Epic fan noise?

[dave_garcia]

So we just got our epic. Loving the pictures and workability of the camera.

We are having a bit of an issue with the fan noise.

We are shooting a doc, so we're doing a lot of long takes in interviews. Dual system sound so we've been trying to roll as long as we can as stopping and slating kind of stops the flow of the conversation. Of course, every time we stop, the crew takes the opportunity to take care of some sort of business or other as well.

Our problem is this: With the long takes, the Epic has been overheating. So at some point in the conversation the fan just starts roaring. It only goes for a minute then throttles back down but it's often times in a place where someone is saying something really great. I can have them say it again, but it's not really cool.


I could probably avoid this with shorter takes, but I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as far as optimal settings for the fans or gel packs or a new firmware build.

We are running the camera with the build we received on camera. not sure if this issue has been addressed in a newer one. Reading the changes, I'm not seeing anything about fan control in the documentation.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks much.

 

[Max M.]

I think something posted something about 32% for run speed would be a setting the epic would keep constant fan speed...

 

[dave_garcia]

Sorry. I should have mentioned that we did this. Rolling speed at 32%. Idle speed at 95%.

We're still having the vacuum cleaner overheats.

Any other ideas? I realize this is largely a non-issue for narrative, but for doc it's problematic.

 

[James Brundige]

+1 on this one. It's a real problem for docs. Standby mode really does sound like a vacuum cleaner. I work near wildlife sometimes, and I'm a little concerned.

I understand this is the price we pay for being able to shoot such high resolution and high frame rates. It's a huge amount of data to be processed, and that needs chips which generate heat. I gather it's one of the biggest challenges, and why other camera makers can't match Red's specs. I wonder if Scarlet (Epic S) is quieter, having (I think) fewer boards and therefore generating less heat. Might be an option for long interviews or hanging in blinds trying not to scare off the animals. Anyone know???

 

[BigLu]

What is your compression ratio set at and are you shooting 5k or 4K?

 

[D Fuller]

Take a look at this post from Dino G about shooting with Errol Morris He's using a 33% fan while running. At that speed, 1% can certainly make a diferennce. I'd suggest that you run some tests off set to see where the temp stabilizes for your cam. The settings will be different with different data rates, so test with different frame rates and resolutions you are likely to use.

 

[Erich Ocean]

I wonder if Scarlet (Epic S) is quieter, having (I think) fewer boards and therefore generating less heat. Might be an option for long interviews or hanging in blinds trying not to scare off the animals. Anyone know???

Scarlet should be quieter. Lower-speed chips use less power, which means less heat, which means less fan noise, which means it'll run quieter.

 

[dave_garcia]

Again, my bad. My DP says it was at 33%.

We were shooting ff 5k 12/1. Seems like a pretty low data rate.

We've decided to cut more often, but this needs to be addressed. It's definitely a problem.

As far as scarlet being quieter, I have no plans to purchase a scarlet in the immediate future. Just went all out on an epic package, so I'm a bit tapped out for the next couple of quarters.

Again, psyched about the pictures and size, concerned about the fans.

 

[Max M.]

yep the fans are something that could be improved...i totally understand the need, but maybe something with a different kind of cooling with the aid of a cooling module to create more space for more silent fans...?

 

[Ken Willinger]

I've done very well at 37%. The fan is negligable at that setting and have gone very long.

 

[dave_garcia]

OK, I think I've figured this out.

We managed to roll a full 128G card today without overheating. Fans @ 40% when rolling seemed to do the trick.