Scarlet and REDRocket card?

[Tim Nitsch]

Will Scarlet benefit from a REDRocket card in terms of Transcoding times? I would assume yes but how much when we are talking about 2k or 3k footage.

(We would be working on 8 Core Mac Pros and i7 MBP's. Also probably shooting mostly in 2k for the FPS boost, hopefully)


Just trying to get an idea of what to expect and if its worth investing in a RR in conjunction with Scarlet. (obviously you would want one with R1 or Epic)

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

No need for a red rocket with what u got,
save the 4k and spend it on camera accessories and rigs

[Tim Nitsch]

Yeah That's what I thought. I just wasn't sure if maybe there was something I was overlooking.

Thanks

[Deanan]

REDrocket will accelerate 2k, 3k, 4k, 5k.

[Enrique Blein]

Hi Deanan, I'm also curious....specifically how much would 3K be accelerated?

[Tim Nitsch]

REDrocket will accelerate 2k, 3k, 4k, 5k.

Is it worth the $6k for the Mobile Rocket when shooting with 2k and 3k?

[Chuck Z]

No need for a red rocket with what u got,
save the 4k and spend it on camera accessories and rigs

I agree. That or wait until they unveil a "RED Rocket 2" of sorts with hyper acceleration for 5K @ 120 FPS.

[Marcos Montenegro]

No need for a red rocket with what u got,
save the 4k and spend it on camera accessories and rigs

Ruben:

Is that assuming is it a 2K-3K camera, not a 4K, right?

[Ruben and Sheri O.]

Yes
Ruben:

Is that assuming is it a 2K-3K camera, not a 4K, right?

[Brian Merlen]

From my understanding the software you utilize has to work with the card for it to matter, so really it depends on your NLE choice and if it is compatible with said card. The GPU can also play a major role depending on software choices. I mean anything can process r3ds given enough time, but if your doing work with fast turn around times and get consistent gigs then speed might be more of a factor, depending on client needs really

[Greg M]

No need for a red rocket with what u got,
save the 4k and spend it on camera accessories and rigs

Time = Money

If you make a living with the camera and deliver footage, its a must have.

[Lliam Worthington]

What about for an Indie feature where time is easier to come by in post, than cost?
Think I've answered my question, but having not worked with a RED workflow, a little affirmation would be great form anyone kind enough?
I don't have a macpro like the OP, Im using latest Imac, quad core - 3.4ghz - i7, 16GB ram, with a thunderbolt pegasus raid 6TB.

[Stephen Gentle]

What about for an Indie feature where time is easier to come by in post, than cost?
Think I've answered my question, but having not worked with a RED workflow, a little affirmation would be great form anyone kind enough?
I don't have a macpro like the OP, Im using latest Imac, quad core - 3.4ghz - i7, 16GB ram, with a thunderbolt pegasus raid 6TB.

What are you asking exactly? The RED ROCKET is all about speeding up transcoding and working with RED footage, so if you have plenty of time to burn (and/or don't mind working at 1/8th or so resolution) it's not really necessary.

[Brian Shephard]

Is it necessary to edit? No.
Does it make post a lot easier? Yes.

You can walk everywhere you go, or you could take a car to get there faster...
That being said...cars, and rocket cards, are not inexpensive.

I bought one of the battle tested ones when they were available. Since then I've seen quite a few being sold on the equipment forum here. I'd keep a watch there and see if you can't get a deal.

Good luck!

[Lliam Worthington]

Thanks for the responses Stephen and Brian, much appreciated.

Best
Lliam

[Jeffrey Loewe]

Time = Money

If you make a living with the camera and deliver footage, its a must have.
It's a good point, but you have to remember some of the people looking at the Scarlet. They have allotted out say 10-12K for gear on this camera. Shelling out another 5 grand for a computer card is a bit much. I'm sure it helps but sometimes time isn't always money. Heck i've spent less on my computer than the cost of the REDRocket Card.

i'm not knocking it's cost or performance, I just think it is another depending on the situation type of thing. If you can afford it and need it for ouput, by all means spend the money on it. If you can get your work done without spending another 5K and keep up on your workload then awesome.

I'd imagine the amount of work you get depends too. For me personally It's not something I'd consider at this point. I'd rather have the production gear required and and let my machine chug along overnight. I do that already anyways.

