The "brain with no I/O" dilemma

[Kip Evans]

I was thinking about this route until I can find the perfect module, hopefully with some kind of XLR option:

WC easy top to run my 5" RED Monitor http://woodencamera.com/Easy-Top-Weapon-Scarlet-W-Raven.html
WC Quickback" http://woodencamera.com/Quick-Back-Weapon-Scarlet-W-Raven.html
WC V- Mount or gold mount for batteries: http://woodencamera.com/Quick-Back-Weapon-Scarlet-W-Raven.html

Let me know if this makes sense. I'll need to record audio separately for a couple months. I'm running AB gold mounts, so I've been using part of this solution already for my Scarlet X.

 

[jordan levy]

this was all talked about and discussed at length in almost every thread.
every day we waited for them to make the v-lock expander even available for preorder, as it was just a tease on jarred's website, then popped up in a pkg without product page. he and brent were very very specific that it would not be available until march, and this was even before there was such thing as a scarlet-w.
it also cost nothing to preorder, so the moment i put a deposit on the brain, i preordered the monitor and sat back and waited for the expander to be able to be preordered. it confuses me to think that someone would buy just the brain and think, eh, the other things, that everyone will need and every one will want will be instantly available. as well, as fast as they are putting out the camera, i also didnt think 3rd party would be able to catch up this fast, that's why most are saying NAB.
seems like a lot of people that ordered a weapon may have been forced to get the XL volt module, so we should start seeing those being sold for cheap! if only the batteries were a good deal id pick one up.

 

[jordan levy]

in fact, i might have a i/o v-lock expander before my raven!
i saw it pop up in the red store about 10 minutes before brent announced it was available, so i quickly jumped on it.
but im also about 6th on the raven que.

my bigeest worry is really battery power, with hints of new red style batteries and new slims coming from each company, im scared to commit until nab, which is a month after ill probably have my camera. so i might rent v mounts until i figure that out.

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

in fact, i might have a i/o v-lock expander before my raven!
i saw it pop up in the red store about 10 minutes before brent announced it was available, so i quickly jumped on it.
but im also about 6th on the raven que.

my bigeest worry is really battery power, with hints of new red style batteries and new slims coming from each company, im scared to commit until nab, which is a month after ill probably have my camera. so i might rent v mounts until i figure that out.

Your hesitation about batteries is for the same reason many of us held out on accessories. The product pages for modules like the Base I/O weren't finished for weeks after the Raven pre-orders opened up. Many stood by waiting to see what the actual specs were, or even what it looked like. And the premise of other modules to choose from was always looming. What to get? What to get?

As I posted earlier, I think the motto is order everything you *might* want, even if you don't know anything about it, then sort it all out later...

 

[jordan levy]

Your hesitation about batteries is for the same reason many of us held out on accessories. The product pages for modules like the Base I/O weren't finished for weeks after the Raven pre-orders opened up. Many stood by waiting to see what the actual specs were, or even what it looked like. And the premise of other modules to choose from was always looming. What to get? What to get?

As I posted earlier, I think the motto is order everything you *might* want, even if you don't know anything about it, then sort it all out later...

exactly, preorder preorder preorder.
even for other companies products, if its announced before nab, i preorder, i go see it, then cancel or keep my order. it cost nothing.
same with hotels, especially for nab, jump on it now, it cost nothing to do so and nothing to cancel.

 

[Gerrit Piechowski]

Same here! I made my Raven Deposit like a week or so after it was announced and switched to the Scarlet-W with Base i/o pack etc. immediately after it was announced...
I might be in a front position which doesn't make it any better though for now. And the fact that I'm from Germany will make me wait even longer I guess.
I just hope for the best, would be nice to start shooting with this Baby in may

 

[jordan levy]

Same here! I made my Raven Deposit like a week or so after it was announced and switched to the Scarlet-W with Base i/o pack etc. immediately after it was announced...
I might be in a front position which doesn't make it any better though for now. And the fact that I'm from Germany will make me wait even longer I guess.
I just hope for the best, would be nice to start shooting with this Baby in may

and you are probably nowhere near a front position since i personally know about 25 people that ordered the raven the very FIRST day it was announced and now 90 percent of those switched to scarlet. As well it was made clear that only scarlet brains would ship in feb, packages were due upon availability of accessories, which we were all told march. no one that ordered a pkg will receive it in feb.
so sit back and relax, you are probably looking at march/april anyway.

