RED STATION 1.8" and 2.5"

[Zac C]

Someone help me understand how this all works, please.

That is, if I have a Red Station Redmag 1.8" and a Red Station Redmag 2.5", by using a computer I can offload from my 1.8" Redmag to my Redmag2.5" storage?

To carry this further, if I have a Red Station Base, can I do the same offload as a standalone?... that is, without using the computer as intermediary?

Thats what looks like part of the discussion has been. Some want an option to possibly take data off the 1.8 and offload onto the 2.5 without a computer in between. I'd assume that may happen in the future? but not now.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Has arrived.. available in the store RED.com

http://www.red.com/store/media

Very groovy. ( :

 

[Elsie N]

Thats what looks like part of the discussion has been. Some want an option to possibly take data off the 1.8 and offload onto the 2.5 without a computer in between. I'd assume that may happen in the future? but not now.

What I need to know specifically is, what is the purpose of the Red Station Base? Is it a requirement for offloading the 1.8" SSD to the 2.5" storage SSD? Can I simply get by with offloading from the Red Station Redmag 1.8" to my computer?

 

[Antoine Fabi]

Thanks Tim and Zac for the info

Antoine

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Not to speak for Steve (Hi Steve!) but correct, no onboard 2.5" Its merely an OFFLOAD option. Say your LAPTOP hard drive is full. You simply offload the 1.8" to the 2.5" MAG via your laptop. (hence why people are asking if there will soon be a control module that can make that transfer withOUT a laptop) WHY? think remote location where you just dont want to lug your laptop.

Hopefully your laptop drive isn't full. :biggrin5:

But yes, that's the idea.

What would be super cool is an extension of the Red Station to build upon the concept of these card offloaders like the one from NEXTO. The NVS2500 has actually been a very reliable, handy tool in the field. I can download CF, SxS, and P2 cards quickly and easily in the field on battery. Of course, ideally you would want two of these or syncing them to an external drive, which it can do so you have a second backup. With some codecs you have the ability to watch the media on the device's screen to confirm the data is video and there are no artifacts. But this could be expanded by RED into a ruggedized mobile data center utilizing the current RED Station modules, a data control center module with a screen with the same quality as the 7" RED Pro LCD that can double as a menu system and a screen for viewing footage. It would run off several hi performance batteries, last most of the day, and be very portable. This "box" would offer multiple checksum options, and give the user the option to do fast copies if not as critical.

To have a system like this, certified by RED would be very cool for those times when you really need to be portable, not rely on AC power, etc.

I know systems like this exist, however, having one that RED can qualify by doing extensive testing and using a lot of their components might be very attractive.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[Tim Whitcomb]

While I appreciate the initiative, this is really frustrating, and I think a growing indicator of some of my concerns with RED. I can understand the desire to start selling these things, and begin moving through inventory, but at the same time, you're asking me to buy a paperweight... an honest to God, $250 aluminum paperweight, with the hope that "when it's ready," despite "subject to change", I will someday be able to use it for something more than a paperweight.

Without any media to put inside it, these are a worthless purchase. What's worse, without any indication of a release date for media, its a wasteful, and irresponsible purchase.

I've got two RED Drives that are experiencing more problems each time they come back from rental, and I'm desperate to replace them with anything that can give me more than an 8-min take.

It would be responsible for RED to do a little more careful planning and coordinating to ensure that when you roll out a product, you make sure ALL of the pieces are in place to support the purchase of its products.

I'm sorry if this sounds overly harsh, its been a rough morning as I just checked in my kit to find a drive labeled "Won't Mount". I appreciate the lengths RED has made in it's effort to push boundaries and advance our industry by light-years, but stupid shit like this, and the fanboydom that surrounds, supports, and encourages decisions like this is just... well... blasphemy from the Gods themselves.

Don't mean to hijack your rant, but on the positive side, given the considerable new investment in all that is EPIC. It actually helps younger companies like ours to spread these purchases out over months as we get closer and closer to EPIC. If that makes me a fanboy, then hopefully the Red Store will start selling Black Capes with The Red Logo on them. :001_tongue:

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Simplification:

RED 1.8" SSD magazines use a proprietary interface and are in a protective housing over the SSD media.

