Red Accessories (Aka Support)

evinsky

evinsky

Well-known member
Reposting this one to keep it on track:

Well, the lens thread is purring along quite nicely now so I thought I'd address my next major concern, camera support.

There were many suggestions about this during the contest but I'd like to take it back to basics. If you own a RED you need a few more goodies to effectively get out and shoot. Since storage is still a little ambigous let's keep this thread to things you can either screw, bolt or clamp on to the camera.

What I own from my HVX/DVX system that can be used with RED:

Vinten Vision 6 and 2 stage tripod legs.
Chrosziel 41150 mattebox
Schneider 4x4 True Pol, .3 & .6 NDs .3, .6 and .9 ND Grads.
Panasonic BTLH-900a 8.5" HD mointor w/HDSDI

What I can see myself needing:

Follow focus, really don't know which one yet. But I will probably get the Redrock focus gears for still lenses no matter what.
A Red Tri handle cage with somesort of shoulder support.
I think the body will have rod support but I'm not sure, so if not I'll have to have another custom bridge plate machined.
Eventually I'd like a heavy duty head and sticks ala Oconnor' HD.
Some sort or zoom motor may be necessary but also may fall under the "Rent it" category
Laser Rangefinder, this is easy to get, probably the Hilti, it's got an optical sight.
lens supports?

Any other thoughts?
 
Im hoping my Cartoni focus will handle the RED.. its payload tops out at 22lbs.

Arri Mattebox is gonna probally wrap my lens.
 
They have to come up with some way to use the RED camera shoudermounted like a regular camera. Someone has to!
 
I'd like see a nice shouldermount with support rod ala dvrigpro. Maybe they'll make an upscale version for the RED? I have some ideas, Danny, if you're interested. :)
 
My choice would also be the OConnor 1030HD. Too bad it cost nearly $6K. But, hey, a camera like the RED deserves the very best in camera support and OConnor is the best in fluid heads.

If I had the money, I would also choose an Arri mattebox. I've always liked the way they "look" the most and it doesn't hurt that they're well made.
 
Jarred Land said:
Im hoping my Cartoni focus will handle the RED.. its payload tops out at 22lbs.

Arri Mattebox is gonna probally wrap my lens.
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Jarred, That is one nice tripod head and at a nice price point. Do you think at 22lbs it would be cutting it kind of close? I mean with everything like cage, rods, heavy cin lens mattebox and so on?
 
Anyone considering a steadicam ?

And evinsky, how needed do you think the 8.5" monitor will be, especially if you have a 17"(with connection kit) BTH1700W attatched ? (just wondering)



:beer:


RED # wish I was higher
 
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JTmoney said:
Jarred, That is one nice tripod head and at a nice price point. Do you think at 22lbs it would be cutting it kind of close? I mean with everything like cage, rods, heavy cin lens mattebox and so on?
Click to expand...

yeah thats why im keeping my fingers crossed. We dont know what the new modular body looks like so we dont know the weight of the camera yet, but im looking seeing if it will work.
 
D_and_G said:
Anyone considering a steadicam ?

And evinsky, how needed do you think the 8.5" monitor will be, especially if you have a 17"(with connection kit) BTH1700W attatched ? (just wondering)



:beer:


RED # wish I was higher
Click to expand...

bth1700 is gonna be pretty underpixeled for the Red.. it will work, but i would much prefer using a 1080p monitor at that 17" size. for a 8" though it should do just fine.
 
Jarred Land said:
bth1700 is gonna be pretty underpixeled for the Red.. it will work, but i would much prefer using a 1080p monitor at that 17" size. for a 8" though it should do just fine.
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What would your choice be in a 17"+, or if you had to choose just between a 8" and a 17", which would you choose? ...With regards to location shooting (on narrative features), i'm assuming most people will be using a video village, especially with 2K filming. Is this a premature assumption on my part ?

That's part of the debate i'm having with my biz partner now, is how we should budget and configure the RED setup. Considering, that I am more interested in getting the most efficient/quality for narrative features for film blow up, and she wants to have a wider scope for configuring the cam...Maybe we'll have to buy two cams :beer:

And do you think the onboard RED LCD will be good enough for critical focus work at 2K, or would the 8.5 be needed ? But, it's probably to soon to tell.