 

[Josh Becker]

and you are probably nowhere near a front position since i personally know about 25 people that ordered the raven the very FIRST day it was announced and now 90 percent of those switched to scarlet. As well it was made clear that only scarlet brains would ship in feb, packages were due upon availability of accessories, which we were all told march. no one that ordered a pkg will receive it in feb.
so sit back and relax, you are probably looking at march/april anyway.

This kind of bums me out. I literally have no desire to own the Raven. So I didn't pre-order it. I pre-ordered the Scarlet-W in about the first hour or so. So now apparently everyone switching from Raven gets bumped ahead in the Scarlet-W queue... I would have arbitrarily thrown in a pre-order if I knew it budged you in line for the higher end model.

 

[jordan levy]

This kind of bums me out. I literally have no desire to own the Raven. So I didn't pre-order it. I pre-ordered the Scarlet-W in about the first hour or so. So now apparently everyone switching from Raven gets bumped ahead in the Scarlet-W queue... I would have arbitrarily thrown in a pre-order if I knew it budged you in line for the higher end model.

yeah, but no one knew about the scarlet-w back then, so it was only fair to all the people that put a deposit in for the Raven thinking it was the new scarlet and the only other option under the weapon. so those guys have got to go first.
me personally, sticking with raven for a personal camera and a b or c cam if needed on set.

 

[Josh Becker]

yeah, but no one knew about the scarlet-w back then, so it was only fair to all the people that put a deposit in for the Raven thinking it was the new scarlet and the only other option under the weapon. so those guys have got to go first.
me personally, sticking with raven for a personal camera and a b or c cam if needed on set.

I guess I feel like the fair thing would be that if you want the Scarlet-W instead of the Raven (after it was announced) then you put in a Scarlet-W preorder like everyone else did. I didn't preorder the Raven because it didn't feel like a suitable replacement for the Scarlet and I'm pretty sure Jarred even acknowledged that they still had plans for the Scarlet line when the Raven was announced.

I'm fine with existing Scarlet-D owners getting a bump in line (the whole "upgrade" perk of being in the RED ecosystem already) but it seems strange to me that a Raven preorder could decide to switch over to Scarlet-W *right now* and be put ahead of the preorder I placed two months ago. That doesn't seem like an "it's only fair" moment to me.

 

[Spencer Weaver]

Scarlet-W brains will supposedly start shipping in a week or so. The problem is, for those of us who went a la carte, things are about to get a little tricky.

My bombsquad rep has told me that accessories will be processed separately from the cameras, and will not ship at the same time. For those who ordered modules and monitors, there may be some down time between shipments.

Personally I was holding out for an OMOD since it was slated to ship before the cameras, however those are now delayed till the end of March or later. I just tried to get my rep to add a V-Mount Expander to my order, but now I'm stuck at the end of the line up for those. They ship in March, which means I'm likely looking April before I get one. Clearly that whole plan backfired in my face.

I could opt for a 3rd party battery plate, but that leaves me with no I/O for my SmallHD or remote focus pulling.

So as it stands, in a few weeks I'll have an $11k paperweight sitting on my desk for what could be as long as a few months.

What are you Scarlet-W brain owners doing to solve this dilemma? Any suggestions?

My original plan was Jetpack + v-mount battery belt clip for power. SmallHD hdmi for monitor. Fool Control App for control. With a forced preset to enable wifi.

However, I recently switched to the base I/O package and decided to just wait it out and get all the kit at once along with the now included case

this works for me though because I'm new to RED ownership and will need everything included in the base I/O package anyways.

 

[Ugo Del]

I'm fine with existing Scarlet-D owners getting a bump in line (the whole "upgrade" perk of being in the RED ecosystem already) but it seems strange to me that a Raven preorder could decide to switch over to Scarlet-W *right now* and be put ahead of the preorder I placed two months ago. That doesn't seem like an "it's only fair" moment to me.

