Scarlet W - Focus (newbie)

[Guillermo Roberto Alarcon]

I am brand new to RED and Cinema Systems, i am coming from DSLR Sony Photo and Video Shooting and i find it terribly difficult to focus on RED Cameras, obviously there is no autofocus but is there any other methods rather than adjusting manually as my subjects move?
i was watching some focus tutorials but i couldnt find those options on my scarlet w does that mean my brain camera isnt equipped with those features?
any tips please!!

Thanks community

 

[Domenic Barbero]

in all honesty, just get really good at pulling manually. as you progress in your work, youll see this is a mandatory requirement. Don't trust a camera to read your mind. Focus where you want, when you want, with your eyes and hands.

 

[Guillermo Roberto Alarcon]

yes thats true, it just such expensive system as RED should have at least basics on track focus for moving objects specially when they get close to camera very quick those are almost unusable shots..
Domenic do you recommend any cheap focus pull system that i can attach to the S-W

 

[Scot Yount]

Are you using the focus peaking available on the camera?

 

[Domenic Barbero]

yes thats true, it just such expensive system as RED should have at least basics on track focus for moving objects specially when they get close to camera very quick those are almost unusable shots..
Domenic do you recommend any cheap focus pull system that i can attach to the S-W

Just use any manual follow focus system such as an arri ff4 or Cff-1. there are a lot of tips and tricks to getting your shots lined up when you have the time to do it. When you are just winging it (which happens a lot) you'll just want to be familiar with your lenses and where they travel more and less in terms of distance. you can use the in camera focus tools such as peaking or some others to help with that process. but this is why focus pulling is an entire job in the industry. it takes a lot of practice. go to a dog park with your camera and just practice following them around

 

[Guillermo Roberto Alarcon]

good tip on practicing with dogs thanks bro

 

[Sergio Perez]

Are you using the focus peaking available on the camera?

This. I never leave this turned off. More than enough to help focusing, even on the Monstro.

 

[Johnny Hurberg]

Like mentioned before it really is a craft, get to know the direction of and the feeling of the lenses you use so it becomes second nature of how to focus.

Also getting a second monitor, I use different LUT´s (creating more contrast) depending what im shooting that helps me see if im nailing the focus.

Good luck and practice alot!

 

[Guillermo Roberto Alarcon]

as separate answer do you know how i can insert specific luts when i record directly from camera

 

[Johnny Hurberg]

Either having a second monitor able of importing luts thru for example sd-cards or do it all in camera, page: 82 in the manual.

Don´t know and not using this method yet to get a "pre-look" at what the final will look like wich requires to be more careful so it all matches in the end.