"Spike" sneak peek... (first machined body)

[Jannard]

Here is another "Spike" preview... lots to come in the next few days and weeks.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/uploaded/1_1167285117.jpg
Jim

[Brook Willard]

Thanks again Jim. Is the RED logo on the front just that? Or does it glow these days?

[Tonaci Tran]

Sweet. Beautiful work of art Jim.

[Jarred Land]

Thanks again Jim. Is the RED logo on the front just that? Or does it glow these days?

some more for ya:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/uploaded/1_1167327929.jpg

http://205.234.134.160/forum/uploaded/1_1167419423.jpg

[Kyle Spicer]

Here's an interesting question...Was this shot done with Frankie???

That would be way to ironic to have the old taking pictures of the new. :)

[Jannard]

It was never intended to glow... hehe. Just like the camera was never intended to be shiny silver. :-)

Jim

[Brook Willard]

Heheh, gotcha. I always wondered...

That said, the first scratched sensor you'll get back for repairs will be from somebody trying to stick a little LED light in the lens mount for shits and giggles.

[luis bustamante]

what a great time to be a filmmaker!

exciting days to come!

[Adrian Correia]

more pictures now....now damn you!

[wshultz]

It feels more like Christmas than... well...Christmas

[Mardi_Gras]

It was never intended to glow... hehe. Just like the camera was never intended to be shiny silver. :-)

Jim

Jim,

When you apologized for being a little behind schedule, do you still intend rolling out the test units as scheduled?

[Häakon]

Jim,

When you apologized for being a little behind schedule, do you still intend rolling out the test units as scheduled?

C'mon, who do you think they are... Panasonic?

Oh, oops... I mean... :D

[Jannard]

Jim,

When you apologized for being a little behind schedule, do you still intend rolling out the test units as scheduled?

I'm not sure that I intended an apology as we are putting Spike together in December as we said we would. The only timeline we have officially published is: 4k footage in the fall (2006)... we were two weeks early, our 1st camera together in December (that would be Spike), and production early in 2007. What we do with test cameras until shipping we reserve the right to do in private, especially since our plans change daily. Test units will certainly be out before production, but I don't want to commit to when, where, who and why. We'll keep you posted as we go along, but we have enough pressure to ship early 2007. We will not be held accountable for any other milestones.

While we have said that shipping 1st production units around NAB is our goal, "early" can technically be May 31st.

Jim

[CVB]

Jim, I assume theres not going to be any fire or smoke either...

[robbo]

heh - maybe over in Korporate Japan.
They'll do their best to ignore the impact for awhile.

[Craig Ryan]

Spike looks like a real beasty. I can't wait to see him all geared up. The site looks great btw.

[Adam C Lubkin]

Looks beautiful, really. Love the lines on her. Looks better than the render IMHO.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Thanks Jim, "Spike" looks beautiful.

Sanjin

[Ignas K]

Aluminium Spike looks a bit shorter compared to renders, I like.

as it shows in a different pict at http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=82413

[Ace]

Looks hot. I love the way its shot in this thread, Its almost like your looking at ultrasounds of a developing fetus. "theres the leg!" Theres the hand!" Very intimate.

[Emmanuel Decarpentrie]

Spike looks Great! Woohooo! :)

[Brice Ansel]

Can't wait to put my hands on it. Bravo! and happy christmas

[Thom Steinhoff]

Love the new shots. Now that is truely RED RAW!

[Brook Willard]

You know... this is just making me wonder what sort of prototyping machines you have in the warehouse. Is it really heaven in there?

[Steven11]

Looks beautiful, really. Love the lines on her. Looks better than the render IMHO.

These are the absolute best photos i've ever seen of the camera. Did you guys take it straight from the machine shop and fly it to a big studio to snap those photos? Who was the photographer? I was getting tired of the crappy Tradeshow photos of machined bodies behind thick wired glass.

[Jarred Land]

These are the absolute best photos i've ever seen of the camera. Did you guys take it straight from the machine shop and fly it to a big studio to snap those photos? Who was the photographer? I was getting tired of the crappy Tradeshow photos of machined bodies behind thick wired glass.

nope.. I took those photos in the back of the Red warehouse.. a few steps away from the machine shop.

Thanks for the compliments :)

[Blaine Golden]

Nice photos, Jarred. Now, I can't wait to see what comes OUT of it.:)

[Anders Holck]

Nice finish, hope we'll see a glimpse of that machining process at some point.

