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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 :)

OFFHOLLYWOOD HOTLINK + HOT TAP + HOTBOX R/S WIFI for RED DSMC cameras

Here's a possibly dumb question, but is there any reason we couldn't just use something like the lightning plug but not license the actual license tech? Just hijack a widely deployed commercial hardware interface which can be bought for a few pennies? Not to mention if Apple is putting it in the iPhone it's designed to be plugged and unplugged at least 365 cycles per year. For that matter I've never had a USB Micro plug break in the last 4-5 years. And sure the cables are cheaply made... but you could literally get 100 of them for $200.

The EPIC serial cable is just 4 pins. There are innumerable plug standards that offer 4 pins that are rated for thousands of cycles. USB3 Micro is rated for 5,000 cycles. And it would reduce the cable costs from $200 per cable down to $2. That's what the industry did with XLR power cables. "Hey we have a nice heavy duty cable here already that costs pretty much nothing, let's use it for power." Couldn't we also do the same thing with BNC in place P-Tap?
 
Jake Wilganowski said:
Mark I ordered the hotlink. So if i want to have the hotlink active using the sync port, there's no way to have start/stop control from another manufacturers focus wheel correct? I'm running a rt motion ff, and want my AC to be able to start and stop via the rt motion controller, but others to have control of your app. Not possible correct?
Click to expand...

YES - 100% possible.

The HOTLINK only connects to the CTRL port on DSMC cameras - NOT the SYNC port that is used for Run/Stop cables. The HOTBOX R/S WIFI does connect to both SYNC and CTRL ports - but the HOTLINK leaves your SYNC port free for your FIZ R/S tables.
 
Antony Newman said:
Gavin,

Lightning runs at a USB 2.0 speed.

AJ
Click to expand...

I said nothing of using the actual lightning data interface. I only referred to the number of pins. To re-use the physical hardware for a different purpose, just like RED already does with its LEMO plugs in place of RJ45 and XLR. Both RJ45 and Lightning have 8 contacts/wires, you could also use the Thunderbolt (minidisplay port) interface and get 10 pins (reversible) or USB3 TypeC plugs which have a 10,000 cycle rating and will cost a few pennies each. You should be able to use the physical Lightning connector which is rated for thousands of connect/disconnect cycles but get Ethernet Cat6 data through it. And it would be several orders of magnitude cheaper than LEMO which is horendously expensive. Similarly instead of LEMO for RED's proprietary serial port they could use SDI which again is rated for lots of abuse but would cost $2 instead of $200.

It seems as if RED never considers prices and simply looks at it from a purely engineering standpoint when choosing their connectors. There are plenty of physical connectors which are available in tens of thousand units that should meet their requirements and are robust enough to last thousands of connect/disconnect cycles.

For Example, Apple found a nice elegant DC Power input system that costs a couple dollars and handles 12v 60watt power supplies no problem. RED also found a solution that costs $80 a plug.

I'm not contesting that LEMO isn't great. But I just get exasperated when I see something cool like a Wifi Control box for $300 that needs a $150 cable to connect it and theoretically another $200 cable to power it... your'e spending more on 'dumb' hard wiring than a complex microprocessor that can process wireless signals and control a camera.

If RED is very worried about plugs breaking off and needing to be replaced then you could also implement the entire plug plane as a replaceable interface for maybe $100-$200 and you would save a bundle on cable costs. (Make it like a car's removable stereo face plate, but bolted in. Then people could pick their interface between Rental House Lemo and Owner/Operator). I've probably saved $1,000 in cables by going with P-Tap. Now it's true I might fry something like Jarred complains about but what am I going to fry my $400 Blackmagic Hyperdeck? Fine. I'll take a $200 refurbish charge at some point in exchange for hundreds in cable savings.
 
Gavin Greenwalt said:
If RED is very worried about plugs breaking off and needing to be replaced then you could also implement the entire plug plane as a replaceable interface for maybe $100-$200 and you would save a bundle on cable costs. (Make it like a car's removable stereo face plate, but bolted in. Then people could pick their interface between Rental House Lemo and Owner/Operator).
Click to expand...

I suspect you will love the next product we want develop - not sure it's totally possible yet - but I think it is and after the reactions at IBC - I think it needs to be done.

You can debate connectors forever - the best connector is whatever connector you want :)
 
Mark L. Pederson said:
I suspect you will love the next product we want develop - not sure it's totally possible yet - but I think it is and after the reactions at IBC - I think it needs to be done.

You can debate connectors forever - the best connector is whatever connector you want :)
Click to expand...

Can Haz SDI + Top HDMI for wireless + 2x XLR + Wifi + Ethernet Jack in +1esque Module form? :D
 
Mark I'm sure you guys are slammed with orders, but whenever someone can hit me back about swapping my order from the HotLink to the HOTBOX WIFI I would totally love to throw more money at you guys. #makeitrain
 
Isaac Marchionna said:
Mark I'm sure you guys are slammed with orders, but whenever someone can hit me back about swapping my order from the HotLink to the HOTBOX WIFI I would totally love to throw more money at you guys. #makeitrain
Click to expand...

It's all good - got your email - we will dial it all in this week. Just landed back in NYC.
 
Mark

Spill the beans on this next creation. It sounds really interesting.

:)
 
Troy Bakewell said:
Mark

Spill the beans on this next creation. It sounds really interesting.

:)
Click to expand...

First we need to ship these first three products :)

But we have a couple very cool things we wanna quickly prototype after we start shipping HOTLINKs, HOTTAPs & HOTBOXs. Feedback at IBC was beyond my expectations - so we have enough validation to justify building more stuff for the DSMC system.
 
Awesome on all fronts. Fast answers, killer product.
 
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