RED STATION

[Jonathan Stevenson]

The RED MAG 2.5 module is going to be pretty damn awesome, especially once the prices of SSD drives cool off. I still can't believe how expensive those stupid things are! But 2.5 spinning drives are reasonably priced.

 

[G Lap]

......What I want to know is it port multiplier aware or does each module require a discrete e-sata connection?....

....But you know what would have been really cool... Is if the modules actually docked together via a connection similar to what's on the back of the new DSMC brains to completely eliminate the need for interconnecting cables altogether. Have dual FW800 ports, USB2 ports and a 4-channel SAS port (for up to 4 eSATA connections) on the base.....The power cable management on the back of the RED STATION is going to work out fine, but now we're going to have eSATA cables running to each module to deal with too. ....

Yes, slightly disappointing if the base station distributes power only......some form of eSATA port multiplier functionality would turn what is a very nice package into a superb 'must have'. By the way, will there be a 1.8" SSD reader module too.....or will the 1.8's fit into the 2.5 with an adaptor?

 

[Nook Kim]

Really hot product for us Red people.. but I see some very valuable comments like possibilities for eliminating cables (Jeff), going with USB 3.0 (Miltos), and I'd like to see hot-swappable (or even just dual) CF reader.

From what I remember, this product hasn't been as openly developed as other products. I'm not suggesting Red has to open up everything to the mass at the development stage, but I humbly hope that the Red's tradition where they talk to the users remains.

Of course, I believe it's just the first version of Red Station, and there will be more modules with better funtions coming out later on.

Back on topic: Since now I can go directly from the CF reader to the 2.5" module instead of going through a computer (although I still need a computer to control them), should I expect any performance advantage? It always seemed that the computer was the bottle-neck..

BTW, I've just ordered two Sonnet Pro Dual Express Adapter to backup my Lexar FW800's.. ten hours ago.. :-(

 

[tillHavis]

Yep ! USB 3 and 6gbs Esata would be great, it would give the modules the edge over all other offload systems. Still I love the design and simplicity. I like Jeffs connection idea while still making each unit a stand alone one.
The option to power each unit via a laptop or external battery (adaptor) would help when shooting in remote locations.
P.S. Just a suggestion, Why not offer a RED 2.5 SSD enclosure with these connections too, makes sense that that you can take the drive and just give it to your post house directly from set without having to go looking for external housings. Buy whatever SSD drive you like and snap it into the enclosure. Just a suggestion !

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Yes, slightly disappointing if the base station distributes power only......some form of eSATA port multiplier functionality would turn what is a very nice package into a superb 'must have'. By the way, will there be a 1.8" SSD reader module too.....or will the 1.8's fit into the 2.5 with an adaptor?

Port multipliers should not be a factor here. You connect an eSATA cable from your system to the back of the module. If you're multiplying a single port before the connections to the modules, it should work, as they should be recognized as standard storage devices. I guess we'll know as soon as one of us connects the 2.5" module and the CF module to a dual-port SATA ExpressCard.

A 1.8" module would be attractive at some point if fast 1.8" media ever surfaces. But there are adapter sleds in the PC world that let you mount a 1.8" device into a 2.5" form factor, should work just fine, it's really a matter of having the connectors aligned properly for when you slide the drive into the module.

 

[Dave Blackham]

So will there be a Red One SSD drive carrier/caddy ?

 

[RayFrisby]

Yep ! USB 3 and 6gbs Esata would be great, it would give the modules the edge over all other offload systems. Still I love the design and simplicity. I like Jeffs connection idea while still making each unit a stand alone one.
The option to power each unit via a laptop or external battery (adaptor) would help when shooting in remote locations.
P.S. Just a suggestion, Why not offer a RED 2.5 SSD enclosure with these connections too, makes sense that that you can take the drive and just give it to your post house directly from set without having to go looking for external housings. Buy whatever SSD drive you like and snap it into the enclosure. Just a suggestion !

I'm sure we will see these in future models, although it might be more economical to include these suggestions sooner rather than later.
As somebody who purchased one of the first HVX 200 and P2 store I now tend to wait for the second or third update of a device if I can.

 

[Bruce Ingram]

While very cool, I don't see anyway that this helps when recording to the current Red Drives (which we almost exclusively do). Will there be a module that will allow multiple Red Drives to connect via FW800 and then connect via eSata/FW800/etc. to a laptop through a single connection?

This system may not have the current drives in mind, which is fine, just curious.

 

[Sean Solowiej]

2.5" RED MAG accepts bare 2.5" SSD and Spinning hard drives for offloading.

