EPIC missed spec...

[Stephen Gentle]

That being said, I really would like to know what OS and CPU-Architecture Epic and Scarlet are running on. But I guess that falls into the realm of "they certainly won't tell me" (quote SS).
I mean, an ASIC does not really have a boot time, right? It just resets and boom - alive! But then again, everything apart from the heavy lifting (wavelet encoding and such) has to run on the host processor.

I'm guessing that they have a few OpenSparc cores on those ASICs. It's quite cool - there are a few open source implementations that you can download (as VHDL) and write onto an FPGA or use on an ASIC.

I'd also guess that the ASICs are doing all the heavy lifting in encoding the footage, and doing the demosaicing and debayering it for the video outs and the preview. But the UI and control systems and most of the other features I'm guessing are going to be running on the processor (which as I said might also be part of the ASIC, but would be running firmware off flash memory or something).

[Michael Stanmore]

I'd just like to point out that if Jim was captain of the Enterprise, Scotty would be able to hit the 2 second boot up time... but only in the third act.

Jim may not be captain of the Enterprise... but I'm pretty sure he's got Spock tied up in his basement.

[Peter Hodgins]

IOur current prototypes are starting up in 15 seconds and we think a reasonable target for production cameras is about 10 seconds.

15 seconds is also OK. As they say in the restaurant, "Good food takes time to prepare".

[Lachlan Ward]

10 seconds, TEN! SECONDS! Wiskey Tango Foxtrot! That's going to through my whole god damned schedule out for what ever future project I happen to do with with the camera, which at the time I will still be angry about (the time thing not the camera, I imagine ill be chuffed about the camera). As if there is ever a spare, TEN SECONDS! On set, never going to happen, ever. As any professional will tell you, a film set is a well oiled machine. Something akin to a military operation... You know, things explode, go wrong, cost way more than anyone predicted in the first place and go way off schedule.

So my question is this, whom will reimburse me (and the poor sap that read this) for my time and money!

I guess such a reasonably priced camera system covers the cost (of my rather cheap time) but what about my time! ...oh yeah processing...

Still rahh rahh rahh *spews fire*

[Milan Spasic]

Probably gonna get banned for this... but here goes.

Jesus Effing Christ people!!!! It's 10 FRAKKING Seconds. 10....Seconds. If you miss a crucial shot in that 10 second window it's your own goddamn fault for not planning properly.

I don't know how Jim and Jared put up with all you effing cry babies.

Pretty shortsighted and frankly quite offensive comment Brad.

There's nothing to do with a lack of planning.
It's everything to do with a style of shooting.
When shooting documentaries and especially live evnents, stopping for 1-2 minutes to swap the batteries can be devastating.

But like Stuart pointed out with a new Epic battery module this is not going to be a problem anyway and 10 seconds is more than respectable.

I suggest you think before you call people's genuine concerns about the camera " bitching and moaning".

[David Dennis]

Indeed, a quicker stills mode would be a huge bonus.

5 seconds for stills, 10 seconds for video? A simple switch could determine the which set of features to boot.

Even if its 10 seconds to record, being able to frame the shot quickly would be a nice tradeoff.

I doubt that will work since I think the real problem is the amount of time the OS takes to boot, find all the devices, etc. So it's not going to be significantly different depending on stills or movie mode.

D

[Rob Ruffo]

15 seconds is also OK. As they say in the restaurant, "Good food takes time to prepare".

Yes, but good food tastes good even after the light is gone.

[Rob Ruffo]

If it turns out issues like this make the Scarlets and Epics not-quite-ideal as still cameras, a simpler stills-only brain is not a bad idea. The more brains they spread sensor R&D costs between, the more people they sell modules and other accessories to, the cheaper everything will be, and the faster R&D on the next products will be.

You really think I was the only one hoping the FF35 Scarlet could be my cinema camera AND replace my DSLR? I think that's what they MEANT with 'DSMC'

But even if it turns out you couldn't do it with one brain, a Scarlet brain plus the stills-only brain and only ONE of everything else would probably still be cheaper and easier than owning two totally different camera systems from two different manufacturers. I'd be down for that.

My first DSLR took 30 seconds to boot. In a fashion photography context, it was annoying, but not a deal killer.

[Rob Ruffo]

As matter of fact, I never understood the obsession. It is a cinema camera, right? ;-)

Sya you have a set running at 50K an hour. 1 minute = almost $1000. Thus the obcession.

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

I am not saying I would not purchase a Scarlet, I am a huge fan and want one as bad as everyone else. I just wanted it to be a DSMC and replace both my video and still cameras. For anything staged, 10 seconds is fine. However there are shots I'd miss if my still camera didn't turn on in .2 seconds. If the camera has enough battery power to stay completely on for 2-4 hours with battery swaps that would handle most events, or if the sleep mode has a long life with a really short wake up time. But if you are wandering around a city for a day taking snaps and something spontaneous happens, that is where the speedy turn on is helpful. Even situations like "come quick, look at what the cat/baby/dog is doing..." This just means I may carry two camera bodies, but no one can say for sure until we get our hands on them to try them out.

Well, the DSMC concept is something RED can do very well and not being able to get every aspect perfect is something we have to deal with.

To get good enough video on a DSLR users put up with aliasing and jello, to get great stills on a RED you'll have to put up with limitations as well, since it's not the camera primary functionality.

And the amazing part is that the limitations are quite few and minor.