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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

The First Komodo Out in the Wild

So today's "the wanna get nuts, let's get nuts" day with Komodo.

Big power and RED CONTROL with wireless monitoring:



Some words to go allow with the squid.

Komodo Diary: Unexpected Day 16 entry

Didn't know I had more diary entries, but I keep finding fun stuff to rap about. Today I put on my best robe, tapped into my inner Emperor Palpatine and inspired by Jaws tossed a Core SWX shark fin dual V-Mount with a couple Anton Bauer 150Wh Dionic XTs fed into the Wooden Camera plate and screamed "unlimited power!" as this nets me about 12.5 hours of camera up time. Fun thing is I have bricks that are twice this size and I don't know why I would need a camera on for over a day, but hey, you don't know until you know right?

I continued on the path the dark side, tapped into the force of WiFi, and also tested out the RED CONTROL app on my well abused Apple iPad Pro. This app is the evolution of FoolControl if you aren't new to the RED world, for those that are, this is full wireless camera control on IOS and coming to Android soon from the whispers I hear in my head. However, what is very new is the insanely impressive low latency wireless monitoring through the app. Was a bit shocked by it actually. I don't know if I'd pull live focus through it, but this is powerful stuff and I can generally operate to set frame and critical focus and check exposure at a surprising range. I've included a few views of the full screen monitoring, monitor with tools, and tools with preview image. And yes, you can actually playback and all that good stuff too. Pretty phenomenal.

Won't say if I've tested recording to other media, like you know, straight to a RAID array working volume or anything, but I'm shocked at all the things I have been able to do in a couple weeks with this cubic camera. Today was a lot of that sort of creative thinking. Lens of the day = Zeiss CZ 28-80 T2.9 as I continue on my unholy marriage, merging, and medley of various brands, lenses, and accessories
 
Mike P. said:
Do we know if RED Control will be free and/or work with DSMC1~3 (sans monitoring)?
Click to expand...

Unknown about DSMC 1 and 2 compatibility, but I can't fathom RED putting this much effort in and not being compatible with the future cameras like DSMC3 and Komodo or whatever else is coming.

Gah. It's early days still, but I'm telling you this whole thing closes a big loop for us who use stuff like this. I've been using Foolcontrol a bunch when doing helicopter aerial work in prep or even in the air. This gives me so much happy for now and the future with the wireless monitoring. It's very cool.

But yes, RED CONTROL the app is indeed free now, which is a big hell yes from me.
 
Yeah, I presumed as much (re: DSMC3). And it certainly sounds next level, what with the monitoring.

So does that mean the beta can’t find your DSMC2 when powered on? (I figure it’s like FC, where there’s a list of scanned cameras at the launch of the app.)
 
Hey I was wondering something : could the new Redcode names mean VBR instead of CBR compression ?
 
Mike P. said:
Yeah, I presumed as much (re: DSMC3). And it certainly sounds next level, what with the monitoring.

So does that mean the beta can’t find your DSMC2 when powered on? (I figure it’s like FC, where there’s a list of scanned cameras at the launch of the app.)
Click to expand...

Nope. RED CONTROL is for Komodo and I hope future cameras that likely are built on whatever is going on here, it is a different protocol than DSMC and DSMC2. The current FoolControl "does everything" that you can hope for from DSMC2 bodies. Unknown if there's any sort of cross pollination between the versions but this RED CONTROL does have some very new concepts and implementations. Yet another thing to do a deep dive on once the nails are hammered down. It's familiar to FC, but it is different.


Bastien Tribalat said:
Hey I was wondering something : could the new Redcode names mean VBR instead of CBR compression ?
Click to expand...

Nope. Just 3 compression level being expressed as HQ, MQ, and LQ. At some point we'll have to do some sort of deep dive here.


David Rasberry said:
That might explain the need for updated RCX and SDK to handle the footage.
Click to expand...

Pretty much every new RED digital cinema camera has worked this way. New camera = new SDK to ingest and read the footage. Komodo is a smidge different, but not too crazy.
 
Phil Holland said:
KipperTie's footage looks nice and tasty.

I've been busy with stuff the last few days, but enjoy this little collection of setups from my Day 15-ish diary.

RED Komodo Diary: Day 15

Apologies for being off the air a couple days, tending to things that must be done. But I've been active testing and shooting nonetheless. I thought this medley of setups was an interesting collage.

