No More Red Drives

[Michael Hastings]

I made a few feature films on only 8 Gig cards. So did a lot of other folks.

16G cards are not too far off from the run time of a 1000ft mag on 35mm.

Funny how the bar raises. Everyone was SO EXCITED when 16G cards shipped.

It's nice to see such demand for RED media.

Comparing this to film mags is getting a little old. In the past ten years what is the percentage of film minutes you've shot vs. Video/digital?

Or to keep it less personal, what do you think the percentage is for the 6000+ Red1 owners over the past ten years?

30 minute Betacam or some follow on format with even longer record times has been the norm in motion media for 30 years, except for the minuscule amount shot on film.

Stepping backward doesn't seem to be something that should be lightly dismissed.

[noah newtown]

whats the problem?! its like "Ram/Drives not available in the moment"
in max 2-3month we have 64gb CFs

Jim can i trade in my REDcradle its useless ;)

[Gunleik Groven]

whats the problem?! its like "Ram/Drives not available in the moment"
in max 2-3month we have 64gb CFs

Jim can i trade in my REDcradle its useless ;)

Some of us have productions over the next 2-3 months where a RED RAID might be what the doctor ordered as of the formerly available options....

But one day, we'll all NOT use the cradle. We just want to get there before removing it...

[Paul Leeming]

I see an opportunity here:

RED, if you are discontinuing these drives then how about allowing us to install our own replacement SSDs inside the original enclosure and not locking out 4K recording as a result of them no longer having the Hitachi drives inside? I think with a list of recommended drives supplied by RED this could be done by a lot of people and for those not confident in doing it themselves, there would no doubt be people who could offer those services for a small fee.

It may not fix a blown FireWire800 port or a dead circuitboard, but I bet it would fix 80% of the problems stemming from spinning media failures.

I know it's possible to do it because I know of people that have successfully done just this transplant.

What say you RED? Might be a good way to engender some much needed goodwill at this point in time.

Cheers,

Paul

[Brent@RED]

Let me try to hit a bunch of comments / clarify some misconceptions at once:
* We are fulfilling the backorders for RED-DRIVE and RED-RAM as quickly as possible. We have not stopped shipping them, but we have stopped taking new orders.
* Media evolves and we evolve with it as we move to better media options for our customers. If we think we have found something better than RED-RAM/RED-DRIVE, we are going to pursue it. Are you guys pissed at Apple that your new MacBook Pro does not have a floppy disc drive slot?
* "I have no problem buying parts for a 27 year old Porsche 911, most parts even seat belts & rubber trim still available from the factory". Great, can you get a complete 1983 911 direct from the factory? I have never said that we will not support (ie, repair) delivered RED-RAM and RED-DRIVE with new seat belts and rubber trim.
* It sure would make everyone's lives easier if RED components were "off the shelf". But the fact of the matter is RED is pushing the envelope across the board with our product. We are talking very custom, very specialized components - from top to bottom. That means long lead times. That means a small number of qualified suppliers.
* That being said, as Jay mentioned, with some accessories we have been hit with suppliers not being able to meet commitments - or even gone belly-up. That is, unfortunately, part of the territory with today's economic climate. When when one (or two or three) of those companies that makes a specialized part drops the ball, we all suffer. And RED will not accept a substandard part so it does take time to qualify a new vendor to meet our specifications.
* The concern over accessory availability with new products is a valid one. Fortunately, I am in a position to see behind the RED curtain, and I can assure you that we have applied a ton of lessons we have learned with RED ONE and RED ONE accessories. One of those areas is certainly supply chain. We have been much more proactive on future accessories than we were able to be with RED ONE accessories. I think our Stage 2 EPIC-X customers will have a much better experience than when they went through their RED ONE deliveries.
* As to "Obsolescence" not longer being "Obsolete", the new media options were are working on will be compatible with RED ONE as well as new brains. I think everyone will be very stoked with what is coming down the pike.

That pretty much exhausts all I can say on the topic until we have additional information to post.

BC

[Dave S]

Are you guys pissed at Apple that your new MacBook Pro does not have a floppy disc drive slot?

No. But if they removed the DVD drive and replaced it with a floppy drive with a promise that a better format is coming at an unspecified future date, then I probably would be.

[Leo Ticheli]

Thank you, Brent, for your post, however it does not answer some fundamental questions.

How are you fulfilling back orders if the suppliers are no longer capable of producing or no longer in business? If the supplier problems affect only the new storage device, why are you not continuing to offer the current drives?

For how long can we expect our current drives to be supported with rebuilds or repairs? How long will Red guarantee sufficient parts be available?

Why did Red make the decision to EOL the drives before a replacement was available? Did Red consider the fallout from this decision? Did you EOL the drives and then discover that the replacement would be delayed?

Frankly, your ability to "see behind the curtain" is not so comforting to me and I'm far more "stroked" by real products available for delivery than a promise; a forthright, definitive announcement of the EOL drive's replacement and realistic delivery schedule would quell much unease.

Finally, a note to the fanboys; attacks and snide comments not helpful. Many of us have very legitimate concerns; I hope this does not brand us as, "having a bad attitude," and incur a punitive response from Red.

Best regards,

Leo

[Brent@RED]

No. But if they removed the DVD drive and replaced it with a floppy drive with a promise that a better format is coming at an unspecified future date, then I probably would be.

I see RED CF and RED-DRIVE as media options, one better for some conditions, one better for other. Not one "better" than the other.

I think comparing a RED-DRIVE to a DVD drive and RED CF to a floppy drive is an unfair analogy.

BC

[David Birdy]

If anyone is stuck and needs to rent send me an E-mail I may able to help.

We have Red Ram drives and Red 320 Raid drives.

Dave
engdb@live.com

[Brent@RED]

Thank you, Brent, for your post, however it does not answer some fundamental questions.

How are you fulfilling back orders if the suppliers are no longer capable of producing or no longer in business? If the supplier problems affect only the new storage device, why are you not continuing to offer the current drives?

For how long can we expect our current drives to be supported with rebuilds or repairs? How long will Red guarantee sufficient parts be available?

Why did Red make the decision to EOL the drives before a replacement was available? Did Red consider the fallout from this decision? Did you EOL the drives and then discover that the replacement would be delayed?

Frankly, your ability to "see behind the curtain" is not so comforting to me and I'm far more "stroked" by real products available for delivery than a promise; a forthright, definitive announcement of the EOL drive's replacement and realistic delivery schedule would quell much unease.

Finally, a note to the fanboys; attacks and snide comments not helpful. Many of us have very legitimate concerns; I hope this does not brand us as, "having a bad attitude," and incur a punitive response from Red.

Best regards,

Leo

Great questions, Leo....but, I think a little out of the realm of what a company tells their customers. Even this company. We are pretty damn open about things, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere on what information is for public consumption and what is not. I have told you what I can tell you. I daresay not too many companies draw the line as close to the customer as we do when we have people like me, Jim, Jarred, Deanan, Rob, Stuart, etc etc on forums answering questions and being as open as we feel we can be. If you guys want to see behind the curtain like me, you'll have to talk to our HR dept to get a job here :)

But let me clarify one thing: "If the supplier problems affect only the new storage device" - I did not say that.

BC