I'll tell you what though, i'm glad we're having this discussion now, and to have this great site as a sounding board, far in advance of RED's release. I want to make the transition to 2K as smooth as possible... :beer:



RED# wish I was higher
 
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I'm positive critiacal focus will be possible with the on board LCD but it will most likely be through some sort of focus assist or other magnification.
The 8.5" Panasonic monitor I have will do 1024 Pixels wide which I believe is enough for critical focusing, and it has an HD zoom feature as well. However this monitor obviously can't show you the whole image, you'll need to come up with something bigger and 1080P at least to know what's really there.
 
evinsky said:
The 8.5" Panasonic monitor I have will do 1024 Pixels wide which I believe is enough for critical focusing, and it has an HD zoom feature as well. However this monitor obviously can't show you the whole image, you'll need to come up with something bigger and 1080P at least to know what's really there.
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Thanks Evin. :beer:

What does the 8.5" go for (approx.)?

I guess i'm wondering which one to budget for - the 8.5" Panasonic, or a tethered HD monitor via HDMI. Ideally, it would be best to have both - one suited for the operator and one suited for the cinematographer/director etc...but perhaps budget may not allow that...

Here's a quote from an interesting ASC article on Mann's Collateral - “An odd byproduct of the HD world, especially with so much handheld operation, was that our focus pullers, John Grillo and Glen Brown, ended up working primarily via remote focus, sitting at the monitor. The HD monitors are so crisp and sharp that the best way to judge critical focus is simply to watch the monitor." Edit : That's not to say that it will be the case with RED, but it's something I was contemplating (especially with action flicks).


Also, do you know if RED will be doing a (in camera) downconversion to send out to monitors?

Hopefully, i'm not bringing this too far off topic :)

I would love to know how much gear people are planning on buying. I know for me, i'll definately go looking for a complete package (and discount) for the amount of gear i'm going to have to purchase. Maybe Abel Cine could come up with a RED package, with a DVX user discount of course, if we all buy at the same time... :grin:



RED# wish I was higher
 
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D_and_G said:
What would your choice be in a 17"+, or if you had to choose just between a 8" and a 17", which would you choose? ...With regards to location shooting (on narrative features), i'm assuming most people will be using a video village, especially with 2K filming. Is this a premature assumption on my part ?


RED# wish I was higher
Click to expand...

this is actually a great thing to think about now as you mention. Ive obviously used both the 8.5 and the 17 and in my opinion the 8.5 kills the 17".. the 17" is an odd size for production, a little big to be rocking around with in the field, and too small to put infront of a group of clients.

To me personally, i would go with the 8 inch for critical desisions, then get a 32" 1080p monitor for use in the studio.

We all gotta see what RED comes up with though.. cause if they have a gorgeous large Hi Def onboard then the 8.5" may become less necessary... although you could use whichever one is better for the operator and give your AC the lower of the two.
 
Jarred Land said:
To me personally, i would go with the 8 inch for critical desisions, then get a 32" 1080p monitor for use in the studio.
Click to expand...
Yup. Thanks Jared. That's a good compromise.

And with the RED team making the LCD separate and thus mountable anywhere on the cage, you can upgrade your LCD to match improvements and save a bundle. Not to mention the variety of configs for operators. :beer:

RED# wish i was higher
 
There are some 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) LCD displays produced for laptop manufacturers. It is possible to order such a display along with the controller (especially if it's a group order) and place it in a plastic frame to make an economical and relatively compact full HD monitor at full resolution.

Such a group order was:
http://members.cox.net/minoten/contents.shtml

header.jpg


Here is a Tohiba LCD page which has a 15.4" WUXGA display:
http://tmd-product.tmdisplay.com/index_e.cfm

Although I listed the above links, the best source might be a small custom laptop manufacturer (assembler) that uses such displays or has access to such conpanies. Someone could use a laptop, but that's far less convenient, expensive and it will most likely have a delay.

EDIT:
These displays have a low power consumption, so you can use a 12V to [120/240]V AC inverter to operate them from batteries.
 
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Good tip Proteus. I appreciate very much your inputs as well your POV regarding our affordable needs. Thanks.
 
Custom 1920x1200 DIY projector to enjoy RED!

Custom 1920x1200 DIY projector to enjoy RED!

BTW, these guys used the displays to make a custom DIY full HD very low cost projector! So if you can't afford Sony's Qualia at $30,000 you can build your own for less than $1500 (@ 1920x1200) so you can enjoy RED !
see: http://www.lumenlab.com/
 
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Saving the world from bad TV...

Lol

EDIT -- Did you experience any presentation from a DIY projector like that?
 
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