Top/left is my nimble Belly Cam setup dangling via strap! This is now the 3rd iteration of me wearing my camera around my neck, thst started with the DSMC bodies, which were obviously larger/heavier. With Komodo it's a vastly smaller package and that setup with the 38mm f/2.8 vintage Schneider Xenar is about 4lbs with battery! That's a 3D printed adapter going into an RF>Leica-M adapter. My M-Mount Voigtlanders are a real treat on this as well. Need that MS Optics 28mm real bad. A couple of eyebolts screwed into my GDU Timmy Ribs and job done for the strap.

Next frame, Canon RF>EF Adapter with my beloved Zeiss Otus Primes. A joy to use on their own as well as with a speed booster (hot tip, reducers are useful to expand that FOV when shooting 120fps slowmo at 2K). Almost like it was made for that. Last frame is my glorious big chonker of a technical achievement that is the Tokina Cinema Vista 135mm T1.5. it's mounted via the Wooden Camera RF>PL adapter. This was actually a test to see if I needed a lens support in addition to the support rod on the mount and I can confirm, at least for this big boy, I can rock it stable without the extra rod support. There's a bit of quality of life testing in there if you look closely to see if I can fold down that SmallHD Cine 7, which might be how I leave it rigged in a shoulder bag.

Interestingly the top/left setup with power fits in my smallest camera bag where I usually sling a still camera and a couple of smaller lenses. You can see I'm dancing between support sizes and concepts from my OConnor 1040 Ultimate, to mounting platforms I use for my HDRI camera rigs, all the way to travel friendly. I don't know how everybody else will rig theirs, but it is nice being able to use much smaller and portable gear particularly for locked off setups.

Shooting a bunch this coming week. Working on a script and color stuff for the rest of the evening if you got any questions.
Click to expand...

Phil,

Do you have a recommendation for non-3d printed M adapter? The Novaflex adapter is the most reviewed on B&H but it looks like buyers have said it isn't as good as it could be. I'd like to have a small prime kit for adventure work that includes the Leitz Cine M 0.8 - 21, 35, 50. Do you know if the Komodo will need to be modified to accept the wider m-lenses or if it will be susceptible to smearing?

Thanks in advance.
 
Andrew Bydlon said:
Do you have a recommendation for non-3d printed M adapter?
Click to expand...
The 3D printed aspect is that specific lens. The RF>M-Mount adapter is Kipon in this case and it's working great.
 
Andrew Bydlon said:
Have you tried any wider M glass on the Kipon mount? I hope the Komodo won’t need a modified OLPF.
Click to expand...

I haven't stumbled on anything that hits yet, but also haven't tested the M glass like I did with Dragon yet. I mean there's a lots and lots and lots of lenses with every variations on focal lengths in terms of how much they protrude.

But for those looking to use Leica-M Lenses, I did indeed load up my Voigtlanders today and jogged around with them. Very small and lightweight rig.

phfx_REDKomodoDiary_17.jpg


I made a Komodo Diary which you can read here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB4qk5NHPFO/

TL;DR - That's my 1TB Angelbird Cfast setup with the SSD2GO PKT 4TB for offloading. This is my newer Dell Precision build (7750), it's a big boy notebook that was actually made for my next Monstro shoot that was supposed to start last March. This eats the 6K R3Ds from Komodo and even handles 8K realtime playback of Monstro footage at full debayer. Don't freak out though, my typewriter 15 incher less expensive laptops work great too.

Some people have asked about my camera strap. Find any eyebolts that can screw into the GDU Timmy Ribs 1/4"-20 or 3/8"-16 and anything that can hold the weight of your camera strap-wise. I know other travel filmmakers that use various weapon straps for their shoulder straps, those are certainly strong enough. You can get away with a far lighter duty strap than that with Komodo though. I like bolting to the side and you'll be seeing some top plates and cages soon with more cheese to accessorize into really, really soon.

I'm using the GDU V-Locks lately because I'm doing the gak and cable game powering all my goodies via D-Tap. Truly depends on the monitor and it's power draw, but generally speaking I"m getting 2-3 hours with everything fed from my 98Wh batts. Some of these super powerful bright screens as I mentioned drink a lot of juice. They drink it up. I'll be showing a spicy display alarmingly soon that's a bit more useful and less of a juice hog.
 
