Komodo Timelapse Beta Firmware

[Jarred Land]

Little thanksgiving love for all you Komodo users. New beta with Timelapse and undercrank. This is fresh out of the oven so make sure you test test test before rolling out on a production.

Thank you for choosing RED.

https://www.red.com/download/komodo-firmware-beta

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE PREVIOUS BUILD
* Added Timelapse support
* Added undercranked frame rate support
* Added Sync Out and Tally GPIO support
* Added Beep Speaker sounds
* Added 'Peripheral Upgrade' message
* Added BMWAV filename to clip metadata
* Fixed USB-C Static IP address on power up
* Fixed data/time reset on boot
* Fixed RF 800mm F11 IS STM lens displaying f/11.3 twice
* Fixed SDI audio with only Channels 3/4 enabled
* Fixed clamping of user entered shutter angle

 

[Austin Mulhern]

Thanks for this. Curious about the following:

-Will there ever be variable frame rates? ie: 6k 36fps?
-Will there ever be a 5k 16:9 mode? 5k being locked in 17:9 is a bit annoying
-Any plans to fully fix the playback stutter? I know the last update addressed it, but it didn't actually fix anything. Playing back in front of clients with stuttering footage is a bit embarrassing...

Thanks

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

I really don't care about variable frame rates or time lapse. I certainly do second fixing the Komodo stuttering all over the place in playback issue.

Stephen

 

[Bill Ravens]

wooHOOoooo!!!

 

[Luke Wella]

Jarred, a 360 degree shutter with under crank mode would be lovely. Thanks

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Any feedback on this build from early adopters? Is it solid?

 

[M Harvey]

Thanks for posting notice of the update here, Jarred!

I won't get to try it til after a shoot this week, would love to hear reports from anyone who has had a chance to check it out.

 

[Alex Zeder]

Had the beta running for ~20 hours by now without any explosions, and I rolled with a lot of different settings (had nothing better to do). For timelapse specifically, you can set the minimum of ≥1 fps and then ≤15° shutter at max. Had that running for 30 minutes without any issues. Just don't hit start/stop too quickly with low fps
For the RF 800/11, it also seems to have improved autofocus a little bit, but this could be a placebo observation because I made no exact comparison to previous such tests.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Had the beta running for ~20 hours by now without any explosions, and I rolled with a lot of different settings (had nothing better to do). For timelapse specifically, you can set the minimum of ≥1 fps and then ≤15° shutter at max. Had that running for 30 minutes without any issues. Just don't hit start/stop too quickly with low fps
For the RF 800/11, it also seems to have improved autofocus a little bit, but this could be a placebo observation because I made no exact comparison to previous such tests.

Thanks Alex

 

[Brian Timmons]

I'm currently working with the timelapse beta and so far it seems solid. I would have to work with it a bit more though to fully verify stability.

Notes so far on my end:

* Added Timelapse support
Works well. Cant' wait to spend a solid day using this.
I like the RECORD graphic showing the timing/countdown info for the Timelapse function.

* Added undercranked frame rate support

if a 22 or 23 fps mode could be added for shots that you want to add slight "snap" to the movement in camera.
This is sometimes used for choreographed movement (dance, fight, etc) that may not always be possible for the talent to perform full speed.

* Fixed data/time reset on boot
I'm not sure if there is a misunderstanding regarding this.
What I and a others experience is a situation where the clip's timecode resets from Time of day (after selecting "Jam TC to TOD") to a generic absolute # that starts at 00:00:00:00 each time the camera is powered off.
Would be ideal if this was "set and forget" where after selecting "Jam TC to TOD" once the Time of day info is retained after each power down in the camera's internal timecode.
This is essentially how every RED camera behaved up until now.
If for some reason there is an issue doing this, can we make the camera automatically "Jam TC to TOD" ?

* Fixed clamping of user entered shutter angle
Support for slower shutter speeds like 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and 1 second would be great particularly if this could be used along with time-lapse.

