Frankly, all post production workflows are works in progress... but since Red is so new, there are definitely many questions to be answered about post production before any producer, DP, etc... can make an informed choice.
That said, the answers are there, and they're far simpler than one might think. We use FCP for offline edit and Scratch for online conform and color finishing, plus other packages as needed for vfx and other types of processing. Currently the redcode component of quicktime is only available on OSX, but that will change at some point. So, it's possible to edit offlines instantly using the camera generated (or RedAlert generated) proxy wrappers. Finishing needs to be done in a system that can do a full debayer on the .r3d raw files, right now Scratch, RedAlert/Redline, and RedCine are your best (and only) tools.
Our proven, end-to-end process is as follows:
Footage from Red cameras is copied/backed up onto at least two hard drives and two LTO-3 tapes. We do this as the cards or hard drives filter in on set.
LTO-3 tapes are saved in two locations for safety, and hd's go to editorial & finishing.
One HD is mounted on the FCP workstation (macpro dual core) and the proxies are used to create a complete offline edit. Once finished a cmx3600 EDL is generated.
This EDL is loaded into Scratch, where the second HD (with identical .r3d files and structure) is mounted, and the conform is processed very quickly. This is usually an automatic process, but there are times where manual intervention is required.
Once conformed we go through the grading/finishing process, including generating plates for vfx and then bringing those composited vfx shots back into Scratch. Then Scratch is used to either playback in real time to a tape deck, or to render out to dpx, exr, quicktime, or whatever is needed at whatever resolution and bit-depth is appropriate for the final deliverables. Rendering in Scratch will yield superior results since at this time it is not possible to do a full resolution debayer in real-time, and only a very few systems will playback 2k full mode in realtime due to the heavy cpu load from debayering.
As far as what systems are supported? For FCP, RedCine, RedAlert only intel macs, and I would suggest a quad or octo core.
For Scratch you'll need something fast and reliable, I suggest you contact Assimilate to get some idea of the requirements. But since it's a software based system you can configure your own, depending on your needs. Scratch requires an Nvidia Quadro FX 3500 minimum, but 4700 is recommended. This software does just about everything in the GPU, so there's no getting around this hardware requirement. Add to that fast processors for debayer (I use quad 3ghz intel, but octocore / skull trail is the latest-greatest). For RedCine & RedAlert you can check the Reduser.net boards - there are a lot of discussions detailing what does and doesn't work. I don't use this software, so can't be all that helpful.
Hope this helped.
cheers,
John T.
Producer / Director / Colorist
TRAkTION*
*commercials *music video
*digital post
Los Angeles