Proxy Module...

[Bill Anderson]

Who said this is no country for old men? Whoever it was, they were confusing time with substance. ( ;

[Quentin Brown]

Cube seems to sort of be filling the gap this module was aimed at now, especially with their RED proxy recording module supporting remote record triggering and file names. It will also work on current RedOnes and future cameras.

Has someone else filling the gap put Red off developing this module or do they have extra killer RED specific features in mind?


With the RedUser Cube bulk buy finishing today this question is pressing on my mind...

[Steven-Marc C.]

I don't think Cube fills this gap at all. It is an entirely different solution which requires a computer setup, it does not record anything. The proxy module Jim is talking about would be able to stream wirelessly but also record directly to CF. I think that is an extremely important distinction between the two. I would like to be able to have proxies without having to use a computer and setup a network. I would like proxies to be integrated in the camera.

[Quentin Brown]

I can believe that might be useful to some if your only concern is giving take away rushes to Producer & Director at the end of the day but to do so still requires a computer to transfer them onto something to take away (hough I suppose you could give them a stack of CF cards and a laptop with card reader to take away).

The remote triggering of network recording on cube with the proxy module means that you just set up a network share drive and it will all record onto it live whenever the camera is recording. So it streams wirelessly but also records directly to a network drive. That network drive could be setup on an external drive to give to the Producer or director to take away immediately at wrap or be transferred directly from there straight onto an iPad or something. I guess you'd have to be working somewhere remote with real limitations to need to record on camera proxies to onboard CF and the CF part gives a time delay to the availability of those proxy rushes for later review. On a network drive they can be instantly available for browsing, tagging and review to all onset wifi connected devices.

I'd be really intrigued to know what situations you think would really benefit from on camera CF recording over the network version?
If they build it and it has both the options of on board and network recording then it'll be a no brainer - I like more options, but I am short on ideas as to where the CF recording would be a necessity other than up a mountain with a tiny crew and only enough power to use your laptop later for your reviewing session so you don't want to waste that precious power during recording.

[Steven-Marc C.]

I can believe that might be useful to some if your only concern is giving take away rushes to Producer & Director at the end of the day but to do so still requires a computer to transfer them onto something to take away (hough I suppose you could give them a stack of CF cards and a laptop with card reader to take away).

The remote triggering of network recording on cube with the proxy module means that you just set up a network share drive and it will all record onto it live whenever the camera is recording. So it streams wirelessly but also records directly to a network drive. That network drive could be setup on an external drive to give to the Producer or director to take away immediately at wrap or be transferred directly from there straight onto an iPad or something. I guess you'd have to be working somewhere remote with real limitations to need to record on camera proxies to onboard CF and the CF part gives a time delay to the availability of those proxy rushes for later review. On a network drive they can be instantly available for browsing, tagging and review to all onset wifi connected devices.

I'd be really intrigued to know what situations you think would really benefit from on camera CF recording over the network version?
If they build it and it has both the options of on board and network recording then it'll be a no brainer - I like more options, but I am short on ideas as to where the CF recording would be a necessity other than up a mountain with a tiny crew and only enough power to use your laptop later for your reviewing session so you don't want to waste that precious power during recording.

While I'm sure Teradek's solution is great and am considering getting it as well, I'm pretty sure it's not as simple as just turning the camera on and start shooting. Just have a look at some workflow videos posted online. It must be great for studio shoots though. I'm thinking more of situations where you don't have a DIT following you around with his laptop. There is also the question of reliability. I'd rather have a fail-safe onboard solution. And ideally, this module would work with off-the-shelf CF cards which you could then simply be given to the producer at the end of the day.
To summarize, I think there's a notable difference between an integrated solution that you don't have to worry about (just turn on the camera and shoot) and something that requires additional modules, setting up of a (potentially fragile) network, and relying on yet another external recording device. Frankly, if it's to be used just as a proxy recorder, I think it would make more sense to plug something like a nano into the HDSDI outputs.
The cube has other advantages of course, but not that of simplicity.

[Quentin Brown]

I agree that it is preferable to have a failsafe integrated solution to make things more bulletproof, but being a DIT (these days following in a van with location power, a full tower rocket and digi-lab solution more often than a laptop though) I don't get to see the kinds of situations where the onboard recording might be a better option.

I'm not sure what you would want to use the H264's for other than streaming live as a wireless monitoring solution and providing dailies for review, I'm not sure if you had other uses in mind or not?
I guess an owner operator on more EFP style shoots where there is little other supporting crew (say on docos where there is only say a camera op, sound recordist and director) would like to have those CF cards to hand over for review at the end of the day without worrying about making them whilst you are shooting. This I can see as the major application - not a world I work in but my best guess. Is this what you had in mind?

[David Lagos]

Still no dates on productions modules, then?

[Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock]

I really am wondering how anybody can consider wireless recording of picture. We have had wireless transmitting of audio for ages and it still is quite unreliable.
Some guy switches on his cell phone next door ruining your take?

Jochen

[Michael Olsen]

I thought the idea was to stream it wireless over a wi-fi connection via wireless router...which, at least in my experience, have been pretty robust...

[Rainer Fritz]

So if you want to use it for daylies you need to have a audio link to the camera to get audio on the files... so it would be phantastic if this proxy module would have a audio receiver inside, where i can give the audio guys a transmitter that they plug on their preview output...
streaming in a good quality without stucking would be really awsome something like this teradek modules... we could built then a video village with a macbook pro... capturing the stream on a usb harddrive and connecting a bigger display via displayport for playback.... if you need more coverage you place a wifi accesspoint as repeater... no cables anymore....
no need of a bluecine or something else.... no need of HD/SD downconverter for PAL transmitters etc..... the future will bring us a lot of great things.... digital production will get so smooth and comfortable.... simply great, simply RED... :)