Helium sensor upgrade - 8K S35 vs 8k VV

[Andrew R Lewis]

Helium is in a process are you talking about helium with the latest ipp2 reversions or what has been since it came out. To me helium was a bit of a hack when it first was released, I found it a bit odd that RED at this day and age actually released a camera that early in the process. Color science not even half done was something that could fly back in the red one days but today that means a lot of people will turn to other options as today there are a lot of options to pick from if you only look to find a decent working digital camera. But as of now I think most of the helium quirks are hatched out and it´s really production ready. Possibly more so than any other camera on the market. As Helium shines in so many ways.

In retrospect I think I was a bit more bold than I should be when I told a production last summer to shoot 10 x 60minute Drama episodes on 3 heliums. I had seen the tests and the quirks but figured it was about 12 months to delivery and something inside of me told me that Graeme and the guys would get things sorted until then. And even if the camera improved with firmware updates those files even from the first shooting days out of 150 or so looks smashing with the new color science applied. So no regrets on what cameras where picked for the show on the conterary, as this helium wine improves with age it seams like.

Also the producers where worried sick for the amount of data that would need t one dealt with, in retrospect I think they used less media than if shot in any other resolution. 7k 2:1 as cooke pancros and some zooms where used that fitted well in that framing at 7:1 compression does not waste more data than less compressed 6k or what ever other UHD format would run at. and 2k proxies on the side makes it quite convenient.

Now we got 4 episodes r3d trimmed with 50frames handles, both at 3rd´s and prores444 UHD so when the grade is done in 4k we are a click and render away from pushing it all out in 7k, which is and looks quite amazing if you ask me. Especially as 4 episodes fits nicely on a 10Tb drive.

Thanks for the insight Bjorn. I've been shooting on Helium since Oct 11 2016 and so very happy with it. For sure, some clients early on had some head scratches but right now its the best image in its price range without exception. And I've definitely opened a few DP's eyes who are Alexa folks through and through. They now appreciate this sensor. Not a bad first 6mo.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Great notes Björn. The initial reaction to the idea of 8K capture is often fear. The actual pipeline requirements and overall data load vs other options is far less of a jump than many anticipate.

Cheers - #19

 

[Russ Fill]

Russ, could you explain those differences between Dragon and Helium?

Well most of it has already been discussed about the Highlight roll off and a few other early quarks. And a lot of that seems to be resolved in the IPP2 work flow. This is only my option but I feel with the Dragon sensor you had a real hard time over exposing to the point of not being able to recover and maybe again its me but I liked that not as crisp image that gave a little more forgiving feel to it. Maybe Im a little nostalgic. Don't get me wrong, The Helium rocks on resolution and the low light kills but every now and then the smaller formats to be able to mostly over crank is I guess what I really miss most.

For instance the other day I wanted to shoot something at 150fps.. Dragon at 3K is a lot bigger than Helium at 3K to get the same frame rate. I was wishing I had my Dragon back for that shot. I guess this is a good thing for RED as now for the first time Im thinking of having 2 cameras for those different needs... Maybe the next one will have the best of both worlds.

Helium at 7K = 60fps crop factor 1.46 and Dragon at 6K=75fps crop factor 1.25. Dragon at 6K is a larger image than the Helium at 7K. and you get 15fps faster out of it. This is kind of what Im talking about in a nut shell. I know I know more pixels etc etc but sometimes you don't need pixels just more frames.
This is not important for everyone but for me its one of the things I miss about my old Dragon sensor. So the 8k VV will be a welcome addition to my house hold. Kind of the best of both worlds.