Both Canon and our Red Digital neighbors are holding press events tonight promising big announcements. What will they be? Both companies have been tight lipped and their is lots of industry speculation.
Will Red introduce Pro Res as a recording option? Will they deliver Scarlet? Will Jim buy Canon? Canon buy Red? Will Canon introduce the long awaited dedicated video camera based on the Canon 5D mark II large sensor? What is your guess? The clock is ticking.
Here is an article published in the Orange County Business Journal discussing a little Red innovations and the pending annoucements.
The guys from Kazakhstan along with some of our friends, crew and the Russian translators
Not to be confused with the parody of the country featured in the movie Borat, these guys are from the very real, and very prosperous country of Kazakhstan. Temirbek Amanzhol, Duman Kozhakhmet, and Altynbek Bektassov were part of a television production team that choose Red as their high end production format. They choose Video Resources to train them on everything from camera operation, to data wrangling and creating dailies, through post workflow.
Here is summary agenda of those days:
Day One:
Production Training on Red Camera:
1- Technical aspects of the camera and its operations — Conducted by Brad Hagen and VR staff
2- The accessories needed and how to best utilize them — Conducted by Brad Hagen and VR staff.
3- Lighting for the Red camera — Conducted by John Frost, DP
4- On location filming test – Supervised by John Frost, DP
5- Data management — Conducted by Joe Hedge, Assistant Editor and Expert Data Wrangler.
Day Two:
Red Camera Post-Production workflow: (using the footage that was filmed on Day One)
1- Exploring the different post-production workflows — Conducted by Brad Hagen and VR staff.
2- Down-converting the R3D files for editing in Final Cut Pro and managing and organizing the files in Final Cut Pro.– Conducted by Joe Hedge
3- Exporting and confirming files Online process – Conducted by Joe Hedge
4- Color Correction using R3Ds using Color — Conducted by VR staff
5- Exporting media for different delivery formats — Conducted by Loren White, Brad Hagen.
If you are interested in a private workshop on the RED drop us a line to discuss schedule and other details.
We have been happy RED users since 2007 and it is our camera of choice for many things, especially interviews. In fact, we have gotten so spoiled by the 4K image that we seldom change framing during the shoot – instead relying on re-framing in post. Even when we are finishing in 1080P we have can go from cowboy (waist to top of head) to a medium close-up with no (ZERO) image loss. It is super cool.
Now enters the DLSR and AF100 and other large sensor cameras. Sure you can get great depth of field, but so far everything in this arena brings compromise. In the case of the DSLR’s you have moire, poor audio recording and zero audio monitoring, and inferior h264 codec. The AF100 fares better on the audio front – working like a conventional video camera but still lacking on the recording format with AVCHD compression. NOTE: We are expecting our Atomos Ninja recorders in a few days so we will see how that enhances the recording capability.
Here is a frame grab from a recent interview we did for a corporate client. I lit it using a Litepanel 1×1 flood as a key, a Litepanel 1×1 spot as a hair/edge light, a window (cloudy day) as a fill, and a dedo projector for the background pattern. The shoot was for a one-time use as a meeting and no potential for repurposing into future programs and the result met our needs.
Last year we produced a national spot for Zeiss Vision using our Red One. Of course, it was a natural to use Zeiss optics and the spot turned out great. We partnered on the creative and shot the spot on green screen in our studio space. All the VFX was done in house and using the 4K real estate of the RED image we did all re-cropping and zooms in post. This was shot with the original Mysterium chip in our Red One.
I have included a behind the scenes little promo we did for their national meeting in this clip.
While not everyone agrees on the details, most will agree that the RED ONE revolutionized digital cinema, either directly or indirectly. Nearly two and half years after it’s introduction RED turned the industry on it’s head again by offering a cost effective major upgrade to their cameras. This upgrade to the Mysterium X sensor has the potential to radically improve the camera already in the hands of it’s owners — some owners, like us, had their RED cameras since 2007. This is a big deal, something never done by Sony, Panasonic, Ikegami, Arri in the history of the industry. Sure you could repair a camera or replace a part – put I have never been able to essentially upgrade a camera I already own without buying an entire new model!
Well? Did RED do it? Does the Mysterium X outshine the Mysterium, and is it worth the investment?
We decided to put it to the test and results are posted below. Here are some stills that represent the tests:
Low Light Compare - Tungsten
Mysterium on left, MX on right, both cameras at ISO 2000. You can immediately see the noise floor and additional image information.
This vehicle headlights and dusk shot is dramatic. Notice the low noise in the MX image, the better sensitivity and contrast range (ability to handle brights and darks). ISO 2000.
We exposed this scene at proper exposure and then opened up 3 stops to make the recording. Using REDcine FLUT controls in POST we wanted to see if scene could be recovered. As you can easily see, the MX was easily recovered (look at the blown out leaves in the sky if the before and after) and would have been completely useable with some additional color correction, but the Mysterium was missing so much information that it would have been impossible to correct. Both cameras were at ISO 800.
The video clips speak for themselves. Enjoy. Both clips are the same, We are testing out the both YouTube and Exposure Room – let me know which player works best for you.
On Exposure Room (download link available – file is 250mb)
On YouTube. Make sure you choose the 720P version and zoom to full screen for best view.
We believe the MX is worth the investment and have upgraded both of our cameras to the new MX sensor. Looking towards the future, our upgraded RED ONES will be a nice compliment to the Scarlet and the EPIC cameras.
Details for the Camera Test and the processing:
We upgraded our camera #15 to Mysterium X and held back our second camera, #16 to Mysterium. The test was conducted with gathering of some industry friends at our OC facilities on Feb. 26, 2010. The tests were informal, yet provide valuable insight into the major differences between the Mysterium and Mysterium X sensor upgrade. The firmware is a beta release, as is the RED Cine program used to convert the R3D files to PRORES and to export snapshot TIFF images.
The process for the test was simple – the same set-up was used for each cameras series of shots. We used the same lighting, tripod, subjects and lenses. Between each test, as few minutes of time lapse and the subject movements and poses were similar, though not exact.
Our goal was to demonstrate any differences between the two sensors. We were expecting a difference in the noise floor and the contrast range. Both were evident and significant to us, see if you agree by reviewing the representative samples we provided. A log of the complete test is available here.
Both cameras set to factory defaults and black shaded before test. Shooting 4K 2:1, RED Code 42 Camera B is Serial No. 16 “Connor”, Mysterium Build 21.4.1 Camera A is Serial No. 15 “RIpley”, Mysterium X upgrade, Build 30.2.4 White balance was matched in Red Cine and all clips were set to REDcolor and REDgamma. No other corrections were made.
The R3D files were exported from REDcine as Apple Pro Res HQ, then brought into FCP. The video files were edited in Final Cut Pro using Apple Pro Res HQ and then exported as a reference file. The reference file was exported to H264 1080P using Telestream Episode. The H264 file was uploaded to web video server where they did their own conversions.
For the split screen comparisons, I exported TIFF still frames from REDcine and, using Photoshop created the split screen and text overlays. The files were exported from Photoshop as TIFF files and then converted to 80% quality JPEG files. As a reminder to all, TIFF single frame exports from the Red 4K 2:1 RAW file are 48MB each frame. The JPEG exports seen her are only 2.5MB so some details are missing as a result. If you are interested in seeing the TIFF files I can make links available on request, however, I feel the additional artifacts don’t distract from the comparative results, but always always happy to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks to all of our colleagues that participated in the test at our Orange County facilities and share our enthusiasm for RED technology.
PS: We are happy to say that our both of our cameras are now equipped with the MX sensors and are available for rent.
OCBJ Canon & Red announcements
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