Red Rental Revenue

Sorry, my fault, I missed that . . . I had to dig up the thread and didn't realize there was another post before my other QT one.

Thanks for the pointer :)

They do look like they'll be a good deal for RED rentals though . . . has anyone else on this list ever rented from them? Do they provide good service/support?
 
You caught us :)

I'm the owner of Indie Rentals, so, although I'm active in another forum, this looked like the perfect opportunity to introduce myself to this one.

As for the rental rate I posted, I do expect to include at least a shoulder mount or cage (depending on price) and still keep that number unless everyone else on the planet is much higher than that. We have a low price gaurantee on all of our equipment, so I try to make sure my prices are in line with our target customer - the indie filmmaker.

Suffice to say that if the Red does what I expect it to do, we will gear most of our rental packages around it as we will strive to be the number one Red rental house, both in terms of equipment and experience. (I'm a working DP and I'll be using these on my projects as well).

I've already purchased two of the 9.2MP monitors for demos, along with a lot of support equipment. (Jim - please send me some 4k footage when it's ready so I can show my customers).

Anyway, I'll stop myself there. That's enough promotion. I'm here if you have any questions.

Jason - you guys have a great looking camera I'm keeping my eye on as well. I've already spoken to your sales team.
 
Doh! - Thanks Jarred. Sorry about that... Just copied my sig over from the other forum.

Anyway, when my monitors and video cards arrive, I'll let you know. The Matrox Parhelia H256 cards are supposed to do 41 frames, but we'll see...

Also, if anyone wants those monitors, you may still be able to contact the seller. Ebay had used, but gauranteed working units for $1k each. Auction #330028760083.
 
Nick_Shaw said:
Whether and how exactly applications like FCP and Shake could access the 'extra' information in REDCODE RAW I guess only Graeme (ok and probably Jim and the others) really knows!
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That'll depend on how the codec converts the raw data into a pixel format these apps handle. Shake uses 16-bit RGB for any QuickTime that has more than 8 bits, which will be nice because Red is RGB. FCP works in YUV, so there'll have to be a conversion to that color space. The question is how to map the dynamic range into these color spaces.

QuickTime is not flexible in deciding what to do with out-of-scale values. For example, when going from YUV to RGB in QuickTime, you lose superwhite data (values higher than those equivalent to 235 in 8-bit) because there's simply no way to tell QuickTime to map the entire 0-255 scale into the RGB image.

I imagine that those kinds of limitations will be the main challenge. One problem is that QuickTime-client applications typically present codec options when writing, but not reading. If you open a QT file in an application, the application queries QT to find a codec that matches the one specified in the file. Then it reads the file with it. Red may have to provide some little "control panel" app that sets options that the codec component can refer to at decode time; this would be to give users options on how to use the dynamic range, to bias the decoding with an adjustable dynamic-range-compression curve.
 
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Jason Rodriguez said:
They do look like they'll be a good deal for RED rentals though . . . has anyone else on this list ever rented from them? Do they provide good service/support?
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I certainly have. Indie Rentals was recommended to me by one of their regular customers. and i just wanted to publicly say that Eric and the guys at Indie Rentals are running an outstanding operation and I recommend their outfit to anyone. About a month ago, I told Eric I was looking to rent a P2 Store for a month of production on my feature White Knuckles. it was 5pm on a friday when i made the rental order. He didn't have one available so he went out and bought one so I could start renting it on Monday morning.

it's been performing flawlessly, by the way, eric.
 
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Jarred Land said:
all you guys wanting to rent stuff.. ive got a big surprise to make your life alot easier coming (hopefully) tonight.
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What was it? Is it still coming or did I miss something?
 
stokestack said:
QuickTime is not flexible in deciding what to do with out-of-scale values. For example, when going from YUV to RGB in QuickTime, you lose superwhite data (values higher than those equivalent to 235 in 8-bit) because there's simply no way to tell QuickTime to map the entire 0-255 scale into the RGB image.
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QuickTime has an API that the client application can utilize to choose the level mapping. Both Final Cut Pro and After Effects implement options on how you want the levels to be mapped when converting to RGB.
Eg. in After effects there is a checkbox to choose between white and superwhite for YUV sources...
 
ZaneIsNumber1 said:
What was it? Is it still coming or did I miss something?
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I'm not sure it has been mentioned, but my guess would be that Red will have an online database of cameras and locations on their website, and whether they are available for rent or not, with links to contact info if they are. This would mean that a client could search for all cameras in Australia for example, and if both of us have uploaded our details then we both show up in the contact list. Would seem logical to have one central location for such info as it makes the clients' search much easier and our advertising costs much lower: "Want to rent a Red? Go to RED.com and get connected right away."

BTW Red Team, if this WASN'T what you were planning, but you think it's a good idea, feel free to run with it. I think it would be a great solution to those of us wanting to rent our cameras out and I'm sure others will agree.
 
cygnet74 said:
i just wanted to publicly say that Eric and the guys at Indie Rentals are running an outstanding operation and I recommend their outfit to anyone.
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Thanks Zak! I hope you're getting great footage :)
 
I am very interested. What glass and sticks do you have for the SDX and what would your weekly rate be?
 
Just out of curiosity, what is the "usual" method for rental houses to protect themselves when renting out equipment? Must customers come with some kind of insurance policy?

BTW, I'm new to this and have never rented equipment, so I have no clue
 
usually, renters can either buy insurance from the rental house or (what i do) insure your production and have your agent at the insurance company issue certificates to the companies you rent from.
 
From their web site:

Available in all 50 States.

Eligible Productions

To be eligible for Short Term Production Insurance, the production must:
1. Have a budget less than $300,000;

2. Shoot only in the US or Canada;

3. Not have Stunts, Pyrotechnics, Aircrafts, Boats, Animals, Fight Scenes, Blanks, Squibs, Guns, Live Gangster Rap Music


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