Building a Red Editing Bay

[Tyler Leisher]

I'm looking into building an edit bay for editing RED footage. I haven't read too much into it but what are the minimum specs needed (and the recommended ones) for an edit bay?

Mac/PC? Final Cut, Premiere Pro, Avid, etc?

For those of you who built one, what are your system specs?

[Uli Plank]

How much do you want to spend?
You can edit RED footage on a Mac Book or on a million dollar system, it's mainly a question of price vs. speed.

[Tyler Leisher]

Well, I'm looking to build a full service post-production house for films/commercials. I'm not worried about paying a lot, but something reasonable.

I mean, $10,000 would be my limit. But that should include monitors, the computer, monitors, break out boxes, decks, etc.

I'm also curious about monitors, what's a good monitor for color correction/viewing in full resolution?

[Uli Plank]

For that price you can barely get a working solution based on FCP without serious color grading. What do you mean by full resolution? 1920 x 1080?

[Tyler Leisher]

Yeah, 1920x1080.

How much would I need to get a good working station?

Ideally, I'd like to be able to take footage shot for a commercial, edit, color correct and export to tape for use on TV.

By the way, I updated my post to $10,000. Not sure if you are basing it on my $3k number or the $10k one.

[Uli Plank]

10 K sounds more realistic.

Get an 8-core MacPro, maybe a refurbished one from last year and an ATI graphics card (the 3870 should be quite cheap by now). Stuff it with RAM (third-party, but Mac oriented), 2 GB per core. Stuff it with hard disks like Samsung or WD and make a system based RAID-0. But take good care for extra backup, since RAID-0 is dangerous.

Finally, get a BlackMagic I/O card and a good calibrated monitor. The latter one will be the most expensive single item, but it's crucial for any serious work. Have a look at Flanders Scientific or Tamuz.

This is picture only, I don't see where you can fit serious sound sweetening into the budget.

[Tyler Leisher]

Yeah, my friend (who is an audio engineer) is going to handle the audio end.

I've looked into building a Mac Pro on their website, an 8 core with 2 graphic cards, 2 1-TB drives and 8 GB of RAM (Should I take this up to 16 GB then?).

Also, for exporting to broadcast quality tape, do I need a DigiBeta tape deck or could I use a DVCam deck?

[Liam Hall]

Also, for exporting to broadcast quality tape, do I need a DigiBeta tape deck or could I use a DVCam deck?
That depends on your broadcaster. They all have their own delivery specs, but don't worry about tape machines, just get the best system you can afford and find a posthouse you can use for grading and mastering.

[Tyler Leisher]

Alright, if that's the case do I need to get the blackmagic card? Is the card used for importing as well?

Lastly, Do you guys charge rental fee's as well if you are the only one using your edit bay? Or do you just build in the cost of the edit bay into your fee for editing something?

[Liam Hall]

Alright, if that's the case do I need to get the blackmagic card? Is the card used for importing as well?
No. You don't need a card if you're not using external devices like tape decks or broadcast monitors.

Everything is chargeable, if a client is willing to pay:)

[Tyler Leisher]

If that's the case, how much do you guys usually charge for use of your rig? Or for editing red footage? An estimate is fine, just curious what others charge so I don't under/overvalue myself.

[Liam Hall]

I charge 10% more than the client wants to pay. Which is always 15% less than they can afford to pay and I tell them they're getting a 20% discount:)

Seriously, only you can set your price. No one here knows your level of experience, your knowledge, your ability or the type of work you are doing.

[Oliver Peters]

Well, I'm looking to build a full service post-production house for films/commercials. I'm not worried about paying a lot, but something reasonable.

I mean, $10,000 would be my limit. But that should include monitors, the computer, monitors, break out boxes, decks, etc.

I'm also curious about monitors, what's a good monitor for color correction/viewing in full resolution?

Tyler,

I don't mean to insult you or bust your chops but you cannot do a "full service" post facility with any level of quality for a maximum of $10,000. You're not even in the same ballpark. Are you sure this isn't a typo? Or did I misunderstand something?

A minimal edit suite based around FCP, Avid or Premiere is going to start in the mid-$20K range and realistically you ought to be looking at $120K. That's just a room, with gear, storage and associated furniture (console & chair). NO decks. Storage alone to deal with RED files needs to be a basic 8TB eSATA array, like CalDigit or MaxxDigital for about $6K (and up). That gives you enough to handle one small film.

I'm curious what level of service you anticipate supplying to RED customers? I'm not being flip. I think that it might be best to spend your $10K on a top-of-the-line Macbook Pro, software, storage and external monitor. Then use that, along with the free RED tools to start getting your feet wet with files and see how your skills and gear can be of service. You might find a niche supplying on-set processing and editing services. Depends on your areas and the resources available to producers.

- Oliver

[Steve Sherrick]

Oliver's advice is wise. Storage alone will challenge the bank account. There are a lot of hidden costs when building a post facility, even a small one. I think it would be best to start small, build a client base, and when it seems like the right time to make the leap into a bigger facility, then go for it. I've learned some hard lessons over the years. Wasted lots of money in attempts to cut corners. If and when you do go for the big buildout, consult with people who really know what they're doing, as it will most likely be the key to success, along with putting the right people in the chairs doing the work.

As for how to start small, with Red in particular. Develop an indie style workflow that lets you get in the game. You won't be able to get Fast, Cheap, and Good. But you can do some things even armed with a laptop, Final Cut Pro, Red apps, and something like Clipfinder or Crimson.

Best of luck with whatever course you take.

[Ian Karr]

Tyler,

I wholeheartedly agree with Steve and my other colleagues. The work of editing is one thing. The art and precision is another. And client comforts are still more.

In the post world, you can get 90% of the way there pretty quickly and reasonably. It's the remaining 10% that separates the pros from the amateurs...and that last 10% can cost hundreds of thousands.

To do serious, client-supervised editing, you need to have a professional level setup (around 30k, including computer, HD monitor and drives), a place that's client-worthy (could be 100k + ...including comfy furniture and a good air conditioning system) and a support staff to get coffee, order lunch, make labels, etc. These are the minimum things clients expect. I'd also recommend a digibeta VTR (30k)...you'll be using that a lot for final output. HD decks can be rented a la carte...at least in the beginning.

As Steve suggested, I think it's best for you to start small...test the waters. You can always dive in once you know the water's fine....

[ThomtheEditor]

Also you previously mentioned full res to you =1080 and any deck that you are going to output to for pro deliverables is going to either be an HDCam deck (starting at $20k used) or more realistically HDCamSR (which new is $75k for the model capable of recording) these are things you can rent, but to even have that functionality you'd want a capture card in the $1k+ range (in order for it to be versatile enough to handle your day to day needs as well as be scalable enough for larger tasks that are often needed in a full service bay; cross/up/down conversions, multiple outputs, etc.)

For the $10k price range you should focus mainly on your editing system, storage, and display solutions as others have mentioned.
~T