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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 :)

Odd Banding in RED Footage

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So I've been shooting with my RED for a few weeks now, and at first I noticed some odd banding would show up near the center of the frame. At first I thought it was the LCD, but then it popped up in the R3D files.

I learned that doing a black shading calibration would fix the problem, and figured it was a software bug, and forgot about it.

I recently upgraded to the latest version of Build 15 and the banding still exists, and I feel like it is showing up more frequently. Almost everytime the camera is powered down then re-started, the banding will appear, and I'll have to do a black calibration to fix it. A real hassle.

Here is a sample of what I'm talking about...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGjpV3LTOhQ

So, anyone have any ideas?
 
The LCD has banding, but they should not be in your raw files. Are you sure you see this in the raw files and not in quicktimes?

Have you contacted support?
 
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Just sent an email to support. And yes, 100% positive they are in the .R3D files. The posted youtube link was rendered out of RedAlert.

A bit more info: camera meta data was set at 24fps, 320ASA, 5600k, Shot at T3 with Red 18-50mm. I see this across all resolutions, quality settings. I'm going to try and see if it shows up at higher/lower framerates as well
 
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I have performed a black shading calibration probably over 30 times on this camera, and at least 5 times yesterday on a test shoot. That was post install of the newest firmware.
 
I cant tell from the youtube video, the quality sucks, but I assume you are aware that quicktimes band due to compression?

So you are seeing the banding in your monitor when you view the R3d file at full res? what monitor? what computer? what is your monitor res? have you tried viewing them on a different computer?
 
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It is definetley not compression-style banding, I am very aware of what that looks like. The banding is pretty obvious even in the crappy quality youtube. It is near the middle of the frame, and is most obvious in the bottom half (the wall). It almost has a purlple-ish tinge to it, and it seems to flicker as well, like a monitor with a bad refresh rate.

It is less obvious in the bright and overexposed parts of the frame. During the take I change exposure to show how the banding changes due to exposure as well. Again, to, reiterate, I see banding in the .R3D files in RED Alert, Red Cine, as well on the RED LCD, and my 17" BT-LH Monitor, and during clip playback on the red.
 
digitalfx said:
I cant tell from the youtube video, the quality sucks, but I assume you are aware that quicktimes band due to compression?

So you are seeing the banding in your monitor when you view the R3d file at full res? what monitor? what computer? what is your monitor res?
Click to expand...

Greg, I think he may be talking about the dark vertical area in the center of the screen toward the bottom.

Consider making a tiny R3D file (by starting and stopping quickly) just a few megabytes with an example of the banding, and send it to tech support at RED.

It's very hard to see what you have from youtube.

IBloom
 
Nope, didn't shoot the take into the sun. I've shot in harsh light in desert enviornments before, but never straight into the sun
 
Not sure what your seeing as I am on iPhone right now but after
upgrade to latest build today I was seeing vertical dark streaks
in the red LCD did not check raw files yet.... Never seen this before
not sure its the same thing.. Was like dark lines set at maybe 10% darker then surrounding area.
 
oh how nice my iPhone plays it!!!! Ouch that looks bad mine was not that wide and I had about 4-5 of them today

Could it be a matte box reflection? Sorta looks like a reflection maybe?

I had no box on today was testing new nikon mount with 135mm nikon lens
 
I see what he's talking about.

That banding looks rather annoying.

It's a chronic problem now?

Any word back from support as to why that is occurring?
 
This is a completely unqualified statement, but it almost looks like the vertical banding that used to streak off the sensor protect areas that were massively over exposed, I think some of Macgregor's salt lake footage had it. But this stuff is not over exposed..
 
You need to report this to tech support asap as what you're seeing is neither normal nor correct. They will know how to help you.

Graeme
 
Erasmus said:
It's a chronic problem now?
Click to expand...

funny how one report of an issue is now a "chronic problem"...

...A TV pilot was shooting near us and the producers called and asked us to come to the set and demo the Red One. When we arrived at least 15 people gathered around our camera, and every single one of them asked me "but how many times a day does it crash?", and "we hear there are lots of problems with the camera". To which I replied that in the 6 months we have had the camera it crashed on set one time, and within 3 minutes we were rolling again.

I just dont understand how one forum post becomes a chronic problem. My Red has zero banding. I would assume the op has an isolated problem that tech support will quickly address. From my experience, Red tech support has handled every phone call or email from me immediately. I have never been more than 24 hours away from a solution. Red has set a standard for what tech support and customer service should be. In 20+ years I have never experienced better tech support from any other vendor.

Bottom line- If you have an issue call tech support first.
 
I second what Greg says...

Call Red first. I have had real problems in the past, but I sent them directly to Red so that my forum posts would not become wild rumors that end up floating through the industry.

It's not only a courtesy to Red, it's a courtesy to all the Red owners that end up having to dispell those rumours with their clients. Sometimes the rumors can't be dispelled.

A friend of mine who owns a Red just lost a great shoot to a Varicam because the producer didn't want to take the chance that even a single rumor was true.

-Thor
 
Maybe I am totally wrong but it seems to me that
rumors are a real pain but ignorance is worse.
If we are happy to see great new footage and improvements of software,
when a failure happens it's good to know that somebody
already described the trouble and how it was fixed and how long it took to be fixed.
Here, in Europe we do not have aftersale service and how will we learn
if we are not aware of other users troubles ??

Keeping troubles secret is Sony's policy, not a community sharing experiences,
good or not !
If your customers do not understand, maybe some teaching is required so they feel"safe" as much as you do.
No?
 
Greg - I 100% agree. Though, it's good to note that we've seen a HUGE decrease over the last month of people worrying about these problems. As Red's make it on set and work well, that word gets out quickly. AC's, DP's, Directors and Producers want them on their next shoots when they see the quality and stability that the cameras now have.

I'm sure there are still kinks here and there - these are computers - but overall, the good far outweighs the bad. Give Red a chance to fix any issues and I'm sure you'll be smooth sailing from there.

Or, give us a call for a backup camera :D
 
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