new to RED: what should I know

[Christophe Collette]

Hi there, I just accepted a music video for Bran Van 3000 which will be shot with the first RED in Montreal. This will be the camera's first production. The video will be shot at night in night clubs around the world, literally, with very little extra lights but a ring light or something in the genre, it will be very much like a documentary. I will of course have a focus puller first AC, but he ain't that familiar with HD or the RED. What should I be worried about? What should I expect? I am supposed to have access to the camera all of next week for some tests.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

C

[Mitch Gross]

I would highly suggest that you arrange for an engineer who understands the use and workflow of the camera. It is entirely possible that you will find it completely impossible to shoot anything at all without one.

 

This is not a knock on RED in any way. But the new world of "data capture" digital cinema cameras is unlike anything that has come before (weel, except for data capture digital still cameras) and the controls on set and the path through post is equally unlike anything you will likely have ever encountered. This is true for Red, Silicon Imaging, Phantom and any other camera operating in a data mode.

 

Abel Cine Tech rents the Phantom cameras and we require a Phantom Tech to go out with every job because we know that they will definitely have problems otherwise. They likely will not be able to even turn on the camera without one.

[John Sprung]

Hi there, I just accepted a music video for Bran Van 3000 which will be shot with the first RED in Montreal. This will be the camera's first production. .... What should I be worried about? What should I expect? I

Who are you getting the camera from? There are only 50 of them out there, mostly in the hands of owner/operators. Whoever it is, they should have a vested interest in making sure that you get adequate tech support.

 

You might have a look at these guys, I saw them at HD Expo:

 

http://www.redninjas.net/index.htm

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Guest M. Andrew Benz]

Who are you getting the camera from? There are only 50 of them out there, mostly in the hands of owner/operators. Whoever it is, they should have a vested interest in making sure that you get adequate tech support.

 

You might have a look at these guys, I saw them at HD Expo:

 

http://www.redninjas.net/index.htm

 

 

 

-- J.S.

 

Hi John,

 

100 cameras have been delivered to customers so far...

 

Good advice on the tech support front. How did you like the redninja set up at HD Expo?

[John Sprung]

Hi, Andrew,

 

Thanks for the correction: 100 units out there.

 

The RedNinja booth was fine for the context of that little show. A camera up and working, and people who know their stuff to demonstrate and explain was as much as could be done there. Small and face to face was actually more worthwhile than having people wait for hours in line at a mega-show.

 

What I'd like to do is set up an in-house test/demo day for our DP's. That's a discussion we should take off line.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Mark Bonnington]

RedOne does not handle strobe bursts very well, which you will likely encounter in a lot of the clubs. Specifically, it'll cut off the strobe flash mid-frame such that part of the frame will be lit by the strobe and the other part will not be lit. It's not much of a problem if the strobes take longer to flash than the shutter speed of the camera, but strobes are usually faster than the shutter speed and that's where the problem comes in.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Mark Bonnington

[Mike Brennan]

Do a complete test shoot at a local night club.

Take the pictures through an offline and online edit.

Try and make the test as realistic as possible.

It sounds like you may work to a tight deadline so make sure time pressure is included in the test, a very difficult thing for the crew to take seriously unless they are being paid:)

 

 

Data wrangling under pressure on location will be a challenge if logistics are not fully worked out so include data wrangling in the test.

Try and include some kind of meaningful picture quality spot checks whilst you are shooting, including audio if you plan to record in camera.

 

Get to know local RED owners (there is a list on the RED forum) in case you need their brains/experience or to supply additional REDs.

 

Budget to customise the computer kit including practical flight cases and battery power for laptops ect.

Factor in schedule of the band which may not leave much time to charge batteries or do running repairs.

 

 

Look forward to hearing how you do it!

 

 

Mike Brennan

[Guest Rainer Fritz]

There are a lot of questions which have to be discussed before shooting...

for example, to the strobo problem comes the problem that the camera at this moment has a higher noise level in the shadows specially hard when you shoot in low light situations... with the new betabuild firmware of the cam it is a little bit better... they are working on it...

when do you wan't to shoot the video?? there will be much changing in the coming weeks...

we shot three weeks ago one:

 

http://www.redcamservice.eu/redcamservice/herbstrock.html

 

regards

rainer

[Michael Most]

Hi there, I just accepted a music video for Bran Van 3000 which will be shot with the first RED in Montreal. This will be the camera's first production. The video will be shot at night in night clubs around the world, literally, with very little extra lights but a ring light or something in the genre, it will be very much like a documentary. I will of course have a focus puller first AC, but he ain't that familiar with HD or the RED. What should I be worried about? What should I expect?

 

For the type of material you're indicating you're going to shoot, you should probably be worried about the fact that the only available recording medium for Red at the moment is Compact Flash, and that the largest one you can currently use will only record about 4-5 minutes. You might be better off with another shooting/recording solution that's a bit less restrictive in that regard if you want to keep the camera rolling longer than that.

 

Of course, as with all things Red, any of what I just said could change in the next 10 minutes. Or the next 10 weeks. Or months. I guess that would be another thing you should be aware of....