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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 :)

My Diary For A EPIC X Stage 4 Delivery

LOL's. Glad to have made you smile - hell it's Christmas!

I have booked my Epic in Cape Town with the very very helpful Caleb at Afterglow. He has come up with some pretty concrete things we are going to test for the best possible balance between stills and motion.

1.) I am going to shoot 5K 96fps 90 degree shutter (1/384sec)

2.) I am going to shoot HDRX with one track at 180 shutter (1/48sec) and one at 45 degree shutter (1/196 sec) all at 24fps

Anyone have any other ideas I should try please post. Any hints and tips?

Many thanks
 
Brian Iannone said:
Agreed.

I'm glad we both amused you all. :-)
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Hi Brian,

My iPhone going off by Jim in the bathroom did have me cracked up! I did read your very excellent post about download times of media. So as a very computer knowledgable guy any tips on combinations of RedCode, frame rates, shutter angles to get the best out of my test. Remember the key is that both the stills and the motion are equally important so it will be a compromise - just a question of the best one?
 
Iain Philpott said:
Hi Brian,

My iPhone going off by Jim in the bathroom did have me cracked up! I did read your very excellent post about download times of media. So as a very computer knowledgable guy any tips on combinations of RedCode, frame rates, shutter angles to get the best out of my test. Remember the key is that both the stills and the motion are equally important so it will be a compromise - just a question of the best one?
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Hey Iain. To be completely honest, while I'm knowledgeable about computer workstations/servers, storage systems, networking a few other computer science and IT-related topics, I'm not qualified enough to give recommendations regarding combinations of REDCODE, frame rates or shutter angles. I have actually been recently researching these things myself also!

I think that people like us who are moving into cinema, but come from the world of still photography care much more about the quality of every single frame in our footage. It's because of this that I find DSLR video to be so... Horrific. We tend to look at individual frames and compare them to the quality we get out of our still photos shot on DSLRs. And thankfully, RED's cameras produce single-frame quality that's absolutely incredible. I believe that the reason Mr. Jannard was able to create the amazing cameras that he and everyone at RED have created is because he comes from a still photography background. All these other companies like Canon, Sony, JVC and Panasonic are not being very successful at making 'good' cameras because they're focused too much on video. RED is focused on motion pictures. And that's something I think every RED user should be thankful for. I know I am. =)

So, that's just my little perspective on RED's cameras and the backgrounds of still photographers. I'm not exactly sure why I wrote all that, but, it's there now. :D

But anyway, back to your question... Is there anyone here who could get into the specifics of REDCODE, frame rate and shutter angle combinations in order to help us get the most out of our motion capture process?
 
Brian Iannone said:
All these other companies like Canon, Sony, JVC and Panasonic are not being very successful at making 'good' cameras because they're focused too much on video.
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Are you serious? Sony? F3 not very good? The F65 is not very successful at making video? It gives the epic more than a run for its money. some people are blind on these forums...
 
Jason Von Drayco said:
Are you serious? Sony? F3 not very good? The F65 is not very successful at making video? It gives the epic more than a run for its money. some people are blind on these forums...
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This discussion ended nearly three weeks ago...

Tell me, what Hollywood studios are shooting movies on Sony F3's? And the F65... Have you ever seen one in person? I have. And let me tell you, it's HUGE compared to the size of an EPIC. Because of this, many studios are going to be shooting their 3D films using RED's cameras instead.

But, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
 
Brian Iannone said:
This discussion ended nearly three weeks ago...

Tell me, what Hollywood studios are shooting movies on Sony F3's? And the F65... Have you ever seen one in person? I have. And let me tell you, it's HUGE compared to the size of an EPIC. Because of this, many studios are going to be shooting their 3D films using RED's cameras instead.

But, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
Click to expand...

brian, keep in mind there are different applications than cinema. many other systems perform quite well for certain tasks, albeit not always in a good price/performance range. believe it or not, not everyone wants raw 4k digital cinema footage. in any case, all things considered these other cameras make some pretty decent images. no, their resolution/detail and color fidelity does not always match the red or 35mm film - but that's not always as important as we like to think. i advise you step back, turn around, and look at the bigger picture. the epic is not the end all be all, neither is the dragon. red knows this - that is why they continue their progression.

in the grand scheme of things, there are way more important factors to our craft than the camera system used and pixel peeping between every single one. that being said, i've consistently observed and acquired the best results from the red cameras above any other camera i've ever used. i think it's one of the greatest camera systems on the planet. for cinematic purposes, red is definitely the way forward... and that's something to be excited about. but it's only the beginning of a new era, remember that - and try to open your mind to other perspectives. :)
 
paulherrin said:
brian, keep in mind there are different applications than cinema. many other systems perform quite well for certain tasks, albeit not always in a good price/performance range. believe it or not, not everyone wants raw 4k digital cinema footage. in any case, all things considered these other cameras make some pretty decent images. no, their resolution/detail and color fidelity does not always match the red or 35mm film - but that's not always as important as we like to think. i advise you step back, turn around, and look at the bigger picture. the epic is not the end all be all, neither is the dragon. red knows this - that is why they continue their progression.

in the grand scheme of things, there are way more important factors to our craft than the camera system used and pixel peeping between every single one. that being said, i've consistently observed and acquired the best results from the red cameras above any other camera i've ever used. i think it's one of the greatest camera systems on the planet. for cinematic purposes, red is definitely the way forward... and that's something to be excited about. but it's only the beginning of a new era, remember that - and try to open your mind to other perspectives. :)
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My mind is completely open to other perspectives. I wrote my post in regards to cinema cameras. If you are looking for a video camera, there are tons of great options to choose from. However, that's not what I was referring to.
 
i'm not disagreeing with you, brian. just trying to promote peace :) my comments are as much for me as anyone else.
 
Brian Iannone said:
This discussion ended nearly three weeks ago...

Tell me, what Hollywood studios are shooting movies on Sony F3's? And the F65... Have you ever seen one in person? I have. And let me tell you, it's HUGE compared to the size of an EPIC. Because of this, many studios are going to be shooting their 3D films using RED's cameras instead.

But, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
Click to expand...

Yeah, ended 3 weeks ago, so has your mind change about sony not being good at making cameras? They f65 is big, yes, but damn, it can shoot a good image. Red is trailing there. Do you want me to list the things that other companies like SONY and CANON do better than red? my simple point is and always will be, Sony, JVC, Canon all understand video. They make amazing cameras. If you think F35 is a piece of shit, then you are a lost cause.
 
Jason Von Drayco said:
Yeah, ended 3 weeks ago, so has your mind change about sony not being good at making cameras? They f65 is big, yes, but damn, it can shoot a good image. Red is trailing there. Do you want me to list the things that other companies like SONY and CANON do better than red? my simple point is and always will be, Sony, JVC, Canon all understand video. They make amazing cameras. If you think F35 is a piece of shit, then you are a lost cause.
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No need to get angry.

I'm saying that right now, in terms of cinema cameras, I believe that EPIC is a better choice than anything offered by all those other companies. That may change with Sony's release of the F65, but the F65 is not publicly available yet.

And even when the F65 is made available, I don't think it'll become very popular due to how large it is. From what I'm hearing, studios really like EPIC's size for use in 3D rigs. Many major films released now are being shot in 3D. Large cameras just add complexity and expense in producing the films. There have been countless articles and interviews with film producers who explain that a camera's size in indeed something that they find important.

Here's one example from a producer who's worked with both Sony F35s and EPICs.

CS: Of course, this isn't your first time working with 3D. How is the technology progressing? What has changed since the last "Resident Evil"?

Bolt: Cameras are getting smaller. We're about to start shooting this new "Resident Evil" and we're using the RED EPIC camera. It's about 50 percent smaller than the Sony F35s that we used on "Resident Evil 4" or even the ARRI Alexa that we used on "Three Musketeers." What that means is that there are certain camera rigs that you can make for 3D that you couldn't do before. It was just impossible. Steadicam in 3D is going to become easier. Basically, the cameras are becoming closer and closer to 2D and what you can do with them. It's all about ease of moment.
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Source: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=83106

I'm not saying all these other companies don't know how to make camera. I'm saying that all these other companies have been making cameras so far that, in my opinion, aren't as good as EPIC. Take James Cameron for example. He could use any camera in world that he wants, yet, he chose to order 50 EPICs. As I said in my previous posts, I think there's a reason that RED's cameras are so good. And it's because of that reason many people are choosing RED over all these other camera makers.
 
