Request for anti-theft system included in brain.

[Sven Seynaeve]

We definately need a rocksolid solution, and I really hope Red can come up with the highest security level available Before the mass release of the Reds.

If I were Jim , i'd be even more affraid cause imho this camera might be stolen by locals , but it still seems a little bit strange. this is the most wanted piece of equipment ,by let's say 30000 human beings right now...

It would'nt be the first time, competitors are doing the best they can to get a glimpse of the technology inside and copy it..

 

[Liam Hall]

We definately need a rocksolid solution, and I really hope Red can come up with the highest security level available Before the mass release of the Reds.

If I were Jim , i'd be even more affraid cause imho this camera might be stolen by locals , but it still seems a little bit strange. this is the most wanted piece of equipment ,by let's say 30000 human beings right now...

It would'nt be the first time, competitors are doing the best they can to get a glimpse of the technology inside and copy it..

Sven, I wholeheartedly disagree.

Ask yourself which of the following scenarios is more likely:

A) In an attempt to protect one of its niche products a Japanese conglomerate, with an annual revenue exceeding $70 Billion, organizes an international heist of Epic 006 after learning of its whereabouts by closely following RedUser.

OR

B) A gang of thieves and pick pockets who target tourists in resort areas spot someone on the piste with a big, expensive looking camera, follow him back to his chalet, wait for everyone inside to fall asleep before forcing an entry and making off with the camera bag and a few wallets.

Theft is a fact of life. Be prepared. Get insured. Simple.

 

[Johnny Friday]

Sven, I wholeheartedly disagree.

Ask yourself which of the following scenarios is more likely:

Theft is a fact of life. Be prepared. Get insured. Simple.

We all love our RED's....but for gods sake, gps devices and computer call home software/sign-in etc....Let RED make cameras and if you want to stick a gps tracker in your case-great. But insurance and common sense rule. And the unlucky few of us in life will get nailed from time to time. there's no stopping the human race and the human day to day drama. GPS tracking makes sense to me when you are travelling and your cases are missing at the airport and instead of ending up in Indonesia it's at the terminal in London. Great, you found it. Call London, get it to me.

These incidents just happen, will continue to happen and that's just that-LIFE. do you REALLY want your camera and lens package back after it was recovered two weeks later and handled by a bunch of people? I'd rather call my insurance agent the day it's stolen, get a check sent next day and order new RED/LENS package and my guess is RED will put you at the top of the line for a stolen replacement and get it fed-ex'd next day. Again, life happens. Not going to put a chip on my dive gear or my refrigerator. Just another piece of technology to go wrong. I'd say do it yourself if you really see it's necessary.

 

[Imran Farouk]

I realize this isn't a suggestion but...

Isn't the idea that every pin code is written into every frame that the camera produces good enough as a GPS device?

I mean I'd really love to know WHERE exactly all these cameras are going...cause I can't imagine many rich guys hiring thugs to go steal these cameras for their home movies or even off loading them to wealthy people. Let's be real, it's not exactly like they'd pick it up and go 'hey it's not worth much', the RED really does show it's worth the dollar.

Best thing has already been done, the camera is INCAPABLE of being used in the public eye if theres a pin-code in each frame. why? Well I'm sure some users here can tell the difference between RED footage and DSLR/1080p cam footage, between Film and RED, maybe? At the end of the day, if it's being handed off to people and they use it for YouTube etc. I'd hope to god some of these people would have questions about the legitimacy of these cameras being used considering there's a list of stolen cams too...

Anyway, a module wouldn't work, a GPS tracking unit wouldn't. For all the reasons above etc.
Placing it into the chip/board of the EPIC would require a re-work of the system internals, delays etc. which would be rather counterproductive at this stage even with the extra money it isn't guaranteed to work as effectively as the pin-code system in place.

Insurance is your only way really. Let's be real and I may end up or have repeated all the above probably...stuff getting stolen is reality, a GPS won't help you if the guys have guns and a GPS won't help you if its out of range. A dead cam won't help you if you lock it down because the thieves aren't exactly going to know what to do with it, it'll probably be chucked away and never seen again (criminals tend to be rather foolish, their criminals for starters). Get some good coverage, keep the camera safe and in your eyes.

I don't think that break in that happened a while back at one of the studios could've been prevented with any fancy high tech extra kit built into the camera. It's a studio, it was locked up etc. and they got in and into the camera room and made off with a lot of dollar worth of equipment.

If your camera's alive and working. One day when someone's dumb enough to release footage and say it was shot on RED and yet there's no one in the forums that can vouch for it being shot on RED, someone will take a look at the meta for the footage and find your pin-code. Maybe. Until then you have the ability to use the insurence money and buy a new cam to get you back on your feet.

There's no sense worrying about the lost forever if it isn't going to aid you in your work. Just carry on. I'm sure with the loss of #0006 that Jim and the team aren't sitting around twiddling their thumbs, their moving forward and hoping for the safe return of the EPIC. If it doesn't turn up (unlikely cause I'm sure #0006 isn't exactly going to be easy to hide) it doesn't mean EPIC halts or jim and the team stop shooting. They march on. As should we all.

I've had laptops stolen from me by people that are close to me even. It's taught me my mistakes and so I've learned and adapted. As have those that have lost their cameras have adapted. It's rather simple

(apologises for the long post but it this topic has been beaten over and over :beatdeadhorse5: )

EDIT:

I'm not against the idea of a solution though but there are smart people out there that even when stuff is stolen and there's an awesome solution to getting it back, they'll know a way around it. So hence why even if you had an iPhone app or a GPS locator, it shouldn't be your only plan and one should be prepared for potentially the worst but hoping for the best.

