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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 :)

RED... looks great, looks not so great. Why?

This must be the only piece of electronic equipment in the world that gets better and better every day. Trully amazing work, dedication and transparency. Thank you for your leadership, Jim!
 
The Red One is already capable of amazing footage, the simplification of the workflow will make everything a lot easier. :thumbup1:
 
Hi,

From an early age I was taught it's the man behind the camera thats counts, not the camera. Buying the same camera as Peter Jackson won't turn you into Peter Jackson. It's the same with script writing buying final draft won't help any more than buying a pencil.

Best

Stephen
 
I think both Jim and David's attitude is spot on increase the DR with less noise while making it more difficult to make mistakes throughout the entire process.

Building in limits and some form of automated control features makes it easier to get the best looking images under different circumstances and exposures, this is a great idea and makes perfect sense. For more complicated looks and effects I'm sure full manual control can be engaged.
Just an aside I know we can be hard on the large manufacturers such as Panasonic and Sony etc but they also realized this when they created specific settings and control features on their cameras to prevent misuse.

After all Red can produce the best cameras in the world but if a lot of what is been shot on them is not as good as it could be, then the perception of the camera suffers. We may not like to admit this, and in an ideal world people would take into account the experience and talent of the people involved. But like the movie making process it doesn't matter how many hours, or crew, or money you spend on a project if the script, the idea, the acting, the cinematography, etc does not work people only see it as a negative, despite all the other positives it may have.
Well done Red.
 
Andrew Wilding said:
I think the responsibility doesn't lie with the camera manufacturer - Its been proven over and over again that the Red One is an amazing tool in the right hands. I don't imagine that a painter who has yet to master his art blames the canvas or his paints, or that a writer who has yet to blossom blames his type writer.

I hope you guys don't feel the burden to make this all COMPLETELY idiot proof. Expert tools require expertise. And I say this as someone who is definitely still learning!
Click to expand...

Well said. The way a subject is lit has a huge impact on the image, the camera can't do it all for the shooter. I love learning and trying to sharpen my skills, and I love using a wonderful tool that requires expertise and challenges me to develop my skills.
 
Well Jim,

Do you mean to say that you can have greater images without tweaking anything like Canon 5D mark II / 7D / 1D mark IV.

But professional / expertise / experience in exposure can never be challenged by a toggle of a button right?
 
I really don't see it as Reds fault that some people don't understand exposure with the camera. Personally I think the only way you can screw your self is if you don't understand the Red post process at all (if that's the case, you shouldn't be shooting Red), or if you some how think you can get away with not using any light (there is going to be noise if you expose faces where black should be).

I am glad Red is working on making it more fool proof, but it's not any more difficult expose with than a Varicam in Film Rec. mode. Really it's easier. You've got the best viewfinder ever, and a bunch of tools. Maybe that's it, there are too many tools. Take away all the false color, and histogram, and just say what you see is what you get. If you do it that way in Rec 709, it's really hard to screw up.

Just my 2 cents,

Nick
 
These steps would go a long way in making producers more comfortable using RED. The confusion in the workflow is why many producers "fall back" to their tried & true methodology.
 
One more note to Red, There may be growing pains with some, but this camera has taken over. I did exactly 2 non Red jobs this year. An AC friend of mine in LA said, "It's like every other camera suddenly disappeared." My point is, people are figuring it out.

Nick
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi,

From an early age I was taught it's the man behind the camera thats counts, not the camera. Buying the same camera as Peter Jackson won't turn you into Peter Jackson. It's the same with script writing buying final draft won't help any more than buying a pencil.

Best

Stephen
Click to expand...

I find that an interesting metaphor because Final Draft is really not designed to improve the quality of scripts at all. It's designed to make it easier to put them into the extremely complex and picky formats required for production.

It certainly won't make you into William Goldman, but if William Goldman used Final Draft (which I don't know) he would have been been able to crank out more scripts in less time than if he didn't.

