A Red remote control unit

[Eagle eye]

Hello

Been working on a few jobs with the Red .Coming from the film backround,I had to make a few adjustments in my work methods,but in the end everything comes into place .The controls in the back are easy after a while and I can even finger feel the back without looking and navigate in difficult camera positions .But I found myself struggling with one aspect of my work.
There are times when the DOP and the Director -as they are looking at the monitor and captivated by their work -are totally covering the space around the camera. Getting the card out is a challenge ,but with the battery rack and two 180 pound guys, getting my hand there to reformat is impossible.As I was thinking of that ,crane shots came into mind and will bring out the same issue.How do I make quick adjustements in '' hard to reach'' situations?

Is it thinkable of creating a remote unit for controlling internal settings of the Red ? With the display and the same back buttons as the Red , with 3' cable for ground work , a 10' cable for jibs and a 50' cable for cranes .

Since there is no other input on the camera ,I guess it will have to be a sort of relay box where the battery cable plugs to the control unit box and then to the camera.Or would there be another way ?

thanks

eagle eye
Focus Puller

 

[Birns and Sawyer]

I believe the manual says that the USB Host port is used for camera control - possibly in the future.

I would welcome this accessory addition as well, would be great.

 

[J. Eric Camp]

One word for you:

EPIC

Past that. Its a matter of professional diplomacy to speak up in a nice way and get in there. If the camera needs a reload then they need to make a little space for you.

If you can figure it out though I am sure plenty of people, myself included, would be interested.

 

[Anders Yarbrough]

I completely agree with you eagle eye, it's kinda bogus that red never made anything like a RCU. Oh well, hopefully a 3rd party is working on it right now. The closest thing (very rudimentary compared to the RCU) is view factor's origo. It stops and starts the camera and will give you a battery voltage status (green/yellow/red).

check it out. only $110 or so.

viewfactor.net

 

[fde101]

For the people crowding around, get a small display of some kind and connect it as an external monitor, away from the camera...

 

[Eagle eye]

Oh well then ,we will just have to be patient .

For the on/off , we are good yes ,but it s changing internal setttings that is my concern.

And for the monitor crowd,for some reason, the Red's monitor is favored .Also the director can talk to the actors and DOP without shouting...which after 14 hours is greatly appreciated .

thanks for the replies

peace

eagle eye
focus puller

 

[Brent J. Craig]

I feel your pain in situations where the on-camera monitor for some reason becomes the one everyone wants to watch.

The solution is usually to give the crowd something better - a nice 17" Panasonic on a cart with space for their Macbooks and Starbucks, surrounded by comfy chairs usually works. Maybe if one of the chairs said DIRECTOR on the back they would get the hint.

Even a strategically placed monitor hood can make your screen less appealing to those who don't need to be around the camera.

As for formatting media while shooting - you should really be doing it at the beginning of your shoot day. It's a more focussed time, less hectic = less chance for errors.

I think once the Red SDK allows access to the camera internals you will see some pretty clever devices using the USB and RS232 ports.