Student Project Using Red for the first time. Need Advise.

[admandent]

Hey everyone,

We are a student project getting ready to shoot this week on a RED one Camera for the first time. Because of the trickiness of this shoot, we want to make sure we have everything we need before we get started.

If I may, I'd like to share with you a particular workflow we have prepared for one facet of shooting.

This particular shoot requires green screen, so this is what we plan to:

-On location, we would record plate shots to Red drive.

-During turnaround days, we would select the VFX plates, export them to Quicktime then to DVD for easy access analog video.

-On the Sound stage, we'd run the RED thru the down-convertor in the hopes of down converting the HD-SDI from the red to go into an older model videonics digital mixer (whose only inputs are RCA and S-Video).

-At the same time, we'd also run the DVD player into the mixer. We would then toggle the switch half-way, so the plate shot and the green screen coverage would be superimposed on one another, in order to match eyelines and interaction with avoidables.

-the Mixer would go out to Tap monitor.


We have everything except a down-converter.

Would this workflow be what we are looking for? Would anyone have any other suggestions? As a student project, are resources are a little tight, so we are hoping to achieve this without little more than obtaining a downconverter. Is there a cheaper alternative? We've been testing the monitor and few options other than the BNC from the Red's side monitor seem to work.

We also have a laptop on set running Final Cut. Would there be a way of somehow connecting it via DVI cable?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Adam

[Mike Prevette]

Sounds like a solid plan. I've done the same thing on a ton of HD shoots.

[Rob_K]

I think getting a clinometer and taking excellent notes (Focal length, focus distance, camera height, tilt angle, camera stop, lighting conditions etc...) would probably do the job most accurately. Being able to do a live overlay can be helpful, but without all that information about the plates to match up with you'll be hard pressed to really mix your elements well.

Hope that helps.

-Rob Kraetsch
Cinematographer

[Michael Stanmore]

I agree with Rob.

Assign whichever person you know is INSANE about taking notes. And give them a digital stills camera too so they can snap off a thousand photos of light placements and other general things continuity wise.

[admandent]

Thanks for your quick replies! Along with (hopefully) getting a down converter, on top of all that we also intend to take those exact types of measurements.

Our first camera tests where trigonometry was involved proved useful, but sometimes arduous and time consuming. In the amount of time we have on this shoot (8 days), we are trying to find the easiest route possible.

We just wanted to see if the downconverter was in fact what we needed to pull off this live overlay. The DP really would like to be able to see it pulled off, just for the sake of trying.

Would anyone have a recommendation for a type of Down-converter? Would these work?

http://www.rule.com/products;search?web_category_id=75