[CVB]

whoa... Anders, what happened to your face? It looks all straight and stuff. ;)

[Anders Holck]

yes, I just found out that Apple's photobooth software enabled me to even out my severe facial deformation that was vivible in the old avatar. Just a touch of the spiral distortion and I look all normal again :-)

[Júlio Taubkin]

So let me get it straight, that thing works!??

Yeah right, now you're going to tell me that can shoot a 4K image with 11 stops of latitude...

[Jaime Vallés]

Hehe, and rumor has it that it can record 4K without a huge RAID tethered to it...

It must be a hoax.

Seriously, the pics look great. It's good to know there's an actual physical prototype of the real deal sitting somewhere. Now, if you could just make 790 more, I'll be all set!

[Jared VanLeuven]

Man, makes me wish I took more metal shop back in the day...

Seriously sweet work, Red. And nice new site, Jarred.

[Andrew Benz]

When I look at Spike, this is what I see...http://cinema16.mty.itesm.mx/historia_del_cine/film_frames/metropolis.gif

Is this normal?:o

Absolutely beautiful, a camera that Fritz Lang would have loved.

I feel like that N64 kid/freak inside....:p http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgTaK1h-5Gc

[IAN SUN]

I'm lovin it!

[Vladimir Eugene]

i'm--- happy

[Zakaree Sandberg]

am i the only one with knotts in my stomach... i feel like a little kid the night before christmas.. how u cant fall asleep and time is moving slower than anything.. and u just want tomorrow to be here already!

[Adam C Lubkin]

Classic post, Andrew.

[Andrew Benz]

Classic post, Andrew.

First time I have ever seen those three words together. Lol. Thanks Adaml, there are certainly alot of emotions being pulled about when I see that camera... It would defy any three-ringed focus group questionnaire!

Cheers

[Emanuel A.]

When I look at Spike, this is what I see...http://cinema16.mty.itesm.mx/historia_del_cine/film_frames/metropolis.gif

Is this normal?:o

Absolutely beautiful, a camera that Fritz Lang would have loved.That's for sure!

[anamibia]

great pictures jarred. could we get a picture with a hand in the frame to judge the size of spike?

[Jarred Land]

great pictures jarred. could we get a picture with a hand in the frame to judge the size of spike?

ill try and take a photo with something in there for size reference tomorrow.

[Andrew Benz]

ill try and take a photo with something in there for size reference tomorrow.

This sounds like trouble...now, don't do anything Miss Nevada wouldn't do.;)
Seriously though, look forward to the pics and congrats on a great first day launch.

[Jaime Vallés]

This sounds like trouble...now, don't do anything Miss Nevada wouldn't do.;)
Can't believe he went there... :eek:

"I'll take The Penis Mightier" [/CONNERY]

:)

[IAN SUN]

:eek: Don't do it!
It has a PL mount not a Pe... never mind.

[Andrew Benz]

Can't believe he went there... :eek:

"I'll take The Penis Mightier" [/CONNERY]

:)

Hey Jaime, what did you think I meant... I... Oh no... I meant Miss Nevadas' tongue... You could land a C-5 GALAXY on that thing.:p

[JD Holloway]

Hey there,

Am I the only guy who can't load an image for this thread?

Help!

[helgetjelta]

No pictures showing???

[Zakaree Sandberg]

im sick of going to other message boards and hearing people all saying the same stuff.. "its impossible to be done.. if panavision, arri, thompson, panasonic and sony are doing it forr well over 100,000.. then its impossible for red to be done for such a low price" basically no faith at all...

i think JIM should be.. well he is.. a camera god.. and not let the non believers into camera heavens gates.. only the faithfull believers get their camera:)

[Jarred Land]

http://205.234.134.160/forum/uploaded/1_1167419423.jpg

[Gunleik Groven]

Finally seeing (some) of the (prototype) camera with an actual lens mounted was pretty nice. I can even live without the smoke now -;)

Gunleik

[JD Holloway]

Images are loading today.
Many thanks.
Maybe a mignight overhaul of new site shut her down.

The images look great Jim/Jarred. I can't tell if my quivering is the 3rd cup of coffee or my hopes of holding number #922 in my fingers. The wife is very impressed too.

[Jarred Land]

great to hear the images are loading now, thanks.