 

[Jeff Coatney]

When there are 5,000+ Epics loose in the world, the need for security of any kind like the ones discussed becomes useless. When a sought after object is rare, and its stolen, seems to underscore the need for such measures. But in just a few months, this need will seem quaint and unnecessary- you'll just get a ready replacement. Will there be stolen Epics loose in the world? Sure. But it really doesn't make sense to use up valuable development bandwidth to install security features when the market will attend to that itself.

 

[David Rasberry]

A spare cell phone or cell enabled GPS tracking device concealed in the case is a modest cost solution for reasonable protection. Might even save enough on insurance cost to pay for the service if your agent is made aware of it. What does the most basic GPS enabled phone on a family plan add to your bill? 10 to 20 bucks a month?

 

[tj williams]

so choose a product

so choose a product

Seems like two schools of thought. don't need it doo need it.

great place for an aftermarket company if RED will just leave a little space in the corner for LoJack etc to install the trackergps chip etc.

buy it if you want. Red puts little or no development bandwidth into it.

should be someone out there already making a tracking device seeing a great new market.

Needs RED Approval so it can be installed inside the brain, too easy to find velcrod to the body or "hidden" in the case.

 

[Jeff Coatney]

I don't think an effective countermeasure can be practically implemented into the camera body. However, It may be possible for a later release of Red software to become alerted to the specific metadata from the camera and at least upload where the camera has been, the user information from the computer its being used on and other pieces of info, provided the computer were connected to the internet.

 

[JanneJansson]

Security in a camera is a very bad idea IMHO. If the camera get stolen, the damage is already done. The only thing the security will do is to malfunction/get activated at the most inconvenient time and creating problems on the film shoot. Better spending time and energy making the camera take better pictures. ...and as some have pointed out here, IF the camera can be GPS tracked, you get no insurance payment, because it "can" be found (depending of insurance company).

Better adding "blocking list" in red cine x. With serials of know stolen cameras. Instead of material getting processed, you get a sign "Footage from reported blocked camera, contact customer support etc..."

 

[Jeff Coatney]

Security in a camera is a very bad idea IMHO. If the camera get stolen, the damage is already done. The only thing the security will do is to malfunction/get activated at the most inconvenient time and creating problems on the film shoot. Better spending time and energy making the camera take better pictures. ...and as some have pointed out here, IF the camera can be GPS tracked, you get no insurance payment, because it "can" be found (depanding of insurance company).

Loss of custody can be enforceable in an insurance claim. Otherwise the Insurance underwriter would be seen as encouraging dangerous vigilante tactics for the return of stolen property. A law enforcement agency is the only entity that can recover a stolen item-- if they cannot do this, the claim must be paid.

 

[Steve Das]

... I'd rather call my insurance agent the day it's stolen, get a check sent next day and order new RED/LENS...

Wow..if that's how it works for you..you're lucky I think. Any dealings
I myself have had and most other people I hear about...well..it works
out..much differently.

Endless delays..forms..reports..phone calls...and time..and more time.
..and then insurance company not wanting to pay anything..zip..zero..
..more time and then a small settlement offer...more time and finally
the full payment. Insurance companies are in business to make money
any way they can..simple really..the less they pay out..and the more
time they can delay payment..the more money they make.
And if they notice payments going out to small cameras named
Red and Scarlet..guess what..they will jack up insurance rates
to just dare you to go ahead and insure your camera.

Whatever can be done security wise to the camera is better than
nothing...look we aren't talking about a BL3 here..this camera can be
ripped right out of your hands while you're eye is focused on shooting.

 

[JanneJansson]

Loss of custody can be enforceable in an insurance claim. Otherwise the Insurance underwriter would be seen as encouraging dangerous vigilante tactics for the return of stolen property. A law enforcement agency is the only entity that can recover a stolen item-- if they cannot do this, the claim must be paid.

So instead of one call the the insurance company, get a ton of call back and forth between the police, you and the insurance company. Still sounds to me like a bad deal for all except for 00006.

 

[Johnny Friday]

Wow..if that's how it works for you..you're lucky I think. Any dealings
I myself have had and most other people I hear about...well..it works
out..much differently.

Endless delays..forms..reports..phone calls...and time..and more time.
..and then insurance company not wanting to pay anything..zip..zero..
..more time and then a small settlement offer...more time and finally
the full payment. Insurance companies are in business to make money
any way they can..simple really..the less they pay out..and the more
time they can delay payment..the more money they make.
And if they notice payments going out to small cameras named
Red and Scarlet..guess what..they will jack up insurance rates
to just dare you to go ahead and insure your camera.

Whatever can be done security wise to the camera is better than
nothing...look we aren't talking about a BL3 here..this camera can be
ripped right out of your hands while you're eye is focused on shooting.

buy cheap insurance from a non-rated company and have a policy you've not read or had setup for you and your type industry....you get crappy results. I've had one camer flood, check sent 3 days later; one stolen; check sent same day i emailed police report and prior to that was given $$ for a replacement rental--IF YOU DESIRE that paid option.

 

[Johnny Friday]

You could just add a remote activated grenade module PicA. Or RED can devise a special task force that goes out searching with gps enabled in a special RED recovery wagon PicB

*I suppose I'd pay an extra $100 for this service.

 

[Ed David]

For 12 bucks a month, you can throw one of these in your camera bag and put it in a casing that makes it look like a battery: http://www.sentrygpsid.com/index.php

it lasts for 6 days, so just be on top of recharging it.