Basic questions about capture / transfer

[Adam Hebert]

I would like to apologize up front for what will undoubtedly end up being a long winded question. I am photographing a short film in April, on the Red One. We intend to frame for 2.4:1, and do not intend to finish on film. I will try my best to outline the steps I believe are necessary, and hopefully you all can correct the mistakes I undoubtedly make!

First off - our rental package includes a 320gb Red-Drive, a 16gb cf and 2 8gb cf's. These must be returned on the final shoot day.

Because the R1 cannot capture 4kHD or 4k16:9 on the 8gbcf at redcode 36, should we stick to the 16gbs and 320 gb? Is 36 necessary, rather than 28? Also, is it true that during camera moves, the 320 Red-Drive has tendency to drop frames?

Would it be better to capture at 4k 2:1, 16:9, or HD if we intend to down res to 2K? Keeping in mind that our final AR will be 2.4:1.

Could someone please explain the process of transferring the RAW data from the red-drive to an external drive? For instance, if we use the RED-DRIVE, can you simply copy the RAW to a Lacie external drive, via macbook pro? (We probably wont shoot more than 20 minutes of footage a day, over three days). Again, this may sound dumb, since I have limited knowledge of this subject, but can the RAW data be saved on a drive or a system, which DOES NOT have redcine or any of those programs, until it can be transferred to another system for the edit? Furthermore, if the CF cards are used, can those simply be copied onto a macbook pro in the same fashion?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Von Thomas]

I'm new here too, so I'm waiting for a reply, but I do not recommend using Lacie drives, as I and countless others have had serious problems with them. I've been using G-Tech Drives. Reason being some of the Lacie drives are not rated to 24/7 use, aka server drives. They can and do fail at an alarming rate. G-Tech is http://www.g-technology.com.

 

[Sam Roberts]

Red files are just files. You don't need any RED software just to transfer and store. Your computer needs to have the Quicktime player and the RED codec if you want to screen on your computer. The only trick is if you want to playback the quicktime proxy files they have to be in the same directory as the R3D file.

So if you just transfer everything over from your CF card reader or the RED hard drive into a computer via firewire800 you can use the computer, say a Macbook, as a bridge with another external hard drive. It is simply a drag and drop operation. In a pinch you can really use any outboard drive that has firwire (USB too but it is slow) such as an Elephant drive or a LaCie. But most want raid 5 capability for redundancy so you need to spend the extra bucks for an outboard drive that does that. I will be using the CalDigit VR which is a really nice external drive. But, while I am waiting for it to arrive, I have been using a $300 Elephant firewire drive on set and for screening with no problems at all.

 

[Adam Hebert]

Thanks for the speedy response guys...

I currently have this drive:http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-External-FireWire-Drive-Backup/dp/B0006FS2FY ...will it be of any use? Also, do I need to get a drive with raid 5 capability if we are only shooting 1 hr of footage, maximum??

Lastly, when you said I transfer from red drive onto computer via firewire to bridge to another drive, do you mean copy the files from RED DRIVE to my macbook hard drive, then copy from macbook hard drive to ext. drive?

 

[Von Thomas]

Personally, I'd leave such drive for backing up music, not my precious data files. Go a bit further and get a more robust drive, or RAID system. Now you don't need a RAID, but a RAID will provide a lot more security. I make a habit of having my data backed up to at least two places, if one fails, you are still safe. I find more people pay little money for hard drives. This is an area, you need to get the best available product. The best resource for drive info can be found here: http://www.barefeats.com. If they approve it, it's normally good.

I buy Seagate and IBM/Hitachi hi-end product, or drive systems that have these drives installed. They have 3 to 5 year warranties, which says a lot about their product, and they are rated 24/7 server drives.

As for your last question, you don't need to copy the files to your computer, just drag and drop from your RED drive to your external hard drive,or RAID.

 

[Adam Hebert]

Understood...I'll definitely be purchasing a new drive soon. If I'm not mistaken, the macbook pro only has one firewire port...do I just buy a device to allow red drive and ext. drive to be connected at the same time?

 

[Von Thomas]

If you want two more FW800 ports try this http://www.nitroav.com/product/444/.

This is a good thing to have, but keep in mind, if you are using a non powered drive (IE, bus powered), you will need the 5V power adapter, but other than that you are good to go, now you have three FW ports.

 

[Sam Roberts]

Thanks for the speedy response guys...

I currently have this drive:http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-External-FireWire-Drive-Backup/dp/B0006FS2FY ...will it be of any use? Also, do I need to get a drive with raid 5 capability if we are only shooting 1 hr of footage, maximum??

Lastly, when you said I transfer from red drive onto computer via firewire to bridge to another drive, do you mean copy the files from RED DRIVE to my macbook hard drive, then copy from macbook hard drive to ext. drive?

If you can keep shooting without erasing your cards or the (camera) hard drive sure no problem 1 non raid 5 drive should be fine. If you have to dump files and then reformat media you're taking a chance.

No, you just use the MacBook as the control system between the two drives. Its drive isn't used in the transfer process.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

eSATA love

eSATA love

If you have a MacBook Pro with an Express 34 card slot I suggest you install a card that creates 2 eSATA taps and use an external HDD that has an eSATA port.

 

[Errol Afed]

I have used our company's Red One camera in shooting three TV commercials plus of course during the testing stage. What I do is during lunchbreak (whatever time that is) I remove the red drive on the camera and replace it with the second red drive. I backup the first red drive using a macbook pro and a Gsafe hdd. When we pack up I don't leave the location without doing the same to the second red drive.