M-X Reel

[Rob Ruffo]

Your facts on the Varicam seem correct, although it does tend to look better than the specs suggest. F900 is a decent enough camera too. Remember the 1080p on the vDSLRs measures that same 1440 across.... OK - personal Graeme opinion time - basically, if you want that dreamy everything out of focus no DOF look, there's no advantage to using a proper HD camera over a vDSLR. But if you want things in focus to appear sharp and the right colours, go with a proper HD camera.

Graeme

Here I would disagree, very respectfully, acknowledging that I think you are a bonifide genius of the highest order.

A "real" HD cam with a good, recent vintage 35mm adapter, such as a Redrock Me2, or an SG Blade, will give you much better results. Why? Because SKIN aliases on a 5D. Pores look wrong (larger than real life), beards look thicker, etc. If you come to the face from a pan, the skin will on the other hand look plastic and textureles. In other words, in focus areas will always look wrong, even faces. The bokeh will be less detailed using an adapter (although they've come a long way in recent months) so the out of focus areas will be less nice, but, after all, isn't what is most important in a shot the in-focus parts? These will look FAR more pleasing using a real HD cam + adapter.

As such, in my opinion, the only thing a VDSLR is good for is images where nothing at all is in focus.

I know this is not a comparison form, but I think the point here is the enormous value of the new Red+MX combo. There is no way to cheat what this will give us through any other means, save ponying up for 35mm film.

 

[Graeme Nattress]

The underwater stuff shot on R1 that I've seen looks so utterly fantastic though - that famous jellyfish shot that we had on the demo reel! Who shot that? There's no way a vDSLR could capture the the beauty of all that detail in that shot!

Graeme

 

[Rob Ruffo]

The underwater stuff shot on R1 that I've seen looks so utterly fantastic though - that famous jellyfish shot that we had on the demo reel! Who shot that? There's no way a vDSLR could capture the the beauty of all that detail in that shot!

Graeme

Yes, and it is that very fine detail that makes such wildlife shots so vivid and fascinating. It's almost as though you can imagine what the fish would feel like if it touched you. I don't knwo who shot thta. But Kudos to them.

 

[Graeme Nattress]

Yes, it's the fine, but in-forced detail that leads to an air of naturalness that the RED possesses ad that I like.

Graeme

 

[Michael Hastings]

I'd say an Ex1 will give you FAR better results than that Varicam, under almost all circumstances. Sharper image, better codec, better everything. An Ex3 with a better lens than the kit - you're flying. Get a $3K nanoflash and then you are getting comparable results than an F900, lens and DOF issues excluded.

I agree with everything you said, unfortunately the EX1 is a PITA in a housing with the configuration of the LCD and protruding mike. Not really difficult, just big relative to other configurations. Even a shaped Gates housing for the EX1 ($6800+) is almost as big and expensive as our REDONE housing and the less expensive tubular housings for the EX1 are actually bigger than the REDONE housing. Canon 5d/7d housings are 1/4 the size and price.

Again, it is something just to offer as an alternative that seems to be relatively high end/pro even if you and I know there are better options. Sometimes these discussions start with they think they want the housing for their Varicam, then you explain the price for that and say that actually they could get equivalent resolution out of the dSLR and finally you convince them that they really need to step up to the RED. To some extent it is just a way to gently explain to them that for the most part their Varicams/F900s have been left behind - on multiple fronts - which is not an easy pill to swallow.

And believe me I am not pushing the vDSLRs any more than I have to because there are already a whole bunch of manufacturers for housings for SLRs.

 

[Jannard]

This thread is about the M-X reel. Keep it on track or posts will get deleted.

Jim

 

[David Rasberry]

Can't wait to see the 2/3" Scarlet M-X reel. Very much looking forward to that.

 

[Steve Gibby]

The underwater stuff shot on R1 that I've seen looks so utterly fantastic though - that famous jellyfish shot that we had on the demo reel! Who shot that?

That jellyfish was shot in Prince William Sound, Alaska during the production of "Icy Killers: Secrets of Alaska's Salmon Shark", which aired on National Geographic Channel multiple times last year. It was shot using Red One by either John Friday or Ken Corben. I was one of the Executive Producers of "Icy Killers". The program was produced by Dangerous Passage Productions. Also, the excellent Red underwater humpback whale shot in the Red reel was shot by Ken Corben.

