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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 :)

Is RED upgrading EPIC-X yet?

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Robert Ruffo New said:
I think not - I think all those in fact got Carbons
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I rent from a guy who was an early adopter and got his Epic-X (non-M) upgraded to Dragon, not Carbon. In fact, he recieved it before the OLPF change.

Not all early adopters got Ms. The early adopter designation is a reference to the Red One, not the transition to Epic.
 
maybe a hundred at best...
 
Why is the upgrade process so damn SLOW?

Come on RED! We love you (we do!) but this is becoming beyond frustrating...
 
Over 100


Whys it taking RED time?
Ok if you really wanna know.

The process of Testing, re-testing getting it out to the world into the hands of various DPs and Directors to test it in numerous situations, locations, stress tests, environment tests, movies, commercials shows, post workflows, softwares, ect ect, learning, expanding with improvements day by day week by week, months to months takes a considerable amount of work and understanding on various levels in all departments, with all hands on deck.
So many variables that its a huge task to get it all worked out and under control.
As time goes on they make new improvements and breakthrews that changes things for the better but when things improve/get better things change sometimes equipment has to be sent back in for further installations like the OPLF or like in the REDone when they changed out the Audio Board this is costly on time and redoing things.
Lots of time.

REDone was a hell of an experience AMAZING absoulty Awesome AMAZING for me and tech guys and people whom wanted to learn and grow with the technology and company as it grew into new frontiers.

However it was a challenging experience and very painful for many industry people whom are accustom to a camera that just does what it does and does, not improve. In order to get something better you had to buy ANOTHER Camera. That SUCKED for me cuz I couldn't afford that.
RED seems to be focused on getting this RIGHT.


This is the most technically advanced camera ever designed EVER.. In the palm of your hands.

Nothing official about this but its clear, crystal clear that RED is just making the Dragon better and better and they know so much more from the last 3 months then they did 5 months ago.
As time goes on they keep getting better but this takes time. It just takes time.

This has to be the hardest thing ever to make when it comes to cameras.
Thats why they are leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else and those other camera developers not making anything close to this.

Its hard work being the best.
IMO
 
I just wish they had one of those "now serving" counters like they have behind the meat counter at the supermarket deli. So that we could have some clue about what is happening. And if Brent could stomp out from a back room, wearing a blood-spattered apron, wielding a bloody meat cleaver and yelling, "Next!" before ringing in the next customer number - all the better.
 
without an upgrade program I bet a lot of people would be under more pressure to buy entire new cameras, so we all must realize this must be a logistical nightmare and I think its important for customers to not get impatient if we all want Red to continue offering programs like this. I certainly have benefited greatly from the upgrade programs, so I just want to voice my appreciation for it, despite any time frame I could care less and am very appreciative that Red does this. Surely it must be a big hassle on their end to run a program like this, so I think a recognition of their efforts is important, and I just wanted emphasize how much these programs have benefitted me, have given me a way to grow without excessive costs and is really a cool concept I think, despite the time it takes to implement the process
 
I love Red and their cameras! I love their camera upgrade program! I even like that their CEO was an outspoken voice on this forum until August of last year. What I don't like is their marketing (hype) department.

Dragon was announced at NAB in 2011. At NAB 2012, Red said "Epic owners will be able to upgrade their camera to a Dragon for $6000 sometime in 2012". Unfortunately that didn't happen.
At NAB in 2013 Red actually had a 'clean' room where they were 'showing' Epics getting upgraded to Dragons. One would think that at least the early adopters would be getting their cameras in weeks. Didn't happen for 6 months (unless you were a Michael Bay or David Fincher). Now it looks like most Epic-X upgraders won't see their Dragon for a few months, with those poor Scarlet upgraders probably waiting till late summer 2014.

Red's marketing department has just been plain misleading and grossly inaccurate.... which not only frustrates many loyal customers excessively, but puts an insane amount of pressure on the valiant Red Bomb Squad team members that are tirelessly trying to pump out Dragons as fast as they can while enduring an unending barrage of questions and complaints from customers waiting almost a year for an upgrade they were led to believe was less than 2 months away.

One would think that after the excessive Scarlet delays, the Red marketing department had learned some lessons. It seems not.

I hope that Dragon's successor is not announced in 3 weeks at NAB. We all know that RED probably has something in the works. Let's hear about it when it's 99.99% ready, not 50% and 3 years away.
 
