First Shoot

[Tarek S. Kandil]

Hi all, I've been writing and planning a film and someone threw a RED one our way for three days of shoot.

I'm getting tech details and serial number soon, camera is furnished to us by Platform studios in beirut.

I know we're getting zeiss primes, but still dunno which set, superspeeds etc, i hope we get a zoom too.

We get follow focus/mattebox/evf/lcd/monitor

dolly and car mount

film is heavy action, lots of handheld.

We've never seen or handled a RED. Any help would be great, will keep feeding this thread with more detailed info.

We shoot march 8th on.

Thanks again, wish us luck, anything we need to know would be helpful no matter how basic.

first things i could use help with are what color space to pick if need be, we're working for a 1080 output, shooting at 24fps 4K 2:1 for the talks, and 2K for the high speed shots.

We have a pc with avid and a mojo, and a mac pro with FCS and CS4

More specs upon request, but i really dunno where to start,

even with what to ask for in this thread...

Regards,

Tarek

 

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

First congrats for that man whose (threw a furnished RED one in your way)

second

We have a pc with avid and a mojo, and a mac pro with FCS and CS4

Tarek

you need more than luck with your pc and mojo :waaa:

 

[Tarek S. Kandil]

suggestions on workflow would help...

thinking of using cineform express files, seem to be the least trouble and very workable has anyone worked with these?

I know this is a vague post, serving as an announcement but the questions and notes will get more specific closer to march.

realize i need more than luck mate. Hence the thread.

p.s. not my pc mine's the mac pro, but i don't think it can handle the work at current specs.

still a month away, my first issue is what settings are available on the camera as far as colorspace, making proxys, etc.

can you dial in shutter speed? or is it automatically 24fps=1/48

main issue is figuring out workflow and what laptop to take on board.

just been introduced to adobe onlocation cs4 seems very useful. has anyone used this program to monitor a red signal?

cheers again,

T

 

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

suggestions on workflow would help...

here is simple workflow

From my point of view Powerfull mac pro will do the job ,
1- SHOOT RED
2-USE REDRUSHES (software coming with red alert)
3- export prores files from redrushes ,
4-edit fcp
5- send to color (software coming with (final cut studio)

still a month away, my first issue is what settings are available on the camera as far as colorspace, making proxys, etc.

can you dial in shutter speed? or is it automatically 24fps=1/48

color specs is redspace which is the most popular .

-yes you can change the shutter as much as you need .

- it is better to read and study the camera manuel ( you can download it form red.com)

good luck

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

Good stuff, and good luck Tarek

I too would be interested in seeing some hand held Red stuff, all I remember seeing (Friday Night Lights style HH) was that music video shot with anamorphic Lomos

I think this was the thread:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15129&highlight=anamorphic+lomo

They had quite a bit of CMOS jello in there but it was an extreme case of running with the camera, and the motion was so much that it was hidden by it to an extent... I'd just pay attention to the issue and try to limit the panning accordingly, test before you go out and shoot.

 

[AntonyCASAFilms]

suggestions on workflow would help...

thinking of using cineform express files, seem to be the least trouble and very workable has anyone worked with these?

p.s. not my pc mine's the mac pro, but i don't think it can handle the work at current specs.

still a month away, my first issue is what settings are available on the camera as far as colorspace, making proxys, etc.

can you dial in shutter speed? or is it automatically 24fps=1/48

main issue is figuring out workflow and what laptop to take on board.

just been introduced to adobe onlocation cs4 seems very useful. has anyone used this program to monitor a red signal?

My current workflow is:
-shoot on Red (4k 2:1 for most stuff, 2k 2:1 @ 120fps for slo-mo)
-make multiple backups of R3D files
-preview and then import R3D into Adobe Premiere CS4.0.1, then edit
-open Premiere project in After Effects to colour correct and do greenscreen replacement, effects, etc.
-export to whatever format you need for delivery

I monitor using RAW histogram on the Red LCD.
When possible I plug into an external HD monitor.
I use Redspace.
I don't bother with the QT proxies.

Normally I use 1/48 sec when shooting at 24fps. But you can set to whatever is appropriate for your project.

Not used OnLocation, and I'm not sure how or why you would with the Red camera.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[Tarek S. Kandil]

Hi, again

thanks for the advice, Bassam I think i'll go with the macpro, as i can soup it up it belongs to me. Never was PC friendly, that was years ago.

Antony,

I ask about shutter speed as i need to up it during slomo. Motion is super fast, there's a TON of light where the VFX is happening, so I'd like as sharp and unreal and image as possible.

What we plan to do is shoot the street, and then flip a 10:1 scale maquette of a car. I have 5 models and can trash all of them.

Its looking like redspace, I ask about colorspace cause I keep hearing about REC709. Any info on that? what is the difference?

If you're not bothering with QT proxies, is there a QT bug related reason? also hearin a lot about that.