I don't think it's working like that. Red is a fair company. It's just what people are hoping here.

 

[Josh Becker]

I don't think it's working like that. Red is a fair company. It's just what people are hoping here.

Yeah, I'm hoping it isn't the case. And of course, everything I've seen has been speculation, nothing official from RED.

 

[jordan levy]

Yeah, I'm hoping it isn't the case. And of course, everything I've seen has been speculation, nothing official from RED.

no, its not speculation, it was stated by brent in the long long thread announcing scarlet. people using the scarlet d discount get the discount, but dont get first priority.
anyone who ordered the raven gets to switch to scarlet if they want and keep there time stamp as there place in line for scarlet-w.
its fact, not speculation.

this was literally the day if not hours that the scarlet-w was announced:

"Love this, thank you so much Red and Jarred. Got my deposit in for Scarlet-W I/O V-lock package Any chance i can transfer my Raven deposit towards the Scarlet?
David, just contact your rep. They will cancel your RAVEN order, move your deposit to SCARLET-W (and notify you if additional balance due). And did I mention you will keep your RAVEN order time stamp?"

 

[Nathan DuMoulin]

Yeah, I'm hoping it isn't the case. And of course, everything I've seen has been speculation, nothing official from RED.

It is indeed official, which is why it shouldn't be a big deal. Nothing has been changed, and no one is jumping ahead of anyone. I understand people being upset when changes are made, but in this case, it's just the way things were set, and how they remain.

Red runs a business, and that business needs to make money. A company should never penalize a customer who wants to pay more money to upgrade within a product line. In this case that penalty would be a delayed place in the queue. It's a smart business move on Red's part.

 

[Josh Becker]

It is indeed official, which is why it shouldn't be a big deal. Nothing has been changed, and no one is jumping ahead of anyone. I understand people being upset when changes are made, but in this case, it's just the way things were set, and how they remain.

Red runs a business, and that business needs to make money. A company should never penalize a customer who wants to pay more money to upgrade for something. In this case that penalty would be a delayed place in the queue. It's a smart business move on Red's part.

Except they are. How can you say they aren't jumping in front of anyone when the reality is that the camera they preordered originally (the Raven) is slated for release *after* the Scarlet-W and would have 0 effect on the Scarlet-W queue, yet now if they switch over to Scarlet-W then they are filling up a queue ahead of everyone who waited for the Scarlet-W announcement. If I got an early preorder in (lets pretend I was #100 or something), and 100 Raven preorders switch over to Scarlet-W. Does that not make my preorder now #200 in the Scarlet-W queue? I guess I don't see how your claim of "no one is jumping ahead of anyone" is true.

EDIT: you added the last line while I was responding. I don't see how someone changing their pre-order to Scarlet-W and getting queued up like the rest of us is a "penalty", as you put it. They would make the money either way. I guess I'm just annoyed that I didn't know a Raven pre-order was basically a fast pass to the front of the Scarlet-W queue.

 

[Josh Becker]

Agree. I'm a bit surprised by what people are telling here. So as a red owner since 2011, I'm just upgrading my scarlet in a regular way going to the next level, and a guy who signed for a Raven at first, which is a different camera in the lineup, will get his camera before me suddenly because he changed his mind. And everybody was aware of a new scarlet coming, it was not a surprise. It's still hard for me to think this is true. Any confirmation from Brent or some Red's guy?

Yeah, to me it feels like I'm waiting in a regular checkout at the grocery store and someone from the Express Lane "10 items or less" suddenly decided they needed to buy more items, and the store is letting all express line people cut to the front of the regular checkout if they change their minds.

