van if you stopped for anything along the way to Vegas, even food. ZZYZX road just an empty offramp on the I-15 before Baker...not a good place to stop unless you have to.

Au contraire! The Legend of Doc Springer is alive and well and he was a master at getting people off the highway at ZZYZX and separating them from their belongings. He and Emperor Norton should be the first two History Documentaries shot with a RED One. If you get a flat near ZZYZX, limp on to Baker - DON'T STOP!
This is your 2nd Warning!

I will go back to lurking now as I feel I have "hijacked" this thread.

E Clampus Vitus & my mule is well,

Rosco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_A._Norton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Howe_Springer

P.S. We do need some entertainment while waiting. ;)

.

[tj williams]

Gibby... Wonderful Idea. I have no Idea what a wiki or a troll are but they sound kinda interesting in a hobbit like way.....

If experts at RED can verify posts so we can tell truths from posts that should start "It is my totally unconfirmed belief based on staring at my toes".......

It seems to me that your idea would really bring the many knowledgeable posts together in a summarized and indexed way that would help all of us find the information we want.

I hope RED TEAM will give your idea the support it deserves!

[Obin Olson]

my big q is will you have user assignable buttons on RED? and will you have a "check last take" button, so you can hit it and review your last shot ;) with the hvx I have to push 2 buttons do do that...pita

[krobar]

I had an idea for a project a while back that I've been meaning to get around to.

I reserved the domain "kinetopedia" (.com, .net, .org) with the idea of having a wiki for lay-people and clients to have easy access to terms used in the production and post production of moving images (including film, video, visual effects, etc...). I see no reason why it shouldn't include gear such as the RED ONE, as clients would invariably have questions about it as well. I haven't gotten around to installing the mediawiki server and setting everything up yet, but if anyone is interested in contributing to this project, let me know and I will get going on it ASAP.

However, this may not be what y'all had in mind, so if you think this would not focus enough on the RED ONE, it can sit on the shelf a bit longer. :)

Thanks,
Kurt

[Sanjin Jukic]

Too much for now. I hope we would survive after all or after the NAB.

[Steve Gibby]

Gibby... Wonderful Idea. I have no Idea what a wiki or a troll are but they sound kinda interesting in a hobbit like way.....

If experts at RED can verify posts so we can tell truths from posts that should start "It is my totally unconfirmed belief based on staring at my toes".......

It seems to me that your idea would really bring the many knowledgeable posts together in a summarized and indexed way that would help all of us find the information we want.

I hope RED TEAM will give your idea the support it deserves!

Thanks TJ... I think it would be very cool to have a "wikifaq" on RED User...

A wiki is an interactive web site where users can log in and add content to the site. As an example of probably the world's most famous wiki site, check out this link to Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.org

Just Click on the language you want - English - and then enter in the search block what you want to search. The info will come up. Wikipedia is a wiki encyclopedia, thus the name.

If we had one on RED User, then users would be able to enter new info in the "wikifaq", after it was screened by the first level (Moderators?) for accuracy and appropriateness.

"Trolls" are people online who lay out innaccurate disinformation bait for unsuspecting users - thus "trolling" as in fishing.

[Brook Willard]

The FAQ will arrive when enough information is available to justify it, don't worry. I started one a long time ago and planned on posting it, but I found myself changing things within the FAQ so often that I decided to temporarily can it. Once NAB's dust settles and the info is locked down, there'll be a sticky with everything you ever wanted to know.

As for making it a Wiki... hey, if it's easy then why not?

[Mardi_Gras]

We have been development for 15 months. And you want what?

We have already stated that we will not ship the 1st cameras fully feature enabled. If you expect that we will fill your list completely, ask for your money back.

Jim

Jim the straight shooter... as always, no mincing words.

[Milan Nikolic]

TJ, lot of good questions! All of mine and some more. Thanks!

[tj williams]

Hi Gibby
Thanks for the explanation, I'd used wikipedia and eheh just thought it was a clever name? Except for a couple of sites which have special interest for me I don't do much web stuff... guess it shows...