Have never used CS4, buying it hopefully next week, assuming I'm working online right away if CS4 can handle it?

If working the R3D straight up is doable I could go for that.

On Location is a monitoring tool, yet there's something I'd like to try.

If one can apply effects to OnLocation 'live' and record without affecting original files, could help as storyboards are practically paintings, and would like to match them as much as possible.

Read a lot about how S Maschwitz would preview his color correction on set while they shoot. i.e. suppress the green right away for example. It could be cool, but I'm not really focusing on incorporating that. If anyone's done it it could be really useful for a few shots in mind.

Thanks guys. Will ask more soon.

T

 

[Steve Sherrick]

I would shoot using REC709 personally. But others like Redspace.

Make sure to backup your data on set.

If you have never worked with the camera before, I do recommend you bring some of your clips into Redcine or Red Alert to see what you are getting. Get a feel for the footage.

Get good exposures in-camera and you'll be very happy.

 

[Tarek S. Kandil]

Thanks steve.

What's the fundamental difference between redalert and redcine?

 

[Tarek S. Kandil]

Ok. Here it is. What could possibly be either the most immature question and the most mature at the same time.

I am running and gunning for 3 days. I have interior night scenes. They involve mostly 90% static on tripod, and maybe, just maybe, moving a dolly a few inches on a board of plexi.

Do I need light? I am deciding to stop cranking ISO up until 800, as Brook Willard convinced me with the test shots on RED FAQ.

Do I need light is a silly question.

More specific, Do I need a dedicated lamp (mandarin kino etc) off screen, or can I just go by means of art direction, ie have visible light sources in my frame that can do enough of a job (test before with meter etc also pertaining to my shutter speed question earlier).

My background in lighting is in fine arts, one directional source, a dimmer on a flood, in preparation for drawing. I have a good judgment of what works visually, and at a high level (not cocky but really its my only vice ever in life) and I'm thinkin, unless there's a characteristic in film lighting other than regular lighting that i can use in for mand function what is it?

Help me on this one, I know this question is asked a lot, but I'm not askin it from the same place I swear.

I need the pros and cons guys. kinos vs sidelamps. mandarins vs candles, strategically placed.

I shoot super8, I often edit on camera, and love it when off camera is golden. I know what I want as far as final project-specific objective.

Help.

I love you guys.

T

 

[Steve Sherrick]

For your interior scenes you will want to avoid rating at 800 in my opinion. I would aim to light these scenes with an ASA of 250-320. The camera's sweet spot is 5000º kelvin, but in our testing we have been finding that in the most recent builds that Tungsten is holding up pretty well. You may want to experiment with gelling lights, or adding an 80 series filter, but a lot of this will come down to the look you are after. That will dictate the lighting approach. There have been some threads that have discussed tungsten and how to treat it, but you should conduct your own tests too.

To make Red look good requires the same principles of any camera - good lighting. Your question is not silly. I think what you are really asking is how much light. And my answer is that you need enough to make the image look good to you.

 

[AntonyCASAFilms]

Antony,

I ask about shutter speed as i need to up it during slomo. Motion is super fast, there's a TON of light where the VFX is happening, so I'd like as sharp and unreal and image as possible.

What we plan to do is shoot the street, and then flip a 10:1 scale maquette of a car. I have 5 models and can trash all of them.

Its looking like redspace, I ask about colorspace cause I keep hearing about REC709. Any info on that? what is the difference?

If you're not bothering with QT proxies, is there a QT bug related reason? also hearin a lot about that.

Have never used CS4, buying it hopefully next week, assuming I'm working online right away if CS4 can handle it?

Shutter speed:
So far, I have always used a 180 degree shutter. i.e. when shooting at 24fps, I use 1/48 sec shutter, and when shooting for slo-mo at 120fps I use 1/240 sec. (note, you can't directly select 1/240 sec, but if you set shutter to relative, then you can get it).

QT proxies:
1. I do not use a Mac
2. I use Adobe CS4, which directly uses the R3D files
Therefore, the QT proxies are of no use to me.
No bugs that I know of. Just no use.

Lighting:
If you don't already have your Red, then what you could do is get a DSLR and set it to the ASA, shutter speed, aperture you intend to use when filming, and see what the lighting looks like.

I have been using either HMIs (daylight) or tungsten which I gel with Full CTB to convert to daylight.

 

[Tarek S. Kandil]

Lighting:
If you don't already have your Red, then what you could do is get a DSLR and set it to the ASA, shutter speed, aperture you intend to use when filming, and see what the lighting looks like.

I have been using either HMIs (daylight) or tungsten which I gel with Full CTB to convert to daylight.

I've been doing that to test for super8mm shoots with a DSLR, at least I'm on the right track for that. I've been testing nighttime interiors at 800, was advised not to go there, going to dial as far down as i can tonight.

thanks antony,

t