RED Station 1.8" modules are the only way to attach the 1.8" camera media to a computer or other device via eSATA, Firewire or USB.

RED Station 2.5" modules interface to standard, off-the-shelf, 2.5" SATA media. You can drop off the shelf 2.5" hard drives and SSDs into this module to give you a place to offload to. This is a means of convenience and is not a required item. However, 2.5" media is rapidly becoming the standard to replace 3.5" and off the shelf SSDs are becoming cheaper and more reliable every day. Just something to think about...

 

[Sam Taylor]

Hopefully your laptop drive isn't full. :biggrin5:

But yes, that's the idea.

What would be super cool is an extension of the Red Station to build upon the concept of these card offloaders like the one from NEXTO. The NVS2500 has actually been a very reliable, handy tool in the field. I can download CF, SxS, and P2 cards quickly and easily in the field on battery. Of course, ideally you would want two of these or syncing them to an external drive, which it can do so you have a second backup. With some codecs you have the ability to watch the media on the device's screen to confirm the data is video and there are no artifacts. But this could be expanded by RED into a ruggedized mobile data center utilizing the current RED Station modules, a data control center module with a screen with the same quality as the 7" RED Pro LCD that can double as a menu system and a screen for viewing footage. It would run off several hi performance batteries, last most of the day, and be very portable. This "box" would offer multiple checksum options, and give the user the option to do fast copies if not as critical.

To have a system like this, certified by RED would be very cool for those times when you really need to be portable, not rely on AC power, etc.

I know systems like this exist, however, having one that RED can qualify by doing extensive testing and using a lot of their components might be very attractive.

Just thinking out loud.

I think your idea is fantastic Steve! I would like one! A self-powered, rugged, robust, all-in-one solution for off-loading. However I would like the option of checking clips with the users own external monitor through an hdmi or hsdi port, rather than a built in monitor which might increase the cost and size of the product.

 

[Daniel García]

That would be cool. Hopefully either Red or Nexto makes a drive like this that will work with the Red SSD's. For now, that Nexto drive is a no go, as it does not support Red's 1.8" SSD ...

Red stations have an eSata port and so does the Nexto drive. I understand the Nexto uses it only for output, to duplicate the internal/source media, but it could be an easy firmware fix to consider it another source media. Maybe it already does, I haven't used one... does anyone know if this is possible?

Also, is there an easy way to power the red stations on battery power?

 

[Steve Sherrick]

I think your idea is fantastic Steve! I would like one! A self-powered, rugged, robust, all-in-one solution for off-loading. However I would like the option of checking clips with the users own external monitor through an hdmi or hsdi port, rather than a built in monitor which might increase the cost and size of the product.

One way around that would be to utilize the rocket, but now you are looking at a potentially larger system. The system I'm thinking about would be really for those types of jobs where you are willing to trade off on some things for the sake of portability and not being tethered. The 7" screen would give you the ability to make sure there are no artifacts as a result of the copy, to ensure the 1s and 0s make an image properly. It wouldn't be used for color decisions or any other critical applications.

I suppose there could be a big brother system that is the Do-It-All version. For now, I'm thinking about something that could do for RED what NEXTO is doing for other formats.

 

[Sam Taylor]

Simplification:

RED 1.8" SSD magazines use a proprietary interface and are in a protective housing over the SSD media.

RED Station 1.8" modules are the only way to attach the 1.8" camera media to a computer or other device via eSATA, Firewire or USB.

RED Station 2.5" modules interface to standard, off-the-shelf, 2.5" SATA media. You can drop off the shelf 2.5" hard drives and SSDs into this module to give you a place to offload to. This is a means of convenience and is not a required item. However, 2.5" media is rapidly becoming the standard to replace 3.5" and off the shelf SSDs are becoming cheaper and more reliable every day. Just something to think about...

Jeff, thanks for the info. So basically using the red station base and red station red mag will be the only way of off-loading the SSD?

Daniel has a good question, over a way of using battery power for the red station. I envisage being away from a mains outlet for a good number of projects, specifically in the wilds of the high Arctic, and having to carry many SSD magazines isn't really practical as an alternative.

 

[Elsie N]

Simplification:

RED 1.8" SSD magazines use a proprietary interface and are in a protective housing over the SSD media.