Sometimes the slow shutter look (a la Wong Kar Wai/Christopher Doyle) is the feel you want for a shot.

So far a decent upgrade with good stability.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[Christoffer Glans]

What do the undercranked settings do? The need is to have variable settings for all framerates from 1-40 fps in full 6K mode and shutter speeds similarly variable. If the undercranked setting is just fixed framerates to certain points, like 20 fps, 15 fps, with nothing in between, it limits the creative use. Being able to choose an exact value of shutter speed and over/undercranked framerates is needed to adapt to a shot's needs.

The key point is to just look at what the Dragon 6K can do and do the same on Komodo up to the fps limit it has. Being able to fine-tune shutter and fps throughout the possible range while also opening up to features like HDRx where possible (48 and 50 fps resolutions split down to HDRx 24 and 25 fps).

 

[Alex Zeder]

It is possible to edit and set fps to anything between 3.75 up to the max fps per resolution:

fps @ 6k	angle @ 6k	fps @ 4k	angle @ 4k	fps @ 2k	angle @ 2k
≥3.75	≤56.3	≥3.86	≤58.0	≥3.99	≤59.9

so shutter time is always limited to 156.4 ms max. No 1 fps as on Raptor.

 

[Brian Timmons]

It is possible to edit and set fps to anything between 3.75 up to the max fps per resolution:

fps @ 6k	angle @ 6k	fps @ 4k	angle @ 4k	fps @ 2k	angle @ 2k
≥3.75	≤56.3	≥3.86	≤58.0	≥3.99	≤59.9

so shutter time is always limited to 156.4 ms max. No 1 fps as on Raptor.

Great find Alex.
This indeed does work.
Unique way of selecting frame rates but it works.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[AlexPo]

Is any body can get a long shatter FX on KOMODO with Timelapse feature or motion with small fps??? I get problem - shutter is limited, i can't open it to 360 with 6 fps for example
I talking about some FX like -

 

[Brian Timmons]

Is any body can get a long shatter FX on KOMODO with Timelapse feature or motion with small fps??? I get problem - shutter is limited, i can't open it to 360 with 6 fps for example
I talking about some FX like -

Hey Alex,
We have similar taste. I posted the opening scene of Chungking Express in my post above though the link unfortunately did not take.
Was and still am a big fan of Wong Kar Wai particularly Chungking Express.

Hope Komodo can eventually do the slow shutter look.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[Giles Harvey]

Warning to betaware users, I have just had days filming corrupt. Shooting 6K 16:9 in pro-res 1080. No indication of fault while filming. Unable to play back clip in camera and various edit software plays back the attached image.

Obviously I sent in a log and rolled back to release but giving peeps the heads up. Release recording as it should with no problems so unclear if its media (angle bird recommended) or FW but indications are FW.

 

[AlexPo]

Warning to betaware users, I have just had days filming corrupt. Shooting 6K 16:9 in pro-res 1080. No indication of fault while filming. Unable to play back clip in camera and various edit software plays back the attached image.

Obviously I sent in a log and rolled back to release but giving peeps the heads up. Release recording as it should with no problems so unclear if its media (angle bird recommended) or FW but indications are FW.

I heard the same from Russian filmmakers yesterday... Will write if they find any reason for that. The same story - with prores.

 

[Brian Timmons]

I noticed issues with these corrupted clips as well on a shoot. I also had a shot that was completely green.
There was also another incident where the Komodo kept giving error messages when trying to playback ProRes clips
that were otherwise fine.
After rebooting the camera the clips later played back fine in camera.

A part of me wonders if these issues are more prominent when initially switching from R3D to ProRes and if it's best to cold boot
the camera after switching formats as opposed to the warm boot it automatically does.

Whatever the case be warned there does seem to be an issue.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

Thanks for this. Curious about the following:
-Will there ever be a 5k 16:9 mode? 5k being locked in 17:9 is a bit annoying

+1

Would love 5K @ 16:9

 

[Giles Harvey]

there is a beta firmware fix now