Thanks for all your research and input!

Thanks for all your research and input!

It has been a very informative reading all of your diaries and insights. I just wanted to share my appreciation for all your info and conversations sparked by the info.

Thank you, Phil. Great stuff !
 
Phil Holland said:
I haven't stumbled on anything that hits yet, but also haven't tested the M glass like I did with Dragon yet. I mean there's a lots and lots and lots of lenses with every variations on focal lengths in terms of how much they protrude.

But for those looking to use Leica-M Lenses, I did indeed load up my Voigtlanders today and jogged around with them. Very small and lightweight rig.

phfx_REDKomodoDiary_17.jpg


I made a Komodo Diary which you can read here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB4qk5NHPFO/

TL;DR - That's my 1TB Angelbird Cfast setup with the SSD2GO PKT 4TB for offloading. This is my newer Dell Precision build (7750), it's a big boy notebook that was actually made for my next Monstro shoot that was supposed to start last March. This eats the 6K R3Ds from Komodo and even handles 8K realtime playback of Monstro footage at full debayer. Don't freak out though, my typewriter 15 incher less expensive laptops work great too.

Some people have asked about my camera strap. Find any eyebolts that can screw into the GDU Timmy Ribs 1/4"-20 or 3/8"-16 and anything that can hold the weight of your camera strap-wise. I know other travel filmmakers that use various weapon straps for their shoulder straps, those are certainly strong enough. You can get away with a far lighter duty strap than that with Komodo though. I like bolting to the side and you'll be seeing some top plates and cages soon with more cheese to accessorize into really, really soon.

I'm using the GDU V-Locks lately because I'm doing the gak and cable game powering all my goodies via D-Tap. Truly depends on the monitor and it's power draw, but generally speaking I"m getting 2-3 hours with everything fed from my 98Wh batts. Some of these super powerful bright screens as I mentioned drink a lot of juice. They drink it up. I'll be showing a spicy display alarmingly soon that's a bit more useful and less of a juice hog.
Click to expand...

Your rig looks AWESOME dude !
 
Thank you Phil!
The amount of info you provide in each and every entry is amazing!!!
Now we know how to get our baby dragon dressed up (or down) for every occasion :)
 
Andrew Dease said:
Sound devices mix pre 3 or 6 with Komodo? Your Recommendation?
Click to expand...

Certainly take Phil's advice on this, but I'll reply since I own the MixPre 3.

The MixPre 3 is slightly smaller than the MixPre 6, and that's the main reason I bought it. I figured that the small decrease in size would mean I'd be that much more likely to bring it with me when I travel.

As for capabilities, it's always great to have more inputs, but 3 is perfect for many situations where I might not have a sound person: 2 lav mics and a shotgun on a boom is about as much as I can do myself. There are some other differences between the 3 and 6, but I think the main tradeoff for video use is number of inputs vs. size.
 
Andrew Dease said:
Sound devices mix pre 3 or 6 with Komodo? Your Recommendation?
Click to expand...

M Harvey said:
Certainly take Phil's advice on this, but I'll reply since I own the MixPre 3.
Click to expand...

I own the 10 MK II, but pretty much same advice. Komodo is small. Smallest recorder will help keep it that way. Same advice if you are just using a pre-amp. Small.
 
Phil Holland said:
But for those looking to use Leica-M Lenses, I did indeed load up my Voigtlanders today and jogged around with them. Very small and lightweight rig.
Click to expand...

How do you like the Voightlanders? Never shot with any, but have spent some time strolling through their website looking at the samples. Seems like they have a lot of different versions of the same focal lengths with wildly differing aesthetic characteristics. Which do you prefer?
 
David Rasberry said:
How do you like the Voightlanders? Never shot with any, but have spent some time strolling through their website looking at the samples. Seems like they have a lot of different versions of the same focal lengths with wildly differing aesthetic characteristics. Which do you prefer?
Click to expand...

Voigtlander is an interesting company. Occasionally they discontinue lenses I like, but their M-Mount stuff is all good IMO. They have a range of classical looking glass as well as modern, which is a unique angle. I tend to prefer a cleaning image, but I have a few of their classics and all that. Certainly one of the few companies doing modern and classic glass the right way IMO, though not exactly in the cinema space.
 
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