[Geoff Reisner]

Absolutely beautiful... I cannot wait to see this baby in action.

[SF Geek]

Nice shot of the lens mount Jarred. Do you have any shots with camera and lens mounted? I was also wondering how long Jim thinks it would take before the prototype was actually able to take and output an image.

[Jannard]

We aren't going to publish anything (for now) other than shots of Spike. We have a combination of test beds. Frankie, Frankie 2, Spike, and boards on a bench. I don't really want to get into the details of what each is doing everyday or what images came from where. I will say that Spike is not full function enabled at this time, nor was it intended to be at this point. We are bringing up different features on different test beds for now. Remember, the goal is to ship early 2007. All is good (today).

Jim

[SF Geek]

Thanks for the info Jim. You have to forgive me all my prying questions. This is, after all, the first camera I've ever had so much access to during it's development and creation. Thanks.

[Brook Willard]

Looking good... thanks for the updates, Jim & Jarred.

[Blue]

I love the quality finish look on the lens mount. Has the pic been touched up or is this the quality of engineering excellence we can expect?

[CVB]

Blue... that finish is typical of CNC parts... they always look pretty :)
On the topic of manufacturing, I wonder if Jim is on speaking terms with his diecast/investment casting guys after giving them the drawings for RED one... that lower cage mount is a tricky looking part.

[Alexander Nikishin]

As flashy and ballsy as silver Spike is, he will be missed in a weird way when black Spike arrives.

[Ace]

As flashy and ballsy as silver Spike is, he will be missed in a weird way when black Spike comes.

Id really love to see a limited edition anodized version. Im not too sure if magnesium anodizes though. Either way, its great for durability and increases the heat dissipation by a smidgen (youll see plenty of heatsinks anodized).

[Alexander Nikishin]

The main problem I'd have with silver Spike is glare from the sun and refelections from his shiny body, other than that, he is a beauty.

[Jarred Land]

The main problem I'd have with silver Spike is glare from the sun and refelections from his shiny body, other than that, he is a beauty.

You are viewing the unfinished body.. the body will not be silver.

[Mike the beginner]

I love the quality finish look on the lens mount. Has the pic been touched up or is this the quality of engineering excellence we can expect?
__________________

Blue

Thats the beauty of Red engineering Blue :rolleyes: ......I am sure we will have good solid buttons a sturdy red drive and the EVF looks like it is going the same way..over-engineered excellence. I hope the LCD will be made in sympathy with the styling of red as well.

Oh and greetings to all here at reduser.net and well done Jarrad for another great site.

Michael

[Blue]

How about this: Have the black body as per the recent renders, but keep the mount as that awesome silver. That would look incredible. It's the way it should be, surely. Input anyone?

[Jannard]

The production body has been changed to aluminum... but again, more changes are possible.

Jim

[Ace]

How about this: Have the black body as per the recent renders, but keep the mount as that awesome silver. That would look incredible. It's the way it should be, surely. Input anyone?

I'm sure the actual contact mount itself will be machined steel. I havent seen any painted lens mounts.

Also a good idea would be Interchangeable colored face plates ala Nokia. You can even get the Hello Kitty Face plate for that "personal touch". :)

[Ace]

The production body has been changed to aluminum... but again, more changes are possible.

Jim

In that case, you NEED to anodize a few of them red! (and black)

[Jannard]

The surface will be painted... and the lens mount a special metal.

Jim

[Kenn Michael]

I'd be interested in a custom black or red anodized camera as well...

[Steve Tammi]

The production body has been changed to aluminum... but again, more changes are possible.

Jim

I was expecting it to be made of a metal that included a radioactive half life of a few thousand years. ;)

[Blue]

I was expecting it to be made of a metal that included a radioactive half life of a few thousand years. ;)

No, just regular metal.

[Jason Francois]

I'm in for a deep red RED. Just because. :)

The pics look amazing and so does my new second home.

Thanks Jim and Jarred.

[Jannard]

We are looking at Invar for much of the lens mount. Great properties for expansion (lack thereof) with heat. It is heavy so we are working out how to use it with minimal quantity and maximum efficiency.

I promise that you don't get this level of candor from the other camera companies...


Jim

[Blue]

Or titanium would also be acceptable...as long as they don't show up fingerprints as readily as the reservation R's do.

