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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 Ones with software problem? Still the case today?

Pascal Parvex

Pascal Parvex

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One of my teacher at my filmschool told us that he has heard that the Red One camera has software problems. Is this still the case? And I wanted to pick up a scarlet...Just kidding. But are there really issues with the Red One?
 
Pascal, you'll have to be more specific. Suffice to say that RED has been diligent about updating firmware when improvements have been discovered or issues have popped up. So, in fairness to RED I think this thread should die quickly because the Red One is a pretty mature product at this point. Not perfect but certainly a workhorse found on many sets around the world. Better to rent for yourself or find someone who will let you spend some time on one and find out for yourself whether the camera has problems. But if I were you i'd shoot a film instead. Maybe even have your teacher help out with that. :-)
 
Most of the problems have been fixed with firmware updates long ago.
 
Pascal Parvex said:
Those weren't his experiences, just what he heard.
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But again, in all fairness to RED, this is the type of stuff that gets passed along with no accurate basis and people form opinions on myths and rumors which spread like wildfire and get stated as fact. Nothing against you personally Pascal. I'm sure the question was innocent enough, but hopefully you can see how this is better handled by asking a specific question about something you have experienced first hand.
 
There were some issues that were solved about 3 years ago when the camera was in early beta.

They only existed in the earliest days but for some reason have remained as folklore, though some go as far as to say conspiracy. :devil:

I shoot live shows with up to 7 Red Ones all shooting for 100 minutes straight.

Three years ago there were a couple of challenges, though it was still incredibly reliable and gave AMAZING results.

For the last two years and ten months, hasn't been a single issue on any of my shoots, and I shoot A LOT.

Hope this helps. Please ask your teacher to speak to actual Red owners as this folklore continues to be widespread, and in the end reflects poorly on those who keep it going.
 
Pascal Parvex said:
One of my teacher at my filmschool told us that he has heard that the Red One camera has software problems. Is this still the case? And I wanted to pick up a scarlet...Just kidding. But are there really issues with the Red One?
Click to expand...

Everyone's being nice. I'm not going to be.

NO. There are NO problems using the Red One on sets today.

The Red One is a very reliable production tool, and has been used on a number of studio and major independent feature films, as well as countless smaller productions. It's certainly as reliable as any other digital camera system, and more reliable than most.

As a professor, he should know the value of doing research and first hand investigation. Vague rumors and hearsay are not acceptable basis for argument or discussion, and he's setting a bad example for his students.
 
Got that right. I'm so sick of this crap on and off set. My Red One has changed my life. I can't wait to get my Epic X.
 
Our Red is by far the most reliable digital camera I have ever used. It has frozen once, which simply resulted is losing 90 seconds to re-boot, and it was fine - the clip was fine until the freeze. That's one freeze in maybe 10 000 shots. Other than that, no negative surprises at all - lots of positive ones though, like how how much more awesomeness you can pull out of clips once you feed them through a DaVinci.
 
Shame on a professor spreading hearsay!
We were the first university in Germany to own a RED One, and treatment by students is not always professional. It is working reliably until today, the only problems we ever had is a (rare) startup problem, which is always cured by pulling external power drains before the second try and one faulty drive cable, which lost us a few shots on RAID.

The first few of my students who learned how to work with the R1 are now training others in the industry.
 
What release is he using? If the build is old, you need to update. If the camera build is current, than the issue is operator/Data Loader/Editor/Colorist not following procedures. It's not a camera problem 99% of the time. It's an operator error. Period. End of story. Roll credits.
 
Pascal Parvex said:
So the long reboot times are still there? Is this what Werner Herzog has complained about?
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Werner Herzog should respected only for what he has brought to the craft, not for what he will eventually bring to it. Build on what he did, but take nothing that he says as gospel unless you are looking to produce only those things that have already been made.

Basically if Herzog says, put the camera here and move it this way to evoke this emotion - listen! If he says use x brand and y model using z stock you better be damn sure that combination will result in a Pascal Parvex film and not a Werner Herzog one.

Red takes 90 seconds to boot, not the 4 1/2 minutes Herzog claimed and EPIC takes under 10 seconds.
 
There has been no software issues causing crashes on the R1 on the productions I have seen since late 2008.

And I shoot a bit and superwise a bit more...

But if a cam needs a reinstall of firmware, and that isn't done, it will continue to behave weirdly.
Just spoke with an AC about that yesterday.

No experience with 3D shoots and sync stuff making issues, though.
 
Similar story here in Switzerland yesterday at a camera store in Zurich: they had a RED1 sitting on a white column in the exhibition room. "For renting?" I asked. The guy who is normaly dealing with ALEXA and japaneseyouknowwhatImeancameras: "Yes, for renting, but you should know, there are some problems with software. And software updates, to fix the problems, are missing."

Please forgive me folks, that I haven't explained him as RED messias, that he is completely wrong... Why should I? I learned over the last RED years: There exists a kind of ignorance which ia hard to brake.

Since I have my RED222 I NEVER had a software problem. And this camera and her sister, the 2222, are working a lot. Ok, had to restart it once in half a year, but hey, it's a computer and I'm used to it.

This was the big mistake RED did from the beginning: to sell a beta camera to people, who don't know, what this mean: beta. from these times lasts this bad reputation. But hey, why should we reforme the thinking of dump people? We know it better. Why should I proof it to them? Enough when I personally know, RED is fantastic and my EPIC 109 is........................just.............wow!
 
Daniel Reichenbach said:
Similar story here in Switzerland yesterday at a camera store in Zurich:
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Hey Daniel, I'm also from Switzerland, the film school I study at is in Alstetten. Which camera store was that? I envy you people that you can work with Red One's and Epic's. I will have to take a small Scarlet, when it comes out.
 
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