So wait, does this suggest it's possible to stick a spinning 2.5" drive into a Red camera configuration? Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but if the SSD cards are standard 2.5" Sata, and we can offload to spinners in the Red Station, surely we could also stick spinners into the on-camera SSD port?

I realize spinning drives are not ideal, but possible?

 

[Mark Collins]

Looks cool, but I'm not too sure what the advantage is of having this over a standard CF reader you would pick up from BestBuy.

The inclusion of e-SATA and the elimination of power cords is nice, but I've found that generally we have power running to our DMT anyway since most of their harddrives require external power, so generally we just set them up with a power bar.

 

[G Lap]

So wait, does this suggest it's possible to stick a spinning 2.5" drive into a Red camera configuration? Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but if the SSD cards are standard 2.5" Sata, and we can offload to spinners in the Red Station, surely we could also stick spinners into the on-camera SSD port?

I realize spinning drives are not ideal, but possible?

IIRC, isn't the camera SSD module 1.8"?

 

[G Lap]

......A 1.8" module would be attractive at some point if fast 1.8" media ever surfaces. But there are adapter sleds in the PC world that let you mount a 1.8" device into a 2.5" form factor, should work just fine, it's really a matter of having the connectors aligned properly for when you slide the drive into the module.

Just took a look back at the Oct/Nov announcements, 1.8" mags for the RED Station were mentioned at the time.....of course, 'everything is subject to change'.

 

[Sean Solowiej]

Just took a look back at the Oct/Nov announcements, 1.8" mags were mentioned at the time.....of course, 'everything is subject to change'.

Ah, right. Thanks.

Ok just to keep the thought alive, how about a 1.8" spinning drive?

 

[Dan Kanes]

Lovely price tags. If you hire a DIT without one (or two), you are in deep trouble.

I completely disagree with this statement and find rampant fanboyism something that actually detracts from the success of Red's acceptance as a Hollywood standard.

Please explain how we've managed to go two+ years without one of these, and then all of a sudden you are in "Big Trouble" when you hire a DIT without one. I'd say you are in bigger trouble hiring a DIT with one of these card readers but no Idea how a Red Workflow actually works.

No offense, I like new toys too and am excited to see more new Red Products - but a Red Authorized Lemo to Esata interface box as a module here would be just as, if not more exciting to me.

 

[Enrique Blein]

I am confused, please somebody tolerate my question: is the RED Mag 2.5" a Hard Drive? And if so, what capacity are we talking about? 1Tb ? 1/2 Tb?

 

[Sean Solowiej]

I am confused, please somebody tolerate my question: is the RED Mag 2.5" a Hard Drive? And if so, what capacity are we talking about? 1Tb ? 1/2 Tb?

There is a Solid State Drive (SSD) coming, quite possibly to be shown at next Wednesday's Red Day as a new recording medium for Red. It will likely have a 1.8" format to fit the optional 1.8" SSD Module on the camera. Capacity has not yet been stated.

The Red Station has a 2.5" format module available to read/write to both these 1.8" SSDs (perhaps requiring an adapter, no word yet) and 2.5" spinning drives.

My question is whether we might be able to use 1.8" spinning drives in the same on-camera module.

 

[Jarred Land]

There is a 1.8" REDMAG SSD card that will be released, that card will be used to record footage on camera via the 1.8" SSD Camera Module. The REDSTATION 1.8" Module to read that card will come out over the next few weeks.

The 2.5" REDMAG RED STATION module will accept normal 2.5" bare drives, so you can put a bare drive in ( Spinning or SSD ) and use it as an external hard drive, to offload cards to or for storage, etc.

 

[PatrickW]

can I copy from a CF card to two Red Mag drives simultaneously for backup?

 

[R. Schorman]

Jarred, will there be a Redmag slot to replace the CF slot on a Red One?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Just took a look back at the Oct/Nov announcements, 1.8" mags for the RED Station were mentioned at the time.....of course, 'everything is subject to change'.

Yeah we saw "RED MAG 128GB" and I think they were said to be based on 1.8" media. Makes sense with 64GB CF cards coming. 128GB could fit in a little larger form factor -- a 1.8" SSD. EDIT> and Jarred just cleared that up.

For those wondering about 2.5" capacities; If the module takes standard 2.5" HDDs, then we should have lots of choices. Currently 2.5" HDDs are up to 1TB @ 5400rpm in a 12.5mm thick form or 750GB @ 5400rpm in the compact 9.5mm form. 2.5" SSDs are readily available at 256GB. Higher capacities are starting to enter the market.

Other than potential RED MAG media, I don't know of anyone making "performance" 1.8" storage devices.