Red Arm

[tokyostory]

Sorry if this has already been posted, but what does the "Red Arm" do? Is it for mounting the LCD? I looks cool anyway.

Also, is the red cage still in the works, or has it been replaced by the double rail and top handle bar?

Thanks!

P.s. I hope someone posts a simple, clear-English guide to the digital media options. It is not clear to me what is needed to record.

 

[Brook Willard]

The RED ARM is a little magic arm for mounting the LCD, EVF or [presumably], other similar accessories.

The cage still exists. They're called the "grip handles" now, forming to create the cage with the RED RAIL and the low-mount. Click here for a picture, or go to the price list and check it out. The mounting points on the cage have been turned into grips. That said, there are still tons of mounting points on the cage arms themselves.

 

[Brook Willard]

And a "guide" for media options will be coming from me as soon as I figure out a few more things and get around to it. If you have a more specific question, I'll answer it.

 

[tokyostory]

Thanks, Brook, that was fast!

I see, so the cage is part of the premium production pack along with other goodies. So if you have the this package plus the LCD do you need a Red Arm to hold the LCD, or can you tack it onto the grip handles.


My specific questions about data options are:

What is the advantage of the Red Ram or the Red Drive. The price is nearly 5x as much, so is it much better?

It would be nice to have rough estimates on how many minutes you could film at various data rates on the various media. For example, if you shoot 2k with two audio channels on a 340GB red drive, approx how much time would you have?

Thanks again!

 

[Brook Willard]

Presumably you could mount the LCD to any mounting point you please. The LCD may even come with a RED ARM... this is all just preliminary. Also consider that every piece of support equipment [including the "grip handles" that make up the cage] will be available individually [not just as a kit].

Here's part of an upcoming FAQ that should answer your question:

RED DRIVE
320GB
$900

The RED DRIVE is a 320GB mini-RAID [2x 160GB 2.5" drives] designed for recording REDCODE RAW and REDCODE RGB onboard the camera. It connects to and is powered by the camera by means of a proprietary cable interface [eSATA based] that plugs into the back of the camera body. The RED DRIVE has a Firewire 800 port for transferring footage to a computer.

As of the most recent format chart, the RED DRIVE supports the following options:

REDCODE RAW 4K@30p [35mm]
REDCODE RAW 2K@60p [S16mm]
REDCODE RGB 1080p60 [35mm]
REDCODE RGB 1080p60 [S16mm]
REDCODE RGB 720p60 [35mm]
REDCODE RGB 720p120 [S16mm]

These formats may change before RED ONE ships. Note that not all formats will be available when the first ~100 cameras ship. Features will be enabled by means of camera firmware updates.

Assuming a formatted capacity of 298.09GB and a footage data rate of 27.5MB/s, the RED DRIVE should be able to hold approximately 3 hours, 4 minutes and 59 seconds of REDCODE RAW 4K@24p.


RED RAM
64GB
$4,500

The RED RAM is a solid-state 64GB mini-RAID [2x 32GB 2.5" SATA flash drives] designed for recording REDCODE RAW and REDCODE RGB onboard the camera. Its flash storage eliminates any moving parts from the recording system, ensuring that the camera keeps recording under the most intense circumstances. Those planning on using their RED ONE in situations where hard drives would prove problematic [intense vibration, camera shock, rapid altitude change, etc.] should consider the RED RAM or another flash-based storage option. It connects to and is powered by the camera by means of a proprietary cable interface [eSATA based] that plugs into the back of the camera body. The RED DRIVE has a Firewire 800 port for transferring footage to a computer.

As of the most recent format chart, the RED RAM supports the following options:

REDCODE RAW 4K@30p [35mm]
REDCODE RAW 2K@60p [S16mm]
REDCODE RGB 1080p60 [35mm]
REDCODE RGB 1080p60 [S16mm]
REDCODE RGB 720p60 [35mm]
REDCODE RGB 720p120 [S16mm]

These formats may change before RED ONE ships. Note that not all formats will be available when the first ~100 cameras ship. Features will be enabled by means of camera firmware updates. It should also be noted that the RED RAM, due to its flash memory, has the potential to record at higher data rates than the camera's onboard REDCODE processor can currently compress. This may open up doors to lower compression or higher frame rates in the future.

Assuming a formatted capacity of 59.60GB and a footage data rate of 27.5MB/s, the RED RAM should be able to hold approximately 36 minutes and 59 seconds of REDCODE RAW 4K@24p.

 

[Brook Willard]

So REDCODE RAW 4K@24p is 27.5MB/s. That means that each frame is approximately 1.146MB. A 4K frame is 4x the area of a 2K frame. I would assume that the 2K frame utilizes slightly lower compression [read: nicer image] to remain optimized for the smaller frame size. Since I am not certain of this, I will simply divide the 4K frame size by 4, leaving us with 293.3KB per frame of 2K. That leaves the 2K data rate at 6.875MB/s.

Based on the estimates above, 2K record times:

RED DRIVE [320GB]: ~12 hours, 20 minutes
RED RAM [64GB]: ~2 hours, 28 minutes

 

[tokyostory]

Thanks, Brook! Just the info I wanted to know!

 

[tj williams]

Brook
Can the RED RAM (sounds so Dodge!) allow the user to insert two more 32gig cards and continue recording or are the cards somehow locked into the RAM box???

 

[Brook Willard]

I believe that the "cards" are just as integrated into the RED RAM design as the hard drives are in the RED DRIVE. So, as far as I know, no swapping is possible. Don't think of the RED RAM as an interface any more than you'd think of the RED DRIVE as one. Think of them as magic boxes that hold data.

At that point, the smarter option seems to be [at least to me] to go with the 1.8" SATA ON CAMERA module. Case in point:

RED 1.8" SATA Flash ON CAMERA Module: $500
RED 1.8" SATA Flash 32GB Media: approximately $1,500

Even if the media is $2,000, the total is still less [2x32GB + interface = $4,500] than the RED RAM. The only issue is changing cards after 32GB. The benefits are that the the recording actually takes place on the camera: no external drive required.

That said, I may be completely wrong here. Maybe the onboard flash options [1.8" SATA flash] aren't enough to record 4K REDCODE RAW onboard. We'll know soon enough.

 

[Bmoreshaun]

I'm gettin' it...