RED Station 1.8" modules are the only way to attach the 1.8" camera media to a computer or other device via eSATA, Firewire or USB.

RED Station 2.5" modules interface to standard, off-the-shelf, 2.5" SATA media. You can drop off the shelf 2.5" hard drives and SSDs into this module to give you a place to offload to. This is a means of convenience and is not a required item. However, 2.5" media is rapidly becoming the standard to replace 3.5" and off the shelf SSDs are becoming cheaper and more reliable every day. Just something to think about...

So, let me come at this another way (sorry, being simple myself, I need simple, precise answers here).

If I have a Red Mag 1.8" module reader, I can (1) connect it to my computer and offload my footage onto my computer etc. (2) Also buy a Red mag 2.5" storage module and offload to that (also via computer?) (3) Buy the two aforementioned and also buy a Red Station Base and allow the two modules to interface without need of a computer intermediary?

I hope someone in the absolute know will confirm or deny line by line, these postulations so I can make an informed decision whether to buy or wait until I fully understand.

 

[Curran Giddens]

(3) Buy the two aforementioned and also buy a Red Station Base and allow the two modules to interface without need of a computer.

No. You need a computer.


EDIT: Also, you only need the Base Station if you have multiple Stations but don't want to have multiple interface cables plugged into your computer or multiple power cables plugged into the wall. It is just a way to consolidate the cables if you have multiple Stations.

 

[Andrew Salter]

Thanks Jeff for your clear explanation.

 

[Christopher Barrett]

Yeah, the 2.5 Mag seems pretty superfluous at this point. It basically just acts as a dock for external hard (or ssd) drives... really more of a convenience factor

 

[Elsie N]

No. You need a computer.

I assume that all else is true? And I know that these threads are monitored and misinformation (not your information Curran, but my other questions) is generally set straight.

So, with no additional from RED, I presume that I can transfer my footage from a 1.8" module to another storage solution via my computer... and that currently standalone solution from RED does not exist.

Thanks to all for helping me get a clearer picture.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Jeff, thanks for the info. So basically using the red station base and red station red mag will be the only way of off-loading the SSD?

The RED Station base is optional -- it just supplies power to multiple modules so you don't need multiple small AC adapters and saves cable clutter.

Daniel has a good question, over a way of using battery power for the red station. I envisage being away from a mains outlet for a good number of projects, specifically in the wilds of the high Arctic, and having to carry many SSD magazines isn't really practical as an alternative.

Station modules can bus-power from USB and firewire. I would imagine that USB is preferred so you can save your FW800 port for other uses and USB is a bit more robust in the power department. So you can connect the 1.8" Station module to a laptop via eSATA and power it from the USB port.

As for battery power, I'm sure it's possible. I don't have a Station module in front of me and can't look, but I would think it would be pretty easy to come up with a battery pack that could feed it.

If I have a Red Mag 1.8" module reader, I can (1) connect it to my computer and offload my footage onto my computer etc.

Correct.

(2) Also buy a Red mag 2.5" storage module and offload to that (also via computer?)

Correct. The 2.5" module is just a way to connect off the shelf 2.5" HDD/SSD media. Think of it just like a card reader, but for hard drives. There are others who already have hard drive docks on the market that do this as well. Like the Thermaltake BlackX HDD dock and similar from Rosewill, Bytecc, etc..

(3) Buy the two aforementioned and also buy a Red Station Base and allow the two modules to interface without need of a computer intermediary?

No. As Curran said, you need a computer. These modules are just like card readers, media sleds, etc.. Just a means to connect the media to something that has the supported interface. The RED Station base just supplies power and is an optional deal.

I hope someone in the absolute know will confirm or deny line by line, these postulations so I can make an informed decision whether to buy or wait until I fully understand.

If you are buying an EPIC with a Side-SSD module or moving your RED One over to the SSD module, the only RED Station unit you NEED is the 1.8" SSD module. The rest are just convenience items that could be insanely useful to some and completely unnecessary for others.

 

[Elsie N]

Thanks Jeff. Now we have an online manual, thanks to you.

 

[Christopher Barrett]

Speaking of.... Red Station Installation Guide

 

[Carlos Gonzalez]

When are those of us that put down deposits on the 1.8 Stations getting them delivered?