Epic Fan noise

[Rob Castiglione]

Have to agree with D Fuller. I just can't worry about this stuff! I have pictures to take.

 

[William Albertini]

Three words: Air Conditioned Blimp... OK that was snarky, but seriously why use Epic/Scarlet for talking head interviews? It kind of seems like hitting a fly with a sledge hammer.

 

[Rob Ruffo]

Well no - just because you have a modest project doesn't mean you can't make it look great. Epic/Scarlet are great tools for talking heads - but Red One MX is still my first choice.

 

[Les C.]

Les, is this something you've actually experienced? Or are you just dreaming up stuff to worry about?

I've done interviews long enough to fill a 256G card with breaks only long enough to let the camera write a new clip every so often. I've never seen anything like a difference in the cameras noise profile. And these shots get cut back-to-back pretty frequently. My experience is that the camera can run all day with the fan set to something between 36% and 40%. And I've never had the idle fan speed set to 100% in a year of owning it. 75% is as high as its ever been set, and it's usually in the 60s.

Think about it. If you run a 15-minute take and cut the camera for the 12 seconds it takes the subject to take a drink of water, for example, that 12 seconds is going to have virtually no impact on the camera temp. You have to keep the camera stable while it's recording. And it's perfectly capable of doing it at sound levels that will be fine for all but the most intimate camera-subject placement. The idea that you can cool the camera with a short burst of fan between long takes is misguided.

It is in the opposite situation (short takes) where the high/low fan setting is useful. If you are running short takes, you can run the fan slower during record (the camera temp will rise) then let the faster fan speed cool the camera between recordings. That technique will let you record very intimate close ups with very acceptable sound levels.

There is an easy way to keep the camera temp stable during long takesay attention. If the temp is climbing higher than you think you want it, turn the fan up a click or two.

As for this video noise worry. Forget about it. Not going to happen.

David - I think I can make an assumption that you're somewhat of a perfectionist - or you wouldn't have purchased a RED camera.

You want the absolute best.

We could get by with a 2K camera.

There are a massive # of 2K films shot with ARRI - and they look great.

Prometheus was a 2K DI.

But, we want more, and sometimes that's an emotional need rather than an actual need.

You seem happy with with 36-40% (but you said it's usually in the 60's).

I'm not.

That's measurable noise.

For someone who's been shooting film, it's nothing.

But to me (coming from a totally silent video camera), it's more noise than I'm comfortable with and I want to be vocal about it in the hopes that RED will fix it.

I have a lot of sound reflective walls and surfaces - and the noise gets recorded - and it's real and measurable noise.

As to the black shade temperature deviation causing video noise, I think that's the reason we black shade at different temperatures, to reduce noise.

I'm sure you shoot with an Epic at 5K - giving you 4K after debayering.

I shoot a Scarlet at 4K, so I've really got (4K * .8) to work with - and I'd like to keep every single bit of it.

That may be more of an emotional need than a real need?

I'd like to see some tests for noise at different variations from initial black shade temperature to be able to answer that question.

 

[D Fuller]

...
You seem happy with with 36-40% (but you said it's usually in the 60's).

Les, I want to be clear here: a fan setting of 36%-40% is the record setting I use for long interview sessions. Usually 37%. But if a room is unusually warm, it'll go up a couple of percent if I see the camera's temp rising. For spot work, where takes are under 30 seconds, I'll use a lower setting for record.

65% is the standby fan setting, never the record setting. If the room is warm, and I'm using a low record setting for shorter takes, I may increase the standby fan speed a bit. But never close to 100%.

Your earlier point about visual noise, though, is just not a problem. The camera's temp should not (and does not if you manage it well) fluctuate very much at all once its up to operating temp. It rises to operating temp and pretty much stays there if you pay attention to what the fans are doing. A more likely time or visual noise to be a problem would be shooting outside in extreme cold. Then you have to run the fans as low as required to keep the cold air from reducing the temp too much between takes.