Red Scarlet X #316 "Skully"

[Silvana Grob]

Hy Phil,

Great test shot you've done there.
Which of your 42 lenses were used in the first 18sec of the "Hollywood Night Shoot"?
And by the way...42 lenses...kind of jealous :-)

[Jeffrey T. Morgan]

Jeffrey, that's a question that I also would like to hear answered! There's something I'm also curious about: if one is working natively with the R3D's in a native timeline in Premiere, and has Magic Bullet installed, does Magic Bullet work with the "raw" r3d file? My understanding is that Magic Bullet Looks works by taking a "Still" as a reference of the timeline and then in its custom interface applies the corrections that are then interpreted in the Premiere timeline. Since the file is changed in premiere, the alterations are going on on the r3d's right? Just trying to understand this. I'm a Final Cut Studio Editor and also a Magic Bullet User. While the "professional" graders like Da Vinci are obviously superior with masks and advanced bit depth color correction capabilities, using Magic Bullet Looks as proven a real big help in many situations where a quick delivery for the web or a reference grade was needed for a professional colorist in the High end Grading suites...

Sergio,

I too am a FCP user, it was only in the couple months before FCP X that I saw the writing on the wall and built a PC and got a copy of Premiere Pro. Very happy but for the whole Windows thing, lol.

I never honestly looked at how MB gets the info into its interface, because the way it's applied in the timeline has never seemed different. But I do know that Premiere works with the original r3d, yet does not ever change the original r3d. Basically the timeline references the files for the edit and applies any changes and filters in realtime unless you render it, at which time it creates a unique render file that it plays. When you go to render out, as far as I know, but selecting "maximum render quality" and "render at best depth" it goes back to the R3d to do a full res, best quality, fewest step render.

The reason I am sure of this is that I work often in 1/4 resolution in the timeline - which is still nice looking, but I can see the difference easily ( it's not so easy at 1/2 ) - and when I go to render out, I sometimes forget to go back to "full resolution" for playback, but it is back to being flawless in the exports. It definitely goes back to the originals. The only way I know that will change the original R3D is by messing around in RCP and saving the changes, but they can be reset if you want.

Also, I wouldn't look down too much on MB vs Davinci. My workflow involves window and stabilizing work in After Effects, which is a wonderful floating point world with more depth than you could want! There may be differences, but I think it will be more on the user interface / programming / computer render farm side of things, not the look of the final product. That all said, I plan to dive back into Resolve again soon, so maybe my tune will change.

[Phil Holland]

Phil, using RCP to do your selects before making an .xml, when you go back later for final touches in RCP does your timeline / footage in premiere automatically update? Or are you just replacing the footage because it's a shorter project?

As a side note, I use the Magic Bullet Suite for correction (with occasional help from After Effects and Premiere) and love it. I am going to play with Resolve any day now. Do you find RCP more accessible than these other options? I really find RCP doesn't respond how I want it to, but I think I am in the minority on that and am willing to keep trying. Right now I just use RCP to quickly peek at my footage and maybe double check that I have what I need in the image.

Changes in RCP don't automatically update yet, but I seem to remember a feature coming in RCP called "send to Adobe Apps" that should automatically update things. That's a question for the Red Heads.
I don't have any RCP workflow issues regarding color work. Levels and histogram work nicely. Prior to more sexy DI suites existing this was done in a much more painful way, which for some reason is still fresh in my mind. I think RCP is extremely powerful, which is nice considering the price.

Jeffrey, that's a question that I also would like to hear answered! There's something I'm also curious about: if one is working natively with the R3D's in a native timeline in Premiere, and has Magic Bullet installed, does Magic Bullet work with the "raw" r3d file?

Negative. It does not work with the raw .R3D data. It does work as a secondary color correction though. I try to do my first light corrections in RCP and secondaries in another package. For one offs like my tests I did everything in RCP to show that you can actually use that workflow. Once Speedgrade comes down the pipe from Adobe I'll be adding that to my workflow and it will work with the native R3D data.

Great test shot you've done there.
Which of your 42 lenses were used in the first 18sec of the "Hollywood Night Shoot"?
And by the way...42 lenses...kind of jealous :-)

Thanks :) I'm a bit of lens nut, but that mostly comes from preferring to shoot on primes. Only 3 of those are zooms. All of those city views were shot on the 135mm f/2L through Formatt HMND 0.9 filtration.

[Phil Holland]

I thought I'd share some of my lens notes from glass I've tested thus far.


Electronic Lenses:
(all of these work with no issue on the Red Al EF Mount)

Sigma 8mm f/3.5 Circular Fisheye (covers at 3k with no vignetting)
Sigma 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
Sigma 14mm f/2.8
Canon 20mm f/2.8
Canon 24mm f/1.4L
Canon 28mm f/1.8
Canon 35mm f/1.4L
Voigtlander 40mm f/2 SL II
Canon 50mm f/1.2L
Canon 50mm f/1.4
Canon 85mm f/1.2L
Canon 100 f/2
Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Canon 135mm f/2L
Canon 200mm f/2.8L
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS


Electronic Tube and Teleconverters:
(these work and communicate with the appropriate lens information to the camera)

Kenko Ef Extension Tubes
Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter
Tamron 2.0x Teleconverter


Mechanical Lenses:
(these are adapted to EF and have no electronic communication)

Olympus OM 18mm f/3.5
Nikon 50mm f/1.4 (1960s)
Nikon 50mm f/1.8
Canon 55mm f/1.2 (FL)
Helios 58mm f/2 44-3
Leica 60mm f/2.8 Macro
Leica 90mm f/2
Century Precision Optics 600mm f/4.5
Iscorama 50mm f/2.8 1.5x Anamorphic (+0.5, +1, +2, +4 Diopters)
Panavision/Canon Mod 100mm f/2 2x Anamorphic
Holga 80mm f/8 (for special effect use)
Loreo Lens In A Cap f/5.6 (for special effect use)


Lenses I have had issues with:
Sigma 300mm f2.8 (doesn't communicate with the camera and wildly opens and shuts the iris blades)


I've got more to test, but mostly mechanical at this point.

