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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED STATION

Michael Olsen said:
Very first post said:

Each Module can be used independently or linked together as a system, using E-SATA, FIREWIRE 800/400 or USB2.0.

...sure hope that is still the case, except (perhaps?) with the addition of USB3.
Click to expand...
Thanks Michael, did not occur to me to go back THAT far:willy_nilly:
But I'm still having trouble getting my head around how this will work for Epic? What does it offload to? What cabling goes from the Epic if any? Is there a slot for an SSD instead of a CF card? Can't I just offload from my Epic straight to my laptop? In other words

DO I REALLY NEED THIS!:mellow:
 
Elsie N said:
But I'm still having trouble getting my head around how this will work for Epic?
Click to expand...

It'll work either as a single card/drive reader.

Or, it'll work as a powered set of up to three card/drive readers - less cables, that way.


Elsie N said:
What does it offload to?
Click to expand...

Whatever you plug it into via E-SATA, FW800/400, or USB. So, probably a Mac Pro or MBP or other workstation.

Elsie N said:
What cabling goes from the Epic if any?
Click to expand...

None. These are card/drive readers. So one would take the CF card or SSD out of the module on Epic, and insert it into the reader to offload files.

Elsie N said:
Is there a slot for an SSD instead of a CF card?
Click to expand...

I believe the plan was to have three varieties of readers:

1) CF - reads CF cards.
2) RED MAG 2.5" SSD - reads commercially available "bare" 2.5" SSD and HDD drives
3) RED MAG 1.8" SSD - reads the 1.8" SSD drives used by Epic

These can be powered or cabled individually, or daisy chained up to three deep on the RED Station base, which would provide power.

Elsie N said:
Can't I just offload from my Epic straight to my laptop? In other words

DO I REALLY NEED THIS!:mellow:
Click to expand...

Given all the connectivity of Epic, I'd imagine you could. But it would take a looong time, and you wouldn't be able to shoot while doing it. These modules would allow you to offload faster than real-time and to free up the camera to continue shooting while the data was being managed.
 
O.K....guess I need it.

ADDITIONAL: But like Michael and many others here I really hope this accessory adopts USB 3.0. I have avoided buying anything USB 2.0 anymore since it is obsolete. Bought a few thumb drives but only because the 3.0 versions are still very expensive. With USB 3.0 in a laptop, one could download through an eSATA connection while offloading onto a USB 3.0 connection out to a docking station with a very large HDD, or vice versa. I suppose one could offload the SSD to the laptop HDD using the eSATA connection, then unplug and use the connection to send that data to the docking station and the large HDD for storage.

Talking about on set. No problems with workstation because of multiple connections and large onboard or eSATA storage.
 
Last edited:
One other thought... can you go directly from a RED Station to an eSATA docking station HDD? There would be no way of checking footage immediately but at least it would free up the SSD quickly.
 
Curran Giddens said:
No. You will need a computer to transfer footage from the 1.8" SSD or CF station to the 2.5" drive station.
Click to expand...
Pity... that.

Maybe some third party will make such a device that will allow the currently avaliable 3.5"/2.5" combo eSATAII docking stations (they also come in a molasses style USB 2.0 version) or even a (possibly) available eSATAIII model work directly with the RED Station. Perhaps RED could incorporate that ability into their own module. It would be a perfect Rich Man/Poor Man's solution. That is, les riche could populate the smaller slot with RED SSD sized (GB) SSDs or notebook drives for storage while the poor man could fit regular 3.5" 6.0 Gbs HDDs in the large slot and download to that
 
Jarred Land said:
General PC/Mac numbers do not correlate to our industry.... trust me.
Click to expand...

Not to change the subject or hijack, but I would guess the ratio is almost
completely inverted the other way -- where 80-90% of RedUsers are
actually Mac based.

Of course, that's a guess. I've only met a dozen or so RedUsers in person (and
all were Mac users) but that combined with the impression I get from this
forum, is that PC users are very much in the minority.

Anthony
 
AnthonyFlores said:
Not to change the subject or hijack, but I would guess the ratio is almost
completely inverted the other way -- where 80-90% of RedUsers are
actually Mac based.

Of course, that's a guess. I've only met a dozen or so RedUsers in person (and
all were Mac users) but that combined with the impression I get from this
forum, is that PC users are very much in the minority.

Anthony
Click to expand...
Assuming the Red Station is OS agnostic, that should be irrelevant.
 
Elsie N said:
Assuming the Red Station is OS agnostic, that should be irrelevant.
Click to expand...

True. But this discussion arose a few pages ago based on the issue of USB 3.0 on the RED Station and Jarred's reference to Steve Jobs. Nothing more ominous than that. :smile5:
 
Yeah, saw that and can accept the special circumstances. That's why I proposed they totally eliminate the need for the computer. Two slots in the Red Station... one for the RED SSD and one dual purpose slot for off-the-shelf SSDs or less expensive spinning HDDs for offloading... a little more costly to do but much more useful IMO. Puts the RED SSDs back into the Epic much sooner.
 
Making the Red Station a stand-alone/partial stand-alone unit simply means installing a dumb on board computer. A dedicated ingest system makes perfect sense as you actually have a way to look at the footage, and in the case of apps like Storm, do much much more.
 
An idea comes to mind (forgive me if this has been suggested before):

Manufacture a rack mount version.
Could be modular.

Or perhaps an "Epic version" (Station base + SSD's in a single space).

Every post house would want one. Add owners, DIT's, etc..


Jarred - would the FCC need to perform a new certification review if you used the same components?
 
Brian F Kobylarz said:
An idea comes to mind (forgive me if this has been suggested before):

Manufacture a rack mount version.
Could be modular.
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea. How about RED Station modules (or shells for the module components) that can fit into standard 3.5" drive bays? Then it could be easy to put them into a rack mount system or sell an open mount kit which would be side supports/mounting rails along with a RED Station faceplate for placing those 3.5" form factor modules into 1U of rack space? Build the base module power unit/interface into the rack mounting unit.
 
I'm holding out for Light Peak - due for release next year according to Intel. Their USB3 rollout is not due till next year either. It would be nice to have at least 4 full duplex 10Gbits/s ports on my laptop. Hopefully they won't drop all the other ports to go Lightpeak only or if they do they will give us more than 4.
This should enable super fast backups to 3 raid drives, running RedRocket in an external box at full speed, full speed transcodes etc.
Hopefully next year is when I get my next MBP and it has Light Peak x4 +!
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Not a bad idea. How about RED Station modules (or shells for the module components) that can fit into standard 3.5" drive bays? Then it could be easy to put them into a rack mount system or sell an open mount kit which would be side supports/mounting rails along with a RED Station faceplate for placing those 3.5" form factor modules into 1U of rack space? Build the base module power unit/interface into the rack mounting unit.
Click to expand...

Good idea. Kind of like the API 500 series modular rack system for audio. Swap in and out whatever modules you need.
 
Giddy Up Cowboy. Got a boat load of CF RED STATIONs in today. Going through QC and should start shipping in the afternoon.
 
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