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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

EPIC images...

Jarred Land said:
The monitor out overlay has alot of simulated bits in it still.. that is one of them ( along with audio and some other graphics ).

But, on Epic you can manually program into the camera metadata things like F-stop and Focal Length on lenses that do not send data to make sure that info is there all the way down the road.
Click to expand...

Camera reports will soon be a thing of the past:party:
 
Autofocus and follow focus

Autofocus and follow focus

I'm looking forward to doing touch focus pulling. (I'm also looking forward to writing a program or two to let me manage focus remotely in some new and interesting ways.)

Autofocus "seek" back-forward-back-forward happens a lot using any DSLR. Even with my Nikon D700 using a brand new 70-200 VRII I get this, not just in low light situations, but depending on my AF settings it can happen any time the camera experiences an edge condition that conflicts with what I'm trying to do or what it thinks it should do. In a studio environment, this isn't usually a problem, but it does occasionally crop up, especially when working with human subjects that move and breathe.

If af-seek happened in the middle of a scene, it would be a pretty quick way to ruin a take and convince people that this feature is not ready for primetime. We don't know how this is implemented, so I don't know if Epic is focusing only when the user hits the touchscreen, or if there is also a continuous focus mode, or both, etc.

Can you share some of what you've experienced playing around with this so far? In particular, how have the electronic nikon and/or canon mounts and lenses met up with your expectations for pulling focus?

Thanks!
 
Grant_Wood said:
Autofocus "seek" back-forward-back-forward happens a lot using any DSLR. Even with my Nikon D700 using a brand new 70-200 VRII I get this, not just in low light situations, but depending on my AF settings it can happen any time the camera experiences an edge condition that conflicts with what I'm trying to do or what it thinks it should do.
Click to expand...

This was what piqued my interest as well. Given the different ways autofocus works, I would think you'd always get a forward-back at least once as the system has to at least go far enough to know that it has found the best possible focus for a focus point. In that regard, I think autofocus would still look like something you didn't want during a take. Maybe I've just not used more expensive cameras that have better autofocus algorithms.

For me, what I could envision is at least having autofocus available during record so that when you are just going to keep recording, you can quickly correct. For focus pulls, what I imagined was this:

1) Set mode to something like 'define focus points'
2) Adjust focus, press button to record point.
3) Repeat step 2 for as many focus points as you want.
4) Exit focus point definition stage. Interface then has 3 settings you can change. a) focus change speed and b)focus change acceleration curve. That way, you can edit them on the fly to what looks best given the distance of the focus pull and the acceleration curve to taste. b) if more than 2 points, how to cycle between the points. Loop mode, forward reverse mode.
5) a programmable button is pressed that cycles through the points based on b) above.

I'm sure the battle will be making it easy to use plus powerful with options. For me, this is the best way I could think of, I am sure they've though of better.
 
setting focus points and racking back and forth to them will likely always work better than an autofocus pretending to know what you actually want in focus...
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
This is all looks freaking beautiful. I hope I can get my hands on the Epic on wednesday, even for just a minute or two! Love the interface, even with it being a work in progress. Love the auto-focus points, customizable too... And touch to track other points. All features that have been on my wish list for other DSLRs for a long time.
Click to expand...

most of that will not be in the demo during NAB... Cameras will likely have the interface you saw a couple days ago and touch focus is still in engineering. You are going to be seeing pre-production EPIC's with very early software builds.. much like Boris and Natasha was a few years ago.
 
all this news is really inhibiting my ability to pack for my flight tomorrow to vegas...
 
Damn, I love you Red. I wish I could afford an Epic and all the accessories, you guys deserve it. Alas, I can only afford a fixed lens Scarlet, but I'm not bummed out because even that is going to be really awesome. :)
 
Jarred Land said:
But, on Epic you can manually program into the camera metadata things like F-stop and Focal Length on lenses that do not send data to make sure that info is there all the way down the road.
Click to expand...

I hope that when one chooses to manually input data like this, there will some sort of flag added along with it as a sort of reminder that this info was input manually. I just think it might help for VFX, etc. when there seems to be a discrepancy, that someone else can go back and see 'Oh, that f/11 in a really dark scene was put in manually, probably a mistake...' Does that make sense?
Peace,

-Harry
 
I think we will need an index at the end of the manual (and lots of ink).

Robert Torrance
 
Chris Christensen said:
Damn, I love you Red. I wish I could afford an Epic and all the accessories, you guys deserve it. Alas, I can only afford a fixed lens Scarlet, but I'm not bummed out because even that is going to be really awesome. :)
Click to expand...

Weird feeling isn't it? I am in the same boat. The Epic is out of my price range (for now) but I can't help be excited because I know the Scarlet is going to be amazing as well.
 
Jarred Land said:
setting focus points and racking back and forth to them will likely always work better than an autofocus pretending to know what you actually want in focus...
Click to expand...

Kind of reminds me of something nobody has mentioned in some time...

How are those RED Electronic Lenses coming ;)
 
Jarred Land said:
setting focus points and racking back and forth to them will likely always work better than an autofocus pretending to know what you actually want in focus...
Click to expand...

Thanks, this kinda confirms a large assumption I'd been making about working with the new tools.

Back around the Nov 30 announcement, I'd asked about the possibility of being able to choose from a set of algorithms for the focus rac to use between focus points. For example: set point A, set point B, choose transition type: "Snap Focus", or "1.5 second Ramp-In" or whatever, and it's cued by the puller by tapping a user defined button "B" on the red remote or grip or touchscreen. You get the idea.

Anything to share in this department? :smile:
 
Tim Whitcomb said:
Kind of reminds me of something nobody has mentioned in some time...

How are those RED Electronic Lenses coming ;)
Click to expand...

Ditto...my guess for a rollout of some of them would be early 2011. IMO they will be in very high demand - because they should maximize the full utility potential of a digital stills and motion camera (DSMC)
 
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