[Mike Halper]

Phil, great stuff! Thanks for posting your tests and experience.

What did you use to adapt your Nikon's to the EF mount? Are you happy with what you're using for that? Thanks!

[Phil Holland]

What did you use to adapt your Nikon's to the EF mount? Are you happy with what you're using for that? Thanks!

I'm using some cheep $9 adapter from ebay. They do fine on older Nikon glass and lock very solidly. No complaints.


Looks like "Skully" made Engadget along with Cinema5D. Spreading the Red all around.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/02/r...-video-review/

[Anthony Vu]

Awww YEAH! Phil is famous now! :)

[Mike Garrick]

Phil, A question about how your finding the touch screen & arm config. working for you on the rig as opposed to the fixed position screen option ?

Judging from the shoulder pad pos. you sitting the camera very close to your head when mounted on your shoulder. I noticed on another thread talk of a longer cable needed between the brain & monitor. Is this because you feel the need to get further distance between yourself & the monitor when operating in this configuration?

[N.D. Paolo]

Excellent post! Thanks for all the insight!

[Phil Holland]

Awww YEAH! Phil is famous now! :)

Awe shucks. I'd rather do the work than be famous. The press doesn't hurt though :)

Phil, A question about how your finding the touch screen & arm config. working for you on the rig as opposed to the fixed position screen option ?

Judging from the shoulder pad pos. you sitting the camera very close to your head when mounted on your shoulder. I noticed on another thread talk of a longer cable needed between the brain & monitor. Is this because you feel the need to get further distance between yourself & the monitor when operating in this configuration?

I'm actually enjoy having Scarlet next to my noggin. The most important thing for me is to actually keep the lens about eye level and my rig is currently doing that. The longer cable allows me to maneuver the 5.0" LCD Touch in more places, especially when not operating on the shoulder. With the stock 7" cable it's pretty darn close to my eyes and doesn't have much slack. Luckily today I got a visit from the "cable fairy" and now have a "war zone tested" used Red 2' LCD cable.

I had my first shooting experience about 1 hour after I received the cable and you can see how much nicer it is to move the LCD around when on sticks. I would say for my usage the cine/noga/israeli arm is very flexible.

Here are some pictures from that setup with the longer cable:





As you can see I can position the 5.0" Touch LCD pretty much where I need it. In this particular case I was operating while hiding in the corner.



Some other miscellaneous things:

Today was an interesting day. I have more tattoo content to shoot. This was all under ugly 4800 kelvin fluorescent bulbs. The next tattoo artist I'll be able to light, which will be nice. This was mostly to get idea about the space and what glass I'd like to use.

I mentioned earlier that you could use the Sigma 8mm Circular Fisheye at 3k without vignetting:


Personally I would recommend shooting at f/5-f/16 with this particular lens. It's not the sharpest in the world.


Another thing I've been attempting to do a lot of is shooting at f/1.2 and f/1.4. At 4k it's a very sobering experience that requires a great deal of concentration. Even with focus assist it requires a good deal of practice to land critical focus on still lenses. The focus throw is so damn short that it's really easy to blow it.



Whenever the 9.0" Touch LCD comes out I think I'll have to buy it. It would really help for focus pulls from f/1.2-f/2.8.


Once I was home today I had a package from Globalmediapro with 2x 160Wh V-Mount Batteries and their Dual Charger. This should give me around 2 hours and 45 minutes of operation time per charge. If they work out I'll be purchase another two. I'll be testing them tomorrow extensively. IDX I trust, but GMP is new to me. Here's a shot showing the size difference of the IDX Endura 10 (98Wh) I've been using since receiving the Scarlet compared to the GMP 160Wh:



A bit taller and a bit wider, but not much heavier at all. Upon first inspection, build quality is decent. On this side profile shot you'll see the D-Tap port on the GMP 160Wh as well as where you can plug in their travel charger.




I've been playing around with my Tungsten, Quartz Halogen, LED and Daylight Fluorescent lighting tests that I shot pretty much right when I got the camera. A lot of testing of filtration, the light quality and it's effect on skin tones, as well as grading variations between sources. I love the portabilty of LEDs, but I love the look of Quartz Halogen and Tungsten much more when it comes to skin. This setup I posted earlier with a much different grade. The key light is an 800 watt Quartz Halogen through a Dichroic glass filter diffused by a Lee 410 Opal Frost. Rim light and background light were two Cool Lights CL-LED600s.




I'm sitting on some other material because I'm waiting on a music track.




That's about all I got for now. A quick and dirty deep filtration Schneider Platinum IRND test is on it's way. I am really curious about the difference between that and my current Formatt HMND filters.