Matt Uhry
04-18-2007, 10:19 AM
Tip of the chapeau to Jean Luc Goddard for my title. I think it's appropriate.
The Film
The 12-minute short that was shown looked amazing. It was a flashy piece with lots of bang bang which effectively demonstrated that the camera and RedCode was in the same league in terms of image quality and production flexibility/durability with any other Film / Digital Cinema format out there 35mm, d20, Viper, Genesis, Dalsa. ( Super 16mm and F900's and Varicams are not in this club )
The film was not a test in the sense that the imaging of the camera was taken to its limits to see where it would break and delve into what it's specific strengths and weaknesses were. All the cameras in its league have strong and weak points, the Red probably will too. The Red smokes everything on a price / performance basis.
The Hardware
The Camera, Lenses and Accessories appear to be very well made. In most cases they've erred on the side of tank-like burliness and durability at the cost of weight. Seeing the camera you can envision it 20 years from now looking like some beat up Arri S still working perfectly with 90% of the paint and anodizing worn off. It's built for hard use. Ergonomically the camera and accessories have a bit of room for improvement - it keeps getting better every go around so I'm confident the shortcomings will get worked out.
The EVF is great. It's essentially an Accuscene I think, with a smaller housing. I did not see the magic focus demo.
The Software
RedCode works quite well - I'm starting to get the suspicion that Gramme is a beneficent super genius - a digital cinematographers Q-Branch. I think the Red proposed 4k Raw / RedCine / EDIT / path is a no brainer for filmmakers that exist in a closed loop. I'm a little concerned about how long it will be until you can just hand over a drive and an invoice and jet away to do the next job. It seems there will be need of a service that creates archives, viewing copies and editorial friendly versions, much like a commercial dailies house.
The Company
These guys are passionate, committed, well-funded and super smart and they listen. Not sure what you could ask for besides a 40-year history of trickle ware and price gouging?
Well that's all for now - I'm thrilled about the camera and Red's sudden and much needed entry into the world of cinematography.
Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com
The Film
The 12-minute short that was shown looked amazing. It was a flashy piece with lots of bang bang which effectively demonstrated that the camera and RedCode was in the same league in terms of image quality and production flexibility/durability with any other Film / Digital Cinema format out there 35mm, d20, Viper, Genesis, Dalsa. ( Super 16mm and F900's and Varicams are not in this club )
The film was not a test in the sense that the imaging of the camera was taken to its limits to see where it would break and delve into what it's specific strengths and weaknesses were. All the cameras in its league have strong and weak points, the Red probably will too. The Red smokes everything on a price / performance basis.
The Hardware
The Camera, Lenses and Accessories appear to be very well made. In most cases they've erred on the side of tank-like burliness and durability at the cost of weight. Seeing the camera you can envision it 20 years from now looking like some beat up Arri S still working perfectly with 90% of the paint and anodizing worn off. It's built for hard use. Ergonomically the camera and accessories have a bit of room for improvement - it keeps getting better every go around so I'm confident the shortcomings will get worked out.
The EVF is great. It's essentially an Accuscene I think, with a smaller housing. I did not see the magic focus demo.
The Software
RedCode works quite well - I'm starting to get the suspicion that Gramme is a beneficent super genius - a digital cinematographers Q-Branch. I think the Red proposed 4k Raw / RedCine / EDIT / path is a no brainer for filmmakers that exist in a closed loop. I'm a little concerned about how long it will be until you can just hand over a drive and an invoice and jet away to do the next job. It seems there will be need of a service that creates archives, viewing copies and editorial friendly versions, much like a commercial dailies house.
The Company
These guys are passionate, committed, well-funded and super smart and they listen. Not sure what you could ask for besides a 40-year history of trickle ware and price gouging?
Well that's all for now - I'm thrilled about the camera and Red's sudden and much needed entry into the world of cinematography.
Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com