Two REDs- do they need matching?

[Frank Barrera]

Hi folks,

I'm in prep on a little movie here in NYC and we plan on using two REDs. Don't even ask where we're getting them from because we're not sure yet. Anyway, I was wondering if I need to match them as I would on a Sony or Panasonic HD shoot. Or is RAW just RAW and you "match" them in post.

Also any other experiences about using two REDs simultaneously would be much appreciated.

thanks mucho.

f

 

[Steve Freebairn]

Hi folks,

I'm in prep on a little movie here in NYC and we plan on using two REDs. Don't even ask where we're getting them from because we're not sure yet. Anyway, I was wondering if I need to match them as I would on a Sony or Panasonic HD shoot. Or is RAW just RAW and you "match" them in post.

Also any other experiences about using two REDs simultaneously would be much appreciated.

thanks mucho.

f

You should jam sync them and genlock them and if you want the same look, then you should match shutter angle, but color temperature will be something that you match in post.

 

[Vinit Borrison]

I've had trouble before - i find the sensors don't match exactly. One camera had a very saturated red channel

 

[Conrad Hunziker]

On Manure we had 3 Red camera bodies. At the beginning we noticed that the color of one of them via HD out was a different color than the other two. So we shot a color test, using the same lenses, chart and relative camera position. I.e. we setup a chart, light and sticks, and popped each camera into the locked off position. So the only difference was the camera. Taking those into RA or RC, it was quite evident that one was a different color - about 700 kelvin off, and a couple of points in tint, if I remember correctly. The only way to rectify that was by sending in the bad body to RED for service.

As for matching - because of the raw format all "color correction" has moved to post. The matrix functions - as crude as they are for the red in terms of DIT-functions - dont really do the necessary amount of control that one would expect to do a full blown color correction in camera. And really, thats not what I want the cameras processor to be doing.

So - the short answer is that on all multi-camera Red shows (including if the second body is just a backup) I do a quick test to ensure that the cameras are in the ballpark. Using the test as described above, Ill test the footage to match in RA or RC (its easier to match in RC) - and if its reasonably close, I would consider it "matching".

It is worth noting that if you are in a pinch and notice that the color of one is a couple of hundred kelvin off the other, that you can just set the cameras to the kelvin that matches, and those settings will be placed into the metadata and (hopefully) used as the defaults for further processing.

 

[Dane Brehm]

Some may not agree but I record a couple frames of a color chart for any corrections in post. Especially if its going to through the Log and Transfer window.

 

[Jay Farrington]

Some may not agree but I record a couple frames of a color chart for any corrections in post. Especially if its going to through the Log and Transfer window.

Me too -

Don't know if this is handy or not honestly, but if I was the guy in post I'd want to see this at the top of every major color temperature change.

I even white balance on it - how old school is that??

 

[number6]

In doing a two camera test, can one drive or CF card be taken from one camera and then plugged into another without reformatting? In other words, can you shoot footage from separate cameras on the same RAID 0 or CF card for comparison?

 

[Frank Barrera]

copy all that

copy all that

thanks for the responses. i will shoot the Macbeth color chart periodically and match them in post.

thanks

f

 

[Brian Ferguson]

I have seen cameras tweaked differently in settings many times. So now before a multi camera job starts I do the following...

A. make sure the cameras are on the same build.
B. Restore the factory look, user, system settings
C. Black shade the cameras

I had someone tell me my camera was 2.5 stops lower than the other on the prep and after restoring factory defaults the cameras were exactly the same.

Jamming TC and Genlock are important but they don't affect the look of the camera.

Then after that check with a chart, Good Luck!

 

[Conrad Hunziker]

In doing a two camera test, can one drive or CF card be taken from one camera and then plugged into another without reformatting? In other words, can you shoot footage from separate cameras on the same RAID 0 or CF card for comparison?

Yes - you can take a single card from camera to camera. In the name of the file, the camera letter will show which camera is which - so make sure they arent both set to "A".