What to Know about RED...

[Wil Klassen]

So I'm a compleate and utter noob when it comes to RED, well to put it bluntly at production in general. But on the plus side I am very familiar with large format film photography (graduated with photo major and specialization in film photography) and now I'm on my way to becoming a RED guru for our company. I have watched the videos on Vuse, Red Alert, etc., but truth be told I learn more on set seeing the camera in action and sort of "learning as I go". With such a vast group of RED friends, gurus, afficianados, and all around fans to say the least, I figure this is a great place to expand that knowledge by finding out what are some of the best things to know about the RED outside of which button turns it on(haha)? So maybe deeper than that, but seriously if I could call in all talents and users of the camera, what been some of the most helpful / useful things you've either learned or used when working with the camera? DP's, AC's, AD's, what's your nugget you can pass on with working with RED thusfar? Thanks in advance to all who respond!

 

[michael zaletel]

These are the top things I have learned "after" receiving my camera.

1. It takes some time to learn how to get around all the various menus and they can be tricky to navigate to find what you are looking for. There are a lot of buttons on the back and some are shortcuts to what you can get from the main menu while others are the only way to find certain things. The dial is a little tricky at first and is sometimes slow to respond so hard to know if there are additional options or if there is just a delay. Just be patient and study the menu map in the manual to know what to expect.

2. Resolution and frame rate settings are dependent upon media. In other words, some of the settings are dynamic based upon the speed of the media. If you cannot seem to select a certain resolution and frame rate combination, that is probably why.

3. Sometimes recording locks up with compact flash media in 4K 2:1 mode. You can simply turn off the camera and files will be okay but you will lose quicktime proxies.

4. If you are used to video cameras and DSLR's with auto-focus, manual lens focus is a major change in thinking and takes a lot of getting used to and may even require additional equipment (remote follow focus) or additional people (focus puller).

5. The sensor is optimized for daylight and 320-500 ASA. Sure it will work in other lighting conditions and ISO's but with drawbacks so try to stay in that range if at all possible.

6. The ungraded raw footage when you first open in RedAlert is not anything like what you saw on the monitor or what you will get once properly graded. Don't be alarmed by how the footage looks when first opened in RedAlert.

7. At 4k, everything is more noticeable including camera moves. This is why a $5,000 fluid may be a necessity and not just a luxury. Makeup, all details of lighting, and perfectly smooth camera moves become much more important at 4K.

8. Sound. You will probably need to record sound separately using a professional time code synced device. Again, this is another major shift in thinking.

Hope this helps...

-shooter

 

[Rocco Schult]

good points.
While I gotta say, the menu structure is much simpler and easier to dunerstand than that of professional video cameras as you cannot change the picture and alignment or analogue processing.
color temperature and ISO rating is the only one, and it is only metadata, not a real change.
My 1st cent:
ISO 320 is your film
My 2nd:
check collimation professionally, go to a camera tech and understand whats different from a film camera to a digital camera. set it right, it might come slightly misaligned like a film camera that travelled 5 or 10.000 miles and went through various temperatures during a trip.