[Bart Allen]

you can also upgrade ur computer for cheaper on ur own, the red rocket card is not the answer to editing 4k footage in realtime ..my cousin works in visual effect and has worked on 4k footage in real time and has built up his own computer and it costed less than a red rocket and is very powerful go figure =) Also I have worked with RED Epic footage and I have an Imac, no prob a little time transcoding and rendering but hey u deal with what u got =)

[Lliam Worthington]

It's a good point, but you have to remember some of the people looking at the Scarlet. They have allotted out say 10-12K for gear on this camera. Shelling out another 5 grand for a computer card is a bit much. I'm sure it helps but sometimes time isn't always money. Heck i've spent less on my computer than the cost of the REDRocket Card.

i'm not knocking it's cost or performance, I just think it is another depending on the situation type of thing. If you can afford it and need it for ouput, by all means spend the money on it. If you can get your work done without spending another 5K and keep up on your workload then awesome.

I'd imagine the amount of work you get depends too. For me personally It's not something I'd consider at this point. I'd rather have the production gear required and and let my machine chug along overnight. I do that already anyways.

Thanks Jeffrey, great post. Your case scenario is very accurate in my case, and Im sure quite likely so for many others.

Best
Lliam

[Tim Nitsch]

It's a good point, but you have to remember some of the people looking at the Scarlet. They have allotted out say 10-12K for gear on this camera. Shelling out another 5 grand for a computer card is a bit much. I'm sure it helps but sometimes time isn't always money. Heck i've spent less on my computer than the cost of the REDRocket Card.

i'm not knocking it's cost or performance, I just think it is another depending on the situation type of thing. If you can afford it and need it for ouput, by all means spend the money on it. If you can get your work done without spending another 5K and keep up on your workload then awesome.

I'd imagine the amount of work you get depends too. For me personally It's not something I'd consider at this point. I'd rather have the production gear required and and let my machine chug along overnight. I do that already anyways.

As always it seems, Jeffrey you nailed it on the head.

[Nate Chapman]

could Thunderbolt be a viable, cheaper solution in the near future?... sorry just thinkin out loud.
The RED ROCKET does make life a hell of a lot more pleasant right now if you're working with 5k epic footage. And Premiere 5.5 works oh so well with it!

[Bastiaan Maat]

could Thunderbolt be a viable, cheaper solution in the near future?... sorry just thinkin out loud.
The RED ROCKET does make life a hell of a lot more pleasant right now if you're working with 5k epic footage. And Premiere 5.5 works oh so well with it!
Thunderbolt is an technique invented for high speed interaction between all sort of things and real close to way computer components interact nowadays. This does not provide processing power that is needed for rendering video.

I personally would go for a fast multi core processor (the i7 atm) and a huge Nvidia video card, most bang for the buck in my point of view if you want to keep cost low.

Then again the Red Rocket is purpose build for the job.

[Jonathan LeDuc]

Thunderbolt is an technique invented for high speed interaction between all sort of things and real close to way computer components interact nowadays. This does not provide processing power that is needed for rendering video.

I personally would go for a fast multi core processor (the i7 atm) and a huge Nvidia video card, most bang for the buck in my point of view if you want to keep cost low.

Then again the Red Rocket is purpose build for the job.

I suspect the question was whether thunderbolt was viable as an interface for red rocket, not whether thunderbolt itself would somehow provide processing power. Thunderbolt may be at least one answer for someone on an imac, as there are vendors looking to create external PCI Express slots utilizing thunderbolt. Whether or not there is ever a native thunderbolt redrocket probably depends more on its success as an interface than anything else.

[Rudy Lehfeldt-Ehlinger]

I imagine with PCIe expander boxes that sonnettech are going to make that it would become a very viable solution for imac and MBP users, should be slightly faster and more reliable then the Express34 slot cards, who ever invented the locking mechanism for those should of been fired.

[Frazier Nivens]

Time = Money

If you make a living with the camera and deliver footage, its a must have.

Yes, ditto to the above, without it don't buy the camera...a must have...you'll see...

[Rajesh Puttaswamaiah]

Thanks Jeffrey, great post. Your case scenario is very accurate in my case, and Im sure quite likely so for many others.

Best
Lliam

I am with you guys on this.