RED Scarlet for ENG work?

[Ryan B]

Man thats a wicked setup Steve.
Thanks for sharing the photos!

Ryanb.

[Steve Gibby]

Happy to help...

Even with RED One there is almost no end to the possible lens and accessory combinations. With Epic and Scarlet there should be even many more possibilities than with RED One - especially for hybrid style and EFP style setups.

Fun times ahead...

[Nic Spencer]

Steve, just like to thank you helping me make my first foray into RED. It looks as though the shooting situations and field work you do is very similar to where I often find myself. It has given me real comfort reading your posts before lashing out the dough on this beast. I'm going for a light weight Nikon based set up for starters and will look at getting into the EPIC when it comes out.

Out of curiosity, what base plate system have you found works fastest/easiest? The reason I ask is I have used the Sony v-mount quick release system for years and anything less than this would seem cumbersome.

Thanks again.

[Joseph Ward]

I think Steve Gibby is onto something with Red and LIVE DSMC, for ENG/EFP. With Red being so quiet about their upcoming RGB, FF1080P, and Scarlet 2/3 Fixed, this can be a killer combination.

The next big Red Revolution for me is some REDCODE RGB(if it has Graemes magical pixies working on it like REDCODE RAW with new free firmware updates)!

[Steve Gibby]

Nic,

I'm happy my posts have helped you...

In terms of sheer volume of productions each year, the combined hybrid production and EFP production industries are the big elephant in the room in the motion media business. RED One has been a pretty hybrid and EFP friendly camera, but IMO Scarlet (and Epic) will be even way more usable in those styles than R1.

I've used a lot of Sony V-mount plate systems over the years, and yes they are quick and efficient for run n' gun production. The down side is they can get loose sometimes and give a slight wobble to the camera in a pan/tilt. I've also had a few of them fail in extreme forward tilt situations - one time I had a camera drop clear off the Sony V-mount, and drop 15 feet to a floor below - an expensive lesson.

With my REDs I've been using the ET ARRI dovetail, in tandem with the ET hybrid base plate. I've learned to change out the camera from the ET dovetail on top of my Miller 55 heads, to the dovetail on the ET Mantis, and back, quickly, almost as fast as using a Sony V-plate. The dovetails are very solid too - no wobble movement whatsoever. When I'm using my real long lenses (Canon 800, Canon 150-600) I simply release the Miller plate from the head, and lift off the entire camera/lens/base plate/dovetail/Miller mini-plate combo from the tripod. To put it back on the tripod I just line the Miller mini-plate on the bottom up with its slot on top of the head, drop it in, and it snaps into place.

[Steve Gibby]

Joseph,

All things with RED are subject to change, but IMO the fixed lens Scarlet, with user selectable RAW and RGB, FF1080P, and a host of other hybrid and EFP friendly features, is very much "alive and well". I would be deeply surprised if all those features, and probably many more hybrid and EFP friendly features were not in the fixed lens and 2/3" Cinema Scarlet models.

I also expect the mentioned "fly by wire" capabilities to be in the final specs for the fixed lens model too. What that exactly means, nobody but RED Team knows. As a mere guess on my part, I'd suggest it refers to the combination of a host of user-selectable auto features (iris, focus, etc.), naturally de-selectable if you want manual controls, and also the ability to control Scarlet remotely with the RED Mote - which would actually be "fly by non-wire" :)

Then there is the 2/3" Cinema Scarlet, which I'd guess will be very EFP production friendly, with the probable ability to use B4 2/3" HD EFP/ENG zooms.

I'm fascinated by REDCODE RGB. In quick turnaround hybrid and EFP production with Scarlet, that would give us the ability to simply select RGB, shoot the gig, and either hand over the footage to clients or our editors, or back it up first then hand it over. Then we could switch to RAW to shoot longer turnaround wraps, in-bumps, out-bumps, promos, creative montage shots, etc., where we have the time to maximize the post advantages of RAW over RGB.

Going to be interesting to see what's up when the specs are finalized for the Scarlet models - and Epic models too.

[Jason Sturgis]

Steve,
Some great points you bring up in this discussion. I am hoping that the 2/3 Scarlet will be able to use B4 zooms(in 3K)- I think that would make for a wonderful EFP kit and perhaps starting chipping into the Varicam world. I love my Red but feel that the 2/3 scarlet w/ B4 set up could be an amazing set up for EFP. Horses for courses I know but the 2/3 Scarlet could turn out to be THE horse for the outdoor course.

[Steve Gibby]

Thanks Jason...and you make a very good point there about the 2/3" removable lens Scarlet. It is somehow named "Cinema", but in reality it could very well be turn out to be a superb 2/3" B4 HD EFP/ENG zoom camera.

The genius of these modular cameras will be their broad utility...build them for what you need to shoot that day, then go get some images. The next day, or portion of thereof, just quickly re-build and maybe re-lens the camera, and you're off doing another style and/or genre of production. If the specs come out the way I think they will, everyone is going to give a major, but way pleasant sigh when they''re announced :)

Fun times ahead gents...

[Stefan Christou]

Just to chime in on this excellent discussion. I think a big factor in whether Reds are used in news environments will depend on how well they play with Avid, and specifically whether Red takes up the opportunity to get the RGB files supported by AMA (Avid Media Access), which lets material from a card or disk populate bins instantly for editing as soon as it is inserted into the edit machine.

AMA is open to all manufacturers to develop a plugin for their media type and already includes Sony's XDCAM and XDCAM EX, Panasonic's P2, and Ikegami GFCam.

It's way cool and beats the hell out of transcoding material in into certain other NLEs (ahem). It's how non-linear editing should be.

BTW Script sync rules.

Just my two cents.

Stefan

[Joseph Ward]

RED should make a zoom lens for the cinema 2/3 interchangeable too. I want to be able to have the choice of not owning anything other than RED! lol