Common Problems - Frame skip, work flow, storage, edit, red drive etc..

[Richard Michael]

First of all commendations to RED for great marketing and a fantastic forum with a COMPLAINTS DEPT.

My reason for posting is to find solutions in order to film a feaure film in late 2009. i have a 8,000 dollar budget to purchase or hire a camera and accessories for 3 weeks in the UK. The style of filming will be hand held and sometimes tripod. At present - all great options are closed owing to such a small budget.

I will submit the film to festivals and maybe have a 35mm blow up. Should i consider the Red Scarlett or the Sony EX 3 or JVC forthcoming camera?

I have a series of questions after having asked professionals in the UK who have used the RED ONE in production and post.

- jump frames - there are reported frame jumps and stutters
- 4K not true 4K but really uses veil and is really 2K, like 1980*1080 (approx)
- rendering - takes 9 hours to render 1 hour footage with Mac Pro (8GB and ATI card)
- work flow (post) - takes ages, not straightforward
- red drive - not totally reliable
- focus - will one be able to focus, hard to fosus with one cameraman
- storage - huge files , cannot store on BURAY like BLURAY XDCAM disc - any solutions - hard drives only last a few years like floppy
- editing - can one edit using low res with mac book pro - how?

Good side is that the RED has reportedly really good images but are they crisp, clear and natural as i want or simply a bit foggy like many cameras.

Useful feedback would much appreciated. Thank you.

Best,
Richard

[Justin McAleece]

My reason for posting is to find solutions in order to film a feaure film in late 2009. i have a 8,000 dollar budget to purchase or hire a camera and accessories for 3 weeks in the UK. The style of filming will be hand held and sometimes tripod. At present - all great options are closed owing to such a small budget.

--I will submit the film to festivals and maybe have a 35mm blow up. Should i consider the Red Scarlett or the Sony EX 3 or JVC forthcoming camera?

I would not hold my breath for the scarlet to be fully ready to go by then. With the other cameras you would need an adapter and all of the problems that can come with those if you want similar Depth of Field.

- jump frames - there are reported frame jumps and stutters

]I've never had this happen unless I was running very low on media space or there was a lot of shaking of the red drive (which hasn't happened to me yet)

- 4K not true 4K but really uses veil and is really 2K, like 1980*1080 (approx)

It's proven that the CMOS Bayer pattern principals behind the RED One really yield closer to 3.2K but depending on who you ask that is still higher then practically any 35mm film scan at 4k. There is no way that it only achieves 2k while shooting 4k.

- rendering - takes 9 hours to render 1 hour footage with Mac Pro (8GB and ATI card)

It all depends on what you're rendering. I can make SD versions 1:1 and 720p renders at faster than 1:2.

- work flow (post) - takes ages, not straightforward

Can be as easy or hard as you want. It all depends on how picky, specific and perfect you want to be. Even under the most simple situations where you throw away much of your advantages the footage will still be hugely better than anything coming off of a Professional HDV type camera

- red drive - not totally reliable

I've never had a problem unless it was running really low on space.

- focus - will one be able to focus, hard to fosus with one cameraman

Focus can be hard but remember that in very few cases do 1st AC's in hollywood ever get to look at any picture while shooting, they just have to be good at measuring and doing their job. With the RED you have the advantage of having a multitude of focussing assists and high res monitors. Below f2.8 focus will never be easy but the RED makes it as easy as possible.

- storage - huge files , cannot store on BLURAY like BLURAY XDCAM disc -

These files are no bigger than anything you would get from a camera producing similar quality. In fact they are much smaller in most cases than what would come off a Genesis, Phantom, Viper, Dalsa, SI2k etc.. They are bigger than what you get from an XDCAM format but that is not really the same thing at all and you reap the benefits of what you are storing. Many people are using LTO drives for storage.

- editing - can one edit using low res with mac book pro - how?

One can edit very quickly using Red Rushes and a MBP. The conversions are quick and it's just like using any other camera in an offline - online situation if you want it to be.


Good side is that the RED has reportedly really good images but are they crisp, clear and natural as i want or simply a bit foggy like many cameras.

At 2K from 3K or 4K they are exceedingly resolute without being over sharp. They are beautiful, softly textured, handle skin tones well and are so malleable in post that it's silly.


Red One Camera Rental (http://www.redonerental.net)