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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 One Camera 2 Years Old Today! 10 things to know from a Veteran User

Dino's post is a good list of points to consider and is also one man's opinion based upon years of knowledge and his experiences. Having worked with many top shooters in my field for 30 years, I've seen various ways of providing protection for the job and equipment. Each had their merits, some were simple lunacy, but worked for the shooter because it was his system he developed over many years. I always appreciate thoughts from folks like Dino, Steve and others who have learned through their own trials by fire, what is a "best methods" practice.

Now for a "funny" story. About 15 years ago, we were on a shoot in Colorado, back in the days before digital. We were running around the state shooting a tractor-trailer rig for my client. Had just finished a shot near Cripple Creek and were driving to the next location. About 30 miles out, I noticed the assistant becoming frantic, never a good sign. As I turned in my seat I heard the photographer say "where do you think you left it?" and knew we had some sort of an issue. The assistant had left the shot bag on the side of the road. Literally, on the side of the road. It held the entire shoot, about three days worth of exposed film. We immediately whipped the van around and I must say, that ride back to the spot where we had been shooting was very quiet. Yes, we found the bag, no harm done, well, except for the assistant. He never worked with us again. Ever. You can't duplicate film on site like we now do with digital files, so my perspective is be safe, but be realistic too.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or as we say in Scouting, "Be Prepared".
 
Again, I'll say that Dino's basic points are valid, but some of us have different opinions regarding the details. Sander's tweaks to the list are valid in my opinion.
Many of us work in short form environments, such as commercials, where the requirements, set etiquette, and methods are slightly different. The pressure is a bit less than on an "A"-list feature, but sometimes only by a small factor...
Many experienced ACs could crack open Doug Hart's excellent AC book or the Professional Cameraman's Handbook by Quaid, find a random page, and likely find a method or procedure that they do differently. The important part is that there is a method and a logic to all practices and procedures, and that the operation of the image making device, the facilitation of professional images, and the safe handling of the assets are at all times done in a professional and consistent manner.
Anyway, these are always valid discussions and there is always something to be learned by listening to others' experiences.
Cheers,
Harry
 
Excellent advice Dino, I agree and have insisted that my staff do all the same for nearly two years now (except the fannypack- we use hard cases) and we have never been left in a situation that we couldnt overcome and have never lost footage. Regarding the icepacks, we have them on every shoot and have only needed to pull them out once in two years....but it was that one time that saved the shoot. For less than $20, isnt it worth it to have them in your kit?
 
Thanks for the advice Dino. I'll definitely take all of it into consideration for when I eventually use Scarlet on shoots.

I honestly don't think you're exaggerating on the backups. I know a guy for his movie has 28 TB of backup. Now THAT'S a little overkill.

And I never had heating problems when I've used the RED, but I've rented a T1i and it overheated like crazy so I had to keep stopping to turn the camera off to let it cool down because we didn't have any cooling packs. Of course I'm sure a $17,000 camera is better at cooling down than a $800 camera, but it is still a bitch when a camera overheats.
 
EDUCATION

EDUCATION

Thank you for the advice, it's good to see professional people sharing their experience. If there's going to be 3 or 4 or 5 back-up copies, well, every situation (production/budget) is different. I´ll be a 1 year Red user very soon and, from a small and distant location/market (I´m in Santiago, Chile) I can tell that unskilled operators had done a lot of damage to the name (and renting) of the camera. AND unprepared post houses had also done a lot of damage too. Sadly, outsiders don´t see it was a operator fault, they blame the camera itself, so that´s a bad thing for us.
So, every advice and education to the less experienced people is a very important thing to me.

Happy Birthday, Red One!
 
Dino is a ROCKSTAR!

Also, for some who may feel that his tone is 'harsh' or 'scolding' - totally not the case. You have to meet him and have worked with him in person to understand. Couldn't be a nicer guy. Really.

I've known and worked with him a bunch of times over the last 2 years and it's unbelievable how much he works - like literally he doesn't stop.

Great list Dino, and thanks for sharing!
 
Forgot to add in my original response - Happy Birthday Red One!
 
thanks guys, no i do not have the lens attached it is in two wet suit material type tight lens bags within the camera cchamber....i'll take some pictures of my little run and gun bag...it holds 4 batteries (one on the camera cradle, and three on the outside, it holds all the cables and the monitor also in 3 bags and the israel arms (big and small). and of course the drive goes in the cradle for travel....so at any moment i could pull it out and shoot within three minutes...

ok more later, i have to go shoot some pick ups for my feature about the stanley cup...all the trophies, less the cup, are in town for la kings hockeyfest...

cheers and thanks again for the nice words and keep shooting and happy anniverary...which no one is mentioning...
 
Dino, on the backups you are making for yourself, how long are you keeping the material? Do you have them stored indefinitely, when you get confirmation from post that all has been copied onto editing drives and the backups stored safely, or do you have a specific amount of days that you keep it?

Thanks again for sharing!
 
i keep one forever, so yes i have every shot my camera has ever made, and one i get rid of a couple of days after the shoot. there is also a complete backup on the drives which i keep on until the next shoot. (more about that and my theory of on set drive nomenclature, which i am sure will be a fun topic to fight with everyone about.)
 
Thanks for sharing this with us, Dino. As you said - these are your observations. The same rules can't be applied to all jobs in all parts of the world.
 
dino g said:
i keep one forever, so yes i have every shot my camera has ever made, and one i get rid of a couple of days after the shoot. there is also a complete backup on the drives which i keep on until the next shoot. (more about that and my theory of on set drive nomenclature, which i am sure will be a fun topic to fight with everyone about.)
Click to expand...

Okay good, so I'm not the only one keeping at least one backup from every job. Sometimes I think I'm insane doing it, but it has already saved one project so I keep on doing it.

I do the same with the drives.

I look forward to hearing about your on set nomenclature. It's always interesting to see how people work. I'm a lover, not a fighter. We may agree to disagree on some topic, but I have always strived to respect other's opinions or techniques because more often than not there's more to be gained by listening than by attacking. Hopefully you haven't felt attacked in this thread. I think it was a great post and I expect a lot of good information to come from it.
 
dino g said:
Why today you ask...

Well the first "production" cameras were delivered on 08/31/07, and since 2008 was a leap year, then as of today 8/30/09 it has been exactly 730 days since the first lucky souls took delivery of their cameras. so a typical year is 365, so two typical years is 730 days...so that is my wacky logic, so happy birthday.
Click to expand...

LOL!! Nice wacky logic.
Wow ... two years. Went by in the blink of an eye.

Cheers to Jim and and whole Team - simply amazing what you have done, so exciting what you are doing, and just mind-numbing to comprehend what you will do soon ...

Bravo!
 

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Here's what I've done with my drives. Perfect solution (for me, anyway).
 

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Dino... care to share how many projects have been done with ol' 31?

Jim
 
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Mark L. Pederson said:
LOL!! Nice wacky logic.
Wow ... two years. Went by in the blink of an eye.

Cheers to Jim and and whole Team - simply amazing what you have done, so exciting what you are doing, and just mind-numbing to comprehend what you will do soon ...

Bravo!
Click to expand...

heh heh heh i remember that case :)
 
Some of Dino's advice does sound a little extreme...

...Then again, David Fincher never called me to work for him.

...brb, gotta buy me a fanny pack. :D
 
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