OK, so I am shooting a big stills job in Cape Town at the moment. I have one of the biggest moments in my life so far, tomorrow morning. Shooting Epic for motion and stills. The stills in reality are more important than the motion. Nothing like the reality of a situation to make you focus up. Any tips on the best settings to get the best stills? Shooting close up beauty?
 
What an experience. You read all about it. You see what other people produce but and it's a big 'but' you really have no idea, if you as a photographer need to produce stills from motion, just quite how fantastic this camera is until you do it for yourself. The style in which you shoot, the way in which you shoot and the way in which you configure an Epic to shoot in exactly the same way as you shoot with your 1DS.

I am blown away by it (despite having three key clips that are named,can be seen on the computer but nothing in them?). I would just like to pay a huge thanks to Caleb Heymann @Afterglow for his incredible help,support and fully kitted Epic kit here in Cape Town - book him! Having done lots of research I settled on two test routes for obtaining great motion and great stills. My conclusion is 96fps 5K is the way to go which, no disrespect to RED, proved to me that for beauty/fashion Scarlet just does not cut it for producing stills within motion of the arena that I work in. Having thought that Scarlet could possibly work for me on the 3rd November my mind is made up - Epic is the only way to go. So I will be flying home tomorrow working out quite what I need to buy and coming up with a sensible plan of how I pay for it!

If I line up,at 100%, a RED file and a Canon 1DS MK2 file in Photoshop I'm struggling to find a difference. If anything the RED may just have the edge - never thought I would say that. At 16 bit 76Mb!

Home on Monday, I will try and post,if anyone is interested, some Canon 1DS v RED Epic files?

Lastly a massive thank you to RED for making this all possible. When's the 645 chip coming? #please,please and i can give up my Phase back!
 
Hi Iain, what a coincidence stumbling upon this thread now for the first time as I get ready to hand you back your rushes! Well thank you for the very kind compliment, and likewise it was great working with you. This was my first motion-for-stills shoot and it was wonderful to have someone of your caliber so impressed by the stills functionality of the camera and Redcine X Pro. Red has proven their dedication to the DSMC concept through their continued development of the stills workflow in Redcine X and it works like a dream, playing back motion at 96 fps and simply hitting E to grab frames, the batch grading, the quick export of TIFFS. It's great already and I'm holding thumbs that the Monstro sensor will open up even more options for stills with greater flash support (due to faster scan) and lower noise floor, which would make the plus two stops HDRX method very effective.
 
Just been going through my rushes. Arrived back from Cape Town this morning and have been working with the new Beta Redcine Pro. The rushes Caleb has sent me home with are incredible - the RAW still files that I'm exporting from the new Beta software are unbelievable! I will post a gallery later this week if time allows. Please hang with me. What I will say is the still frames on initial inspection are as good as my Canon 1DS! The motion - well it's just poetry.

The camera is amazing but it worries me when I see posts tonight regarding the firmware update disasters to RED Rocket?

I do agree with Phillip Bloom's post and I believe Steve Sherrick made a post that maybe Red Scarlet is not for everyone. I would place Epic in that category too. I for one feel committed to it and I do understand that, to a certain part, I'm taking part in a Beta test. Beta tests on software that I have played a part in are always FOC and don't effect my hardware. Now I see here tonight that maybe updates can effect your hardware.

Where does that leave me? Committed to the product but maybe looking for a little more warranty support on hardware not limited to three months on attached but sold separatly products. Am happy to be a Beta tester but wait a little longer until you are better judged to offer it to the general punter rather than Hollywood who don't care about the expense of repair. If you want me to commit to the system then I want to see a little more support from you for something I buy from you. I do not want to buy a product with less than three years warranty. Yes then I do except the overall price will rise to accept those warranty claims but shared between everyone i do not believe that it seriously adds much to the cost of a camera/hardware - but certainly adds to customer satisfaction!

Here's to 'Customer Satisfaction' !

All the best

Iain
 
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