Michael Tiemann
Well-known member
I just read through this thread about spec'ing a RED studio for Indie Films, but my problem is more specific, and I don't want to highjack that thread to answer my question.
To focus this thread, I'm interested in building to a very specific purpose: video capture of live performance, particularly musical performance. Additionally, we will have the facilities to do final mix-to-picture. But we don't necessarily need to be the facility that does all the video work between capture and final mixdown, just the first part (capture) and the last part (final mix).
The main studio room is small by film/video standards: 52' long, 32' wide, and 24' high (with an acoustic cloud and lighting frames at 22'). There is a 3.5' wide soffit running around most of the room at 8', which could provide a raceway for running one or more remote-controlled jib-mounted cameras. This is the floorplan.
In my original concept (which predates my learning about RED), we planned to make great use of lots of PZT remote HD cameras (to capture many different perspectives of many different intimate environments simultaneously), and we have tons of digital I/O infrastructure throughout the facility. The idea was to either route video signals as TCP/IP streams over 10GB fiber or as HD-SDI (over 3G-SDI infrastructure). Blackmagic Design did that plan a great favor by creating a 72x144 matrix router for less than $15,000, and Arista Networks helped by offering 48 ports of 10G ethernet for about $25,000. Those components, plus the plummeting price of commodity storage and the growing capabilities of open source video software gave me hope that I could build a high-performance technical core for video by the time of my projected open date of late 2009/early 2010 without spending millions of dollars.
But now I'm thinking about RED, which is particularly compelling because of my goal of capturing archival material (and one can never have too much quality when thinking about the future).
The scenarios range from solo performance to chamber orchestras, but the one I always consider first is the jazz combo, with drums in one booth, percussion in another, and the rest of the instrumentalists (piano, guitar, bass, horn(s), vocals) in the main room (aka the Music Room), and all recording together at the same time. If we want multiple perspectives of each performer/performance space, that adds up pretty fast.
Would you consider mixing HD cameras to pick up B-roll footage with RED cameras for the A-rolls?
What would be the "right" RED configuration(s) for this defined use?
How would you try to control the cameras, and how would you monitor?
What would be the logical endpoint of the capture workflow (i.e., what hardware and software and infrastructure would be needed to reach that endpoint)?
What system would you use to playback and finish the audio mix (hardware, software, video monitor, etc)?
Am I really saving anything by attempting to carve out editing, or is that something I can (or should) integrate because the incremental cost is nominal and the flexibility/capability it offers is essential long-term to better capture and mixdown.
Since I likely won't be switching on any video capabilities until early next year, I consider it fair game to contemplate unreleased products like Scarlett and EPIC in this discussion, not just REDONE.
Thanks!
To focus this thread, I'm interested in building to a very specific purpose: video capture of live performance, particularly musical performance. Additionally, we will have the facilities to do final mix-to-picture. But we don't necessarily need to be the facility that does all the video work between capture and final mixdown, just the first part (capture) and the last part (final mix).
The main studio room is small by film/video standards: 52' long, 32' wide, and 24' high (with an acoustic cloud and lighting frames at 22'). There is a 3.5' wide soffit running around most of the room at 8', which could provide a raceway for running one or more remote-controlled jib-mounted cameras. This is the floorplan.
In my original concept (which predates my learning about RED), we planned to make great use of lots of PZT remote HD cameras (to capture many different perspectives of many different intimate environments simultaneously), and we have tons of digital I/O infrastructure throughout the facility. The idea was to either route video signals as TCP/IP streams over 10GB fiber or as HD-SDI (over 3G-SDI infrastructure). Blackmagic Design did that plan a great favor by creating a 72x144 matrix router for less than $15,000, and Arista Networks helped by offering 48 ports of 10G ethernet for about $25,000. Those components, plus the plummeting price of commodity storage and the growing capabilities of open source video software gave me hope that I could build a high-performance technical core for video by the time of my projected open date of late 2009/early 2010 without spending millions of dollars.
But now I'm thinking about RED, which is particularly compelling because of my goal of capturing archival material (and one can never have too much quality when thinking about the future).
The scenarios range from solo performance to chamber orchestras, but the one I always consider first is the jazz combo, with drums in one booth, percussion in another, and the rest of the instrumentalists (piano, guitar, bass, horn(s), vocals) in the main room (aka the Music Room), and all recording together at the same time. If we want multiple perspectives of each performer/performance space, that adds up pretty fast.
Would you consider mixing HD cameras to pick up B-roll footage with RED cameras for the A-rolls?
What would be the "right" RED configuration(s) for this defined use?
How would you try to control the cameras, and how would you monitor?
What would be the logical endpoint of the capture workflow (i.e., what hardware and software and infrastructure would be needed to reach that endpoint)?
What system would you use to playback and finish the audio mix (hardware, software, video monitor, etc)?
Am I really saving anything by attempting to carve out editing, or is that something I can (or should) integrate because the incremental cost is nominal and the flexibility/capability it offers is essential long-term to better capture and mixdown.
Since I likely won't be switching on any video capabilities until early next year, I consider it fair game to contemplate unreleased products like Scarlett and EPIC in this discussion, not just REDONE.
Thanks!
