Your experience with REDucation?

[Marco Eisenbarth]

Hi all.

I am seriously considering taking part in the London REDucation event in November.
But before I book I wanted to check if here are some people who already had the pleasure to take part and if they'd recommend doing it.
Having ordered a S-W I want to be able to get the last bit of performance out of this camera.
But since the REDucation workshops are not quite inexpensive I wanted to know if it is worth the money.

Looking forward to what you have to say.

Marco

 

[Peter Lyons Collister ASC]

I am a bit biased in that I have taught at some of the REDucation classes but I will tell you I have learned much from just hanging around after my sessions and listening to all who contribute. John is amazing and the whole gang is really there to further the knowledge about not just Red cameras but also cinematography

 

[soren k jensen]

Absolutely worth it!
Like all training: use it actively, get engaged, ask dumb questions, talk to people, contribute, share, make mistakes. Have fun!

 

[Tom Dowler]

Deffo worth it. Mine was taught by Mark Pederson from OffHollywood, with sessions from Michael Cioni and Dado Valentic.

And if you haven't yet bought your camera you can get a discount, I believe.

 

[Marco Eisenbarth]

Thank you all so far. Only confirms on what I expected to read.

Tom, what can I get a discount on? The camera or the workshop?

 

[Todd T]

You are eligible for the education discount for items that you order or purchase during your Reducation class.

 

[Stacey Spears]

I am usually a TA in the December class. Networking is a key part to Reducation.

 

[Med D]

I attended the LA Reducation in early 2014. At the time I had been reading RU and had a good understanding of the DSMC User Guide. I found the class to be very good for checking out gear and, as others have said, for networking. One thing though that surprised me was the fairly low level of the technical info provided. Most of the attendees were not on Reduser but had been using Red cameras for some time, however many of them had only a minimal grasp of how things like exposure, RAW metadata and blackshading work in the RED world. For that reason the content and pace of the class were very basic in my opinion. We spent what felt like an hour on the goalposts alone, which is for sure important to users but seems like a basic concept that any RED shooter would already have.

The few Reddusers that were at my class were all working I believe. Mark was the main teacher, and he is a great instructor. Tonaci Tran lead one of the break-out groups, and even Zeb B was there, well before his transformation to Zeb, and his monochromatic meltdown and ascent to the color throne. Meeting them and all of the other non-RU users was fun. We even had Devin (Devin Supertramp) Graham and his sidekick Parker Walbeck in our class, although I think I was the only one who recognized Devin when he introduced himself. He bought a Dragon that day.

One part of Reducation is the gear itself. In the breakout sessions you get to use whatever the latest and greatest stuff is. I first saw -- and tried -- a Movi at Reducation, and also was introduced to the Hexolux lights. That part of the class felt a little rushed to me, as each group shoots and edits a short amount of footage while trying all the bells of HFR, HDRX etc. Honestly I think that kind of stuff would be much better saved for the longer Reducation classes. In particular that recent Miami class at Stiltsville looked fantastic from a "hands-on" perspective.

I bought my kit at the LA class and I think that is the crux for the 1-day class -- if you are going to buy gear and use the discount, then it is definitely worth doing. If you are not buying gear and you have even a basic understanding of the technology, then you may want to consider one of the advanced / longer classes.