Acknowledging my forthcoming comments reek with temerity, I offer unsubstantiated possibilities that are not grounded in any perceived or real fact. '-)

So maybe they have brought a slow-down or even a halt to the upgrades while waiting for the firmware and software to catch up to the hardware? Someone was complaining on the forum how they can't really correct a certain color saturation in their favorite NLE, and they so much as said they would only use another camera because of that.

And while most can easily get around this persons one complaint, RED knows that the un-initiated may see the Dragon in a negative light when these folks rant. Ergo, solution is to wait until the third party software folks get the SDX incorporated into their product and then have the sensor upgrades continue, knowing any problems of incompatibility are solved.

Like I said, none of the above are based on any known fact or rumor.

Disclaimer: I have received my Dragon upgrade for an early adopter Epic X. I'm still waiting for my second camera, also an early adopter Epic X to be called for upgrade.
 
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Michael Gyori said:
I love Red and their cameras! I love their camera upgrade program! I even like that their CEO was an outspoken voice on this forum until August of last year. What I don't like is their marketing (hype) department.

Dragon was announced at NAB in 2011. At NAB 2012, Red said "Epic owners will be able to upgrade their camera to a Dragon for $6000 sometime in 2012". Unfortunately that didn't happen.
At NAB in 2013 Red actually had a 'clean' room where they were 'showing' Epics getting upgraded to Dragons. One would think that at least the early adopters would be getting their cameras in weeks. Didn't happen for 6 months (unless you were a Michael Bay or David Fincher). Now it looks like most Epic-X upgraders won't see their Dragon for a few months, with those poor Scarlet upgraders probably waiting till late summer 2014.

Red's marketing department has just been plain misleading and grossly inaccurate.... which not only frustrates many loyal customers excessively, but puts an insane amount of pressure on the valiant Red Bomb Squad team members that are tirelessly trying to pump out Dragons as fast as they can while enduring an unending barrage of questions and complaints from customers waiting almost a year for an upgrade they were led to believe was less than 2 months away.

One would think that after the excessive Scarlet delays, the Red marketing department had learned some lessons. It seems not.

I hope that Dragon's successor is not announced in 3 weeks at NAB. We all know that RED probably has something in the works. Let's hear about it when it's 99.99% ready, not 50% and 3 years away.
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Michael. while your post is accurate in most respects, I suggest that RED very much wants to (and at the time announced, expect to) meet the timeline of their products reaching market.

But I think when you are creating new products (sensors, boards, ASICS, firmware etc.) that no one has created in the way being offered one has to expect the unexpected to happen. On the other hand, how do you quantify in time the cost of the unexpected... or oven the monetary cost?

Other camera companies have the benefit of seeing what RED has accomplished and can proceed with fewer unknowns.

I can see where it is an accepted self-centered belief that a company should meet its targets... but if you think of the process holistically, then you are able to understand that any delays are good things because they are solving problems now instead of later.

As a RED customer, I feel I am better served when the company succeeds in its goal of not only best in class, but Grand Champion!
 
I have an Epic-X Dragon with the old OLPF. It was called in for the upgrade at the same time as my Epic-M.

The new OLPF was only just finished... It wouldn't be very efficient for Red to upgrade a bunch of cameras with the old OLPF if they will all need to be sent back at Red's expense?
 
Stating the obvious -- sorry about -- but I can't resist: No one likes to wait , I think that is safe to say for both sides, (selling and buying).

However, to have constantly updates for free and the option to upgrade in these huge steps (Scarlet->Epic->Dragon) is fantastic -- I'm grateful about it.
 
Brian Merlen said:
its important for customers to not get impatient if we all want Red to continue offering programs like this.
Click to expand...

You say not to get impatient for fear up upsetting RED?

I read comments like this a lot on REDUSER. "Don't rock the boat" - "Shhh, RED might stop giving out free updates", "they might stop the upgrade program and force us all to buy a new camera."

If RED stopped their upgrade program or giving out updates they would loose a LOT of sales. That is clear.

We all agree RED have an unusual approach, from the way they announce products to releasing what could be called unfinished (certainly in-progress) hardware. REDs "generosity" with their updates and upgrade policy buys them goodwill while they do things like re-release a product through recalls. I`m sure RED knows what would happen to their sales numbers if they stopped upgrade programs.

RED may look generous to some, hence why people say "don't upset RED with too many complaints" ... but it is clearly all done to attract and retain customers. Nothing wrong with that.

I do think RED stretches that goodwill wafer thin for a lot of users.
 
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