[Jason Francois]

I promise that you don't get this level of candor from the other camera companies...



This may be the understatement of 2006. :)

Even though I haven't done a damn thing I almost feel as if I've been in some dark lab at Redquarters theorizing and creating.

It's amazing the amount of images being privy to this type of development has drummed up in my overactive imagination. It's ironic that the dream and reality of RED mimic cinematic imagery and thoughts in my head.

[Brook Willard]

We are looking at Invar for much of the lens mount. Great properties for expansion (lack thereof) with heat. It is heavy so we are working out how to use it with minimal quantity and maximum efficiency.

Very interesting indeed. If memory serves, invar is somewhat difficult to work with in certain cases. I believe it has a habit of settling over time... a slight deformation like that could throw a wrench into the optics situation. I'm sure you're all much more up to speed on such things than I am. Will the parts be cast or milled?

[Brook Willard]

Painting vs. anodizing... will there [likely] be any ionization with the paint? I'd hate to have a flaking camera :laugh:

You know, because that is my primary concern and everything.

[Andrew Benz]

I promise that you don't get this level of candor from the other camera companies...
Jim

There is no doubt. Although there has never been a Camera Company that has completely captured the full attention of so many professionals collective bank accounts. The potential to completely obliterate many of our obstacles to acquisition and onwards towards a path of creative self-actualization, sounds great to almost all of us. Might there be a link to this "level of candor".

[Appleton]

What about powder coating ?

[Andrew Benz]

What about powder coating ?

I was thinking the same thing. The last renders had that look to me. Given Jim's deep roots in sponsoring Funny Car Drag Racing, that might add another styling cue with deference to his past (Design DNA).

[Jarred Land]

Very interesting indeed. If memory serves, invar is somewhat difficult to work with in certain cases. I believe it has a habit of settling over time... a slight deformation like that could throw a wrench into the optics situation. I'm sure you're all much more up to speed on such things than I am. Will the parts be cast or milled?

Invar actually is the metal of choice in numberous sensitive applications, because it does not contract or expand in temperature changes, and is a very solid, heavy metal (you are right, its a pain in the ass to work with). Some problems that other very expensive cameras had were fixed by third parties with Invar, and its been used in telescopes for many years to offest a focus change from temperature variances (summer to winter) over a period of an entire year.

Invar, as some of you may be scratching your head thinking "I swear I heard of that before!".. was made famous by Sony back in the day by using it in their Invar Shadow Masks in televisions.. to stop smearing of Television pixels from heat expansion from tubes.

It is expensive though, and very very very heavy, and a pain in the ass to work with (more $) so an alternative would be great if there was one to be found.

[CVB]

Back in my Lockheed days we used to make some of our hinges and latches out of Invar. Great stuff to have when you have sun on one side and cold dark space on the other. Speaking of crazy metals... try Nitronic 60, that stuff is near impossible to machine. The guys at our shop used to cry when we called that out on drawings.

[Jarred Land]

Curt you talk like your 80 years old heh heh heh..

isnt nitronic what they make boats out of now because they are something like 100 times more corrosion resistant then stainless steel?

[Häakon]

It's been interesting reading everyone's comments about the body! It looks a lot like the renders did to me, so I'm surprised at the level of attention the design has gotten - but I suppose just the fact that there's actually something physical here is the cool part. Myself, I like the black powder coating that all the renders had... shiny doesn't bode well in my filmmaking experience (regardless of how "cool" it looks)... but then again, as long as the thing does 4K to my onboard mini-RAID, he could make it purple and I'd still lay down the cash. Awesome news, Jim... can't wait to see where you take it from here! :)

[Jannard]

The finish will be textured powder coat. Unless we change our mind.

Jim

[Häakon]

Good to hear, Jim. :cool:

Congrats on everything you've accomplished so far; I think the way you've done what you've done will ultimately speak more than the product you machine at the end of the day... and I know that a lot of people are behind you in supporting that vision. Keep on truckin'! :)

[CVB]

Curt you talk like your 80 years old heh heh heh..

isnt nitronic what they make boats out of now because they are something like 100 times more corrosion resistant then stainless steel?