 

[jordan levy]

Agree. I'm a bit surprised by what people are telling here. So as a red owner since 2011, I'm just upgrading my scarlet in a regular way going to the next level, and a guy who signed for a Raven at first, which is a different camera in the lineup, will get his camera before me suddenly because he changed his mind. Everybody was aware of a new scarlet coming, it was not a surprise. It's still hard for me to think this is true. Any confirmation from Brent or some Red's guy?

yes, its on the second page of the scarlet announcement like i posted above, from brent:

"Love this, thank you so much Red and Jarred. Got my deposit in for Scarlet-W I/O V-lock package Any chance i can transfer my Raven deposit towards the Scarlet?
David, just contact your rep. They will cancel your RAVEN order, move your deposit to SCARLET-W (and notify you if additional balance due). And did I mention you will keep your RAVEN order time stamp?"

all anyone knew is that there would be a path for scarlet owners into the new system, so one knew it would be a scarlet-w with a discount for scarlet d owners, plus it was stated that it would not be announced until nab, so nab was going to be the earliest to even hear about the scarlet path.
so the fact that jarred and brent changed their mind and let the scarlets out of the bag early, then it made sense that people that preordered raven could also change their mind if they wanted. and this decision was made before it was even possible to order the scarlet on the webpage, or at the exact same time, so it should not be a surprise to anyone.
so i think you are looking at it in hind sight, because if you were really following what was going on, then if there was any thought of a scarlet weapon, it wasnt even going to be announced until mid april, so now, you can actually HAVE the camera by mid april, how can you possibly be upset about that. especially because the people getting it early now might not even have the accessories to go with it until march/april, so you arent missing out on anything.

 

[Josh Becker]

yes, its on the second page of the scarlet announcement like i posted above, from brent:

"Love this, thank you so much Red and Jarred. Got my deposit in for Scarlet-W I/O V-lock package Any chance i can transfer my Raven deposit towards the Scarlet?
David, just contact your rep. They will cancel your RAVEN order, move your deposit to SCARLET-W (and notify you if additional balance due). And did I mention you will keep your RAVEN order time stamp?"

all anyone knew is that there would be a path for scarlet owners into the new system, so one knew it would be a scarlet-w with a discount for scarlet d owners, plus it was stated that it would not be announced until nab, so nab was going to be the earliest to even hear about the scarlet path.
so the fact that jarred and brent changed their mind and let the scarlets out of the bag early, then it made sense that people that preordered raven could also change their mind if they wanted. and this decision was made before it was even possible to order the scarlet on the webpage, or at the exact same time, so it should not be a surprise to anyone.
so i think you are looking at it in hind sight, because if you were really following what was going on, then if there was any thought of a scarlet weapon, it wasnt even going to be announced until mid april, so now, you can actually HAVE the camera by mid april, how can you possibly be upset about that. especially because the people getting it early now might not even have the accessories to go with it until march/april, so you arent missing out on anything.

I guess for very early switchers, I could see an exception. The thing I'd be annoyed with though is if someone decided to switch their Raven to Scarlet-W today and their order gets to trump my pre-order that was placed two months ago.

And the early announcement/release is beside the point. It's great that they announced it early and are planning on shipping soon. I'm very excited for it. But even you acknowledged that we were all aware the Raven wasn't a Scarlet replacement. So, therefore, myself and a ton of others held off preordering Raven because it wasn't the camera we wanted. And now we slide back in the queue due to people changing their minds (when they already knew a Scarlet would be coming down the pipe, like you said.)

Obviously there is nothing I can do about it, so I'll just hang out and wait for an email saying mine is ready. But that's where I find more annoyance. I preordered with the impression that I could possibly get in on March delivery... now I have absolutely no clue where I stand. Mid-April? Maybe. May? Could be. Did 100 people change Raven preorders? 1000? Those of us who waited for Scarlet-W preorders to open have no idea if we can even get the camera in the first month or two of release, because people switching over is such a wild card. That's why I find it annoying.

But like I said, nothing I can do but wait.

 

[Nathan DuMoulin]

I guess I'm just annoyed that I didn't know a Raven pre-order was basically a fast pass to the front of the Scarlet-W queue.

Josh, I'm not saying that I agree with preserving the Raven preorder time stamp. From a customer standpoint, I don't agree at all. However, from Red's perspective, I see it being a very smart business move to help entice Raven preorders to spend more money.

My point though, is that it was clearly stated when the camera was announced. Right or wrong, it is what it is, and nothing has changed.

I do feel for you though.