RED products will now be purchased by people with varying talents, from Peter Jackson to hobbyist dabblers like, well, me. Making it easier to get great images out of the cameras will let everyone make the most out of whatever talents they have.

I am not under any illusions that anything I do is going to endanger Peter Jackson's job!

D
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi,

From an early age I was taught it's the man behind the camera thats counts, not the camera. Buying the same camera as Peter Jackson won't turn you into Peter Jackson. It's the same with script writing buying final draft won't help any more than buying a pencil.

Best

Stephen
Click to expand...

To a vast extent you're absolutely correct. Any image you see on screen should be person limited not camera limited. Not film, not digital is good enough (or will probably ever be good enough) that it's not the final bottle-neck in on-screen image quality. In a way, I hope this always remains the case.

Graeme
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi,

From an early age I was taught it's the man behind the camera thats counts, not the camera. Buying the same camera as Peter Jackson won't turn you into Peter Jackson. It's the same with script writing buying final draft won't help any more than buying a pencil.

Best

Stephen
Click to expand...

I agree with you with respect to "Buying the same camera as Peter Jackson won't turn you into Peter Jackson" ... but I gotta say ... I have personally written with a pencil and also Final Draft. My work with Final Draft is MUCH better.
 
Only major exposure problems Ive ever encountered came from stuck-in-their-ways DPs who refused my (or other DITs) advice on the subject, and ended up with stuff they didn't like.

I think Idiot proof is great. Stubborn Proof is what Im after.

Thanks again for all the hard work. Bring on Epic and Scarlet!
 
Jim,

I like your reaction to the ASC test.. Instead of a full throated defense of the camera, or a loud "no fair you did not expose/grade this right!" You chose to say: Clearly we have not made our system user friendly enough, so we will fix this.

I think it's comments like this that will increase respect of RED through out the industry.

RED has past the point of proving itself, and now will focus on simply IMPROVING itself.

That's the message I got.. And I like it.

Jay
 
A trend I see more and more especially since RED has been around is a lot more production DP's and or recreational shooters diving blindly into post without a life raft. Seems like RED has seen this happen too often as well and is trying to assist those folks. I think it's smart idea for RED and is long past due (probably should have been published with the birth of the cam originally). That said, I still think best results will be in the hands of the pros who have been dealing with RED and file based workflows since the inception and have the tools and deep knowledge to treat those images with their deserved respect.
 
Mark L. Pederson said:
I have personally written with a pencil and also Final Draft. My work with Final Draft is MUCH better.
Click to expand...

This is true. Final draft actually helps you write better because it is an excellent writing tool.

I find this too with RED. As soon as you are looking at a different field of view and DOF you compose things differently. When you are shooting with film style motion blur, you pan differently. When you are shooting on cards you tend to think more about what you are shooting instead of "hosing things down".

David
 
Jim- You have already established the BEST PRACTICES WAY TO SHOOT RED.

its called REDUCATION. I just got back...and I cant recommend it enough. Dont care how "Experienced" you are... you will learn something new and in my case, I paid for my education 3 times over just on the post side learning what NOT to buy. :)

The BEST PART about RED, is it is NOT a video camera. NO BAKED IN LOOKS.

People if you want to get the most from RED Cameras... sign up for the next REDUCATION. Michael Cioni and Steve Freebairn are brilliant guys who demystify
all that is RED.

ITs an easy camera to screw up... but once you know the best practices for "Exposure", there are still many "right" ways to finish RED footage and I for one hope that felxibility in post remains.

You cant idiot proof a RED camera, leave that to baked in Panny and SOny cameras.

I personally think REDUCATION should be mandatory for the legion of Scarlet users about to experience RAW image capture cameras.
 
Red Team, are you planning on publishing a book? DVD series? a dedicated reduser thread?

I agree with What Tim has said above, Reducation will put you on the right path.
That said, the options in post are still taxing on the small portion of my brain that is dedicated to things technical.
Looking forward to what Jim and the Team come up with.

Brendan
 
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