The Natives are Getting Restless

[Mark L. Pederson]

So, I have been without internet since last Friday morning until now, as I took my 22 month-old son to Elkton, Minnesota to visit his 92 year old great Grandmother. There isn't much technology in Elton, Minnesota except the latest from John Deere. So, I am now just catching up on me REDUSER.NET - and all the "drama" after Jim's post re:Delay -

I am reading the recent REDUSER threads and well ... if my Grandfather were alive (he was a successful farmer, fisherman and hunter - a man a few, but wise words) he would say "the natives are getting restless". Reservation holders want their cameras.

Seems like Redusers are very quick to attack each other these days ... things seem to be getting a bit more emotional.

I don't know if anybody really cares about what I think, but I (or rather my company Offhollywood Digital) is technically the EARLIEST reservation holder (after Jim's #1-5), and also technically the first reservation holder to reserve MORE THAN ONE camera, so I feel like I should at least make a few comments.

Aren't we all here (with the exception of the lurkers) because we are excited and passionate about owning an ultra-high quality digital cinema camera? Isn't that what this is about? It really seems to me like many Redusers are starting to loose perspective.

There's an engineering delay. They are going to re-spin a board. They are going to try to get the BEST possible image they can out of the sensor. Reservation holders and huge players in Hollywood turn the screws - WHEN can we get the cameras? (and some "I want MY camera NOW! DADDY, I WANT THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGG!") Jim says he should have answer on the 15th ...


On the 15th Jim says, he can't give you a new timeline yet - that he needs a few more facts from several suppliers to finish the timeline and should have everything he needs to present next Friday -

and then he goes on to say he is placing a handful of Beta prototypes (named but not serial numbered) before production begins on major motion pictures.

This is FANTASTIC!

It is only BAD news if you actually thought that on the 15th, you would get to know when you were getting your camera. And it sounds like you will only have to wait a week to find out. How would you have reacted if Jim said, "we are still working on it, it could take us months to solve this"??

Why do I think this is FANTASTIC?

Well ... most importantly, Jim didn't say he needed more time to engineer the board again. That is huge. The very fact that he is putting beta units on major motion pictures strongly suggests that what they were working on during this delay is done. Now they are on to field testing and production logistics. This is AWESOME.

As far as posts regarding who gets "beta units", and why are "majors" getting them instead of us little people, etc. - well, if you think about what RED's objective is for a moment, and not yourself ("DADDY, I want MY camera NOW! That stupid Spielberg is JUMPING THE LINE!!) then you would relax a bit.

Red needs to FIELD TEST units. In the hands of MULTIPLE seasoned, recognized professionals with years and years of experience AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. This accomplishes several things at the same time. This will prove, very quickly, if the camera is stable enough for feature production. Major "bugs", if any, will come to the surface quickly. RED will get VALUABLE FEEDBACK (that is not coming from Reduser's who think Jim Jannard is the greatest man that ever lived), but hardcore pros. And let's all be real here, the RED ONE being used successfully on more than one major motion picture VALIDATES the camera to an industry very "set in it's ways". Now you are sitting with a producer and you can say - they just used it on XXXXX from Disney (or Warner, or Fox, etc. etc.) and they loved it! That's good for everybody.

As a far as "my low reservation number is going to mean nothing" posts - well ... what did you think when you put your $1000 down? What did you expect? If you thought you would own a RED ONE before everybody else who ordered after you, well ... I think you're still getting what you wanted. I don't think there was anything about getting to beta test cameras in your reservation agreement.

Jim said "the camera gets better every day" - we should all be excited as hell, not selfish and greedy.

Offhollywood is cheering the whole RED team on, from the gang on the front line, and all the un-seen engineers in secret labs.

The last 5% might be the toughest, but the finish line is gonna be pretty damn sweet! See you there!!!

[Jarred Land]

Great Post Mark.

And indeed.. the high pressure big production tests on real shoots with the big guys teach us alot and let us fast forward so you all win.... In New Zealand we learned more in 2 days then we could of in 2 months back at the warehouse.

[Joel Kaye]

Agreed, from RED's POV it's a complete no brainer to want the biggest movies to try the camera out. It solves so many things at one time. Credibility to functionality to publicity in one swoop.

If they didn't believe the camera was great they'd never let it near those top pros. They'd release it into the wild and hype it past any criticisms. (kinda like the other guys have done in the past)

[Adam C Lubkin]

Nice Summary, Mark. Cool logo. Does the symbol have any particular meaning?

[Jim Exton]

Credibility to functionality to publicity in one swoop.

And for those who want to rent theirs out. I would add that credibility + functionality + publicity = demand and revenue.

[Tom Lowe]

Word.

[Ed Watkins]

hear, hear!
(or whatever they say in parliament when they agree, usually sounds like a kind of *hurrumph* sound.)

[John Travis]

I agree, well said.

I understand why people are getting restless, certainly I am. It's only natural.

But do people really want a camera that hasn't been properly field tested and might be buggy, just so they can get it a couple months sooner?

Or do they want a camera that has had a chance to stand up on its own in the field and works smoothly out of the box?

You want them to release it just so they can send out fixes for it when it doesn't work properly. This isn't Microsoft.

[Jannard]

I've always liked Mark. Well said.

When Oakley was born, we field-tested our grips and goggles with the best motocross riders in the world. Marty Smith, Mark Barnett, Ricky Johnson, Johnny O'Mara and Jeff Ward... to name a few. Their critique meant the most because they tested the hardest. It is the fastest way to see where you are. Trial by fire. Since our goggle release in 1981, Oakley riders have won more Supercross Championships than all other goggle companies combined. And every Championship in this milenium. For me... our stuff needs to not only work, it needs to work better. And it needs to improve every year. "One hit wonders" not spoken here. At least that is the theory.

We have the same goals for RED. I want to see many major motion pictures shot on RED. If RED is good enough for the best, it is good enough for the rest... and the ones that will be the best- next.

Please don't expect our camera to be 100% perfect. It is a miracle that we are this close in this short a period of time. But you have my word that whatever can be improved, made better in every way... we are on it. Features that are not enabled... will be. Things that go wrong will be corrected. And we won't charge you extra to fix our shortcomings.

I hope that the news this Friday will be understood and embraced. Not everyone will be happy no matter what we post. I just hope that all our reservation holders and potential customers give us a small break because we are trying to do everything as "right" as we can.

Jim

[Jonathan L. Bowen]

Great post, I agree with that. Plus if the camera is tested on big-scale productions, and everything goes well, the demand for the RED will be bigger than ever, and I would think that would only help everyone who has a reservation for it now.