SCARLET -> EPIC Upgrade

[J. Andrés Cardona]

As a DP and Producer who has worked with RED on countless occasions since spring of '08, I anxiously awaited the release of one of their cameras that would fall into my price point. This past November, I ordered my first RED camera, Scarlet #176.

A lot of people on the forums have called Scarlet "a starter drug", and I would have to completely agree with them. The past months have truly solidified my views on RED as a company and as a philosophy. I know my next step is EPIC, I just don't know how or when…

With the Dragon upgrade coming up soon (and the lack of tech specs for the Scarlet upgrade), I thought it might be interesting to see a Scarlet MX to Epic Dragon upgrade program in the mix…or something similar. Would anybody else be interested in that or something along those lines? What kind of specs and price point are you thinking? Should there be a discount for those who ordered before 12/31/2011? What other upgrade options are you thinking?

Not planning on doing this anytime too soon, but wanted to get the conversation stirring for the changes we'll be seeing over the next year. I also want to know how much money I should be saving

Thanks for your time.

 

[Brian Merlen]

Is it official that the Dragon has two lines? (a Scarlet Dragon and Epic Dragon)? Perhaps all Dragons are created equal? Certainly would simplify things on their end (Reds) turning both lines into one line... But not sure if the indy Scarlet guys could afford that much of an upgrade...

Who knows...

I wish I knew what media to buy, I am buying a used Scarlet and not sure if I should go for the 512 mags or a used 256?...

Decisions, decisions...

 

[Timur Civan]

512. Do it.

 

[Maik Müller]

If you can afford it, 512 is the way to go. It's not only the fastest card, it also offers the best price per GB, even when you compare it to the 4packs. Just keep in mind, you don't want to have only one REDMAG.

Back to topic... If RED decides to offer such a upgrade-path for Scarlet-owners then this would be tempting for me. Well it would be hard for me to give my Scarlet back, i have waited so long for it, i love it so much. But yeah, it would be great

Maybe thats the only upgrade-path that makes sense? Give the fact that a Dragon-upgrade for Scarlet will cost more than Dragon for EPIC.

I think RED is already playing with all options, if they can make it happen, they will, and it will be a more than fair offering. I'm sure about that. Just lets wait and see.

 

[Cid J Salcido Uyarra]

hard to say

I really wish we knew a ballpark to save for.

Some are saying $9k?

Hopefully higher frame rates for Scarlet even at 5k.

Unless they plan on adding a 4th camera to the fleet I think it would be awesome to upgrade straight to Epic but at what cost?

Also are we gonna continue to see MX cameras for cheaper or is the whole line going Dragon?

off topic does anyone know if RedRocket can handle Dragon 6K?

 

[Louis Maddalena]

the rocket is only technically capable of 4k on its own.

 

[Maik Müller]

hard to say
Some are saying $6k?

It's safe to say this will not be enough. $6k is the price that EPIC-users will pay for the Dragon-update. The Scarlet-upgrade will cost more, because they have more to replace.

Unless they plan on adding a 4th camera to the fleet I think it would be awesome to upgrade straight to Epic but at what cost?

Think price of (Dragon-)EPIC-brain minus price of Scarlet-brain minus unknown sum (because you would send in a used brain). We would probably end up in a range where the original price for a EPIC-X-brain was before the price-increase. Well i'm highly guessing here...

Also are we gonna continue to see MX cameras for cheaper or is the whole line going Dragon?

The original Mysterium-sensor disappeared after the introduction of Mysterium-X, i guess the same will happen to MX after the Dragon has landed.

 

[Cid J Salcido Uyarra]

the rocket is only technically capable of 4k on its own.

man

too bad I've been on the fence of getting one for so long but it's too much to justify especially if it's designed for 4K

isn't it a PCIe 1.0 not 2.0?

A ThunderBolt version would be murder but it maybe too slow, PCIe is such a pain especially when people are constantly swapping it between machines. Too bad there's no other options

Are people gonna get scared when they see 6K files and workflow lol. I wonder what the average GB is gonna eat up per minute of fooatge.

 

[Cid J Salcido Uyarra]

Maik your right Epic is $6k I had to search for this pic, it wasn't loading on the NAB Dragon forum.

The only reason I see MX staying is to accomodate the 4K rush thats currently taking place and to keep cameras at a lower cost. We never saw Mysterium again because there was only one camera at the time, now there's 3. R1 is staying MX, will they offer MX & Dragon options for both Scarlet-Epic?

 

[Vincent Accardi]

As a Scarlet owner, Definitely interested in the upgrade.....it's a natural progression as a RED owner....I would love to know the option for Scarlet to EPIC/DRAGON as well, which will obviously be more $.

If looking to buy a RED Rocket card, try to get one that is battle tested that'll save some $ for now. As for RED Rocket handling 6K, I think someone mentioned they are designed for 4k which is correct but what if you have 2 RED Rocket cards? Looking forward to the DRAGON release!

 

[Sergio Perez]

I would go 512GB too. Not only because its the best card at the moment, but for future Dragon compatibility. The 512 allows (albeit just a little) recording of better compresion in higher frame rates vs the other cards. This will probably mean a better chance of getting the bet of Dragon, its resolution and frame rates. This is obviously speculation on my part, since Red hasn't announced any compatibility and optimization for Dragon!