I'm not sure about the boating uses but we used it because of its galling resistance... its not good to have little bits of metal on glass optics floating 20,000 miles in space. I'm sure it would be good in boats though.. usually galling resistance equates to corrosion resistance too. BTW.. I am 128 years old (Mercury years)

Jim, going from the magnesium to aluminum is going to be a obvious weight gain... hopefully you padded your weight numbers early on. On the plus side you'll get a fairly significant improvement in thermal conductivity going to the aluminum. So basically a slight weight increase for a reliability increase, sounds good to me :)

[Jannard]

Curt... we have been conservative all the way. :-) except maybe the schedule. We have our hands full there.

Jim

[CVB]

So if the magnesium had worked out then we may have had a 6lb camera ;)
j/k great work so far. BTW, I'm very anxious to see more proto pics.

[Jannard]

I think we will still beat the estimates...

Jim

[Jarred Land]

On the plus side you'll get a fairly significant improvement in thermal conductivity going to the aluminum. So basically a slight weight increase for a reliability increase, sounds good to me :)

Yes indeed.. Im pretty sure everyone here would give a pound for increased reliability and lower operating temperature :)

[Jason Francois]

I'll take an extra 2lbs if she stays cool...and sturdy :)

[Steve Gibby]

Yes indeed.. Im pretty sure everyone here would give a pound for increased reliability and lower operating temperature :)

Amen to that (meaning "I agree")

[Adam C Lubkin]

I understand the textured powdercoat from a functional perspective. I think a smooth black finish like on the Cooke lens would look nicer and complement the curves of the camera.

[Adam C Lubkin]

Amen to that...

Yes, sir. In a heartbeat.

[r. dahl]

very nice & retro. psyched...

[Mark L. Pederson]

the site looks great Jarred - see you in Park City!

[Brook Willard]

Dear RED Team,

Stop with all the good news. You're going to make everything else in my life look bad.

Sincerely,

Brook

[Jaime Vallés]

Dear RED Team,

Stop with all the good news. You're going to make everything else in my life look bad.

Quote of the day, man! :D

[Eugene]

We are looking at Invar for much of the lens mount. Great properties for expansion (lack thereof) with heat. It is heavy so we are working out how to use it with minimal quantity and maximum efficiency.

http://www.cartech.com/images/carpenterlogo.gif

If you need outside help with specialty metals, Carpenter Tech might be the company to got to for advice and materials.
Carpenter Technology Corp. (CRS)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=crs
"Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals and engineered products. It offers specialty metals, including stainless steels, titanium products, high temperature alloys, electronic alloys, tool steels, and other alloys"
They do ceramics too. ;)
http://www.cartech.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invar
"The generic reference for Invar® is FeNi36."

[Akcelik]

Plastic Prototype http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Red-Announces-High-End-HD-Camcorder-for-$17500.htm

[ericyoung]

The finish will be textured powder coat. Unless we change our mind.
Jim

Textured, but hopefully not rough - the better to clean it! :D

[REDHKSC]

Jim said : The production body has been changed to aluminum... but again, more changes are possible.


Question to me : My " R " is not a same material to match my RED one ?

At least to me that It 's a logical to use the key and the lock with the same material made.

Any reason not using the Material made of " T " as used in the US Space shuttle ?

Stewart

[jbeale]

Any reason not using the Material made of " T " as used in the US Space shuttle ?

Jim mentioned a while back that heat was an issue they were working on (as in, circuits generating too much of it). I don't know if it played a role in the decision or not, but one possibly relevant factor is that Aluminum has about 10x the heat conductivity of Titanium.

See for example, http://www.engineersedge.com/properties_of_metals.htm

I doubt the Space Shuttle uses titanium in any place where they want high thermal conductivity. Ti is good for strength-to-weight ratio, but Al has lower density and far better thermal conductivity. If your camera shuts down after a few minutes due to overheating, you'd probably be unhappy with it, even if you can still use it to pound nails...

[Jarred Land]

I don't know if it played a role in the decision or not, but one possibly relevant factor is that Aluminum has about 10x the heat conductivity of Titanium.

and about 10x cheaper..

[Dave Valiket]

and 1/2 the weight

[Brook Willard]

and about 10x cheaper..

Yeah, but this is the film industry. More expensive means better.

[Finner]

Yeah, but this is the film industry. More expensive means better.

In that case I guess by the time you have saved up for a red you will be happy that it is 3 times the price.

[jbeale]

Yeah, but this is the film industry. More expensive means better.

You better believe it! Look what $85,000,000 can buy:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327554/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catwoman_(film))