 

[Graeme Nattress]

Thanks Steve. It's a fantastic shot!

Graeme

 

[Rob Ruffo]

Thanks Steve. It's a fantastic shot!

Graeme

It is. Every time Red releases a reel, everyone in the business scratches their heads, realizing that what they used to think was possible is now only a mere fraction of what just became possible.

 

[Michael Hastings]

This thread is about the M-X reel. Keep it on track or posts will get deleted.

Jim

Sorry, Jim - it was meant to be a quick question related to Graeme's post and then started discussing with Rob. Feel free to delete my posts for thread coherence.

 

[Milan O.]

Great reel! Although I'm not a professional and am quite a beginner at this I must say that this talk about shooting with a 5D/7D and creating something similar is wishful thinking. The image quality of this reel is outstanding.

I haven't read every post in this thread so maybe someone has mentioned this earlier. As a musician it felt a bit awkward to listen to the music. It was really awful to my opinion, since it was extremly sloppy performed. Maybe that was the intention? But, my spontaneous reaction is that it's a pity to use that kind of music with such beautiful shots.

 

[Jannard]

Great reel! Although I'm not a professional and am quite a beginner at this I must say that this talk about shooting with a 5D/7D and creating something similar is wishful thinking. The image quality of this reel is outstanding.

I haven't read every post in this thread so maybe someone has mentioned this earlier. As a musician it felt a bit awkward to listen to the music. It was really awful to my opinion, since it was extremly sloppy performed. Maybe that was the intention? But, my spontaneous reaction is that it's a petty to use that kind of music with such beautiful shots.

It is hard to get good music without paying a huge royalty. Please send us some of your "free stuff" so we can consider using in a future reel. We are music starved.

Jim

 

[Rudi Herbert]

It is hard to get good music without paying a huge royalty. Please send us some of your "free stuff" so we can consider using in a future reel. We are music starved.

Jim

I got an awesome composer that produces all my soundtracks that would love to score something for you, I'll send you something soon.

 

[Rogelio Salinas]

It is hard to get good music without paying a huge royalty. Please send us some of your "free stuff" so we can consider using in a future reel. We are music starved.

Jim

Jim. You are more than welcome to use any of my music for any reels if you would like. I have five of my songs on my myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/rs3music
It's mostly electronic and ambient, but if you are interested in using any of them, I would be happy to send you a .wav or .mp3 file.
RED has been so generous to its customers, and a future Scarlet owner, I would be honored if RED would use my music for any type of RED reel. Let me know, and hopefully I'll be able to meet all you guys at RED DAY. Thanks.

 

[Milan O.]

It is hard to get good music without paying a huge royalty. Please send us some of your "free stuff" so we can consider using in a future reel. We are music starved.

Jim

Jim, let me know what kind of music you need and I'll see what I can do.
I compose and play music myself and know a lot of professionals in Sweden that are glad to get their music out as long as they know it will be used in something they are ok to be associated with.

I've only made some short filmclips so far but here's an exemple of music I got for free because the artist is a friend (didn't have time to do my own):
http://vimeo.com/8859121

Here are just a couple of samples of my own stuff although I've made other kinds of music also and can of course make instrumental music:
http://www.myspace.com/milanse

You can reach me at milan(at)milan.se or simply post a message here at the forum.

Cheers!

 

[Rick Burnett]

Jim,

Maybe a new topic would be nice where people could post links to music to be considered in the future for demo reels.

I too compose a lot for short films for SCAD students all the time, I'd love to contribute some stuff as well as I have music ALL OVER the place.

Rick

 

[Jannard]

Jim,

Maybe a new topic would be nice where people could post links to music to be considered in the future for demo reels.

I too compose a lot for short films for SCAD students all the time, I'd love to contribute some stuff as well as I have music ALL OVER the place.

Rick

Good idea...

Jim

 

[Jarred Land]

GREAT idea

 

[Eisen Feuer]

It is hard to get good music without paying a huge royalty. Please send us some of your "free stuff" so we can consider using in a future reel. We are music starved.

Jim

How do you feel about paying two young men rags to make your music for you? ;D