Red Accessories (Aka Support)

[tonacidigital]

holy smokes. I browsed through the lu men lab forum. impressive stuff. fortunately I have an electronics guru who I can bribe to make one for me. I'll post results when done.

 

[Proteus]

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

No, but I might make one (@ full HD) next winter. I like to optimize things to the max, so I'll most likely take a different approach though...
About their implementation, their forum is huge, so if you read enough you can understand more or less the ins and outs.

Currently I enjoy very much my Sony VPL-HS20 projector (1300 hours so far) @ max input 1280x720 which scales internally to it's native 1366x768 on 100" wide screen..

But because I am used to my 23" apple cinema monitor @ 1920x1200, I would like to see that res on big screen and start enjoying at the maximum the Blu Ray and HD-DVD movies that are already out...and my footage of course. The 1080p trailers on this monitor are simply amazing!

 

[Gibby]

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.

Hmmmm…it hasn’t been to soon for Jim Jannard, Stuart English, and other RED development team members to tell us about what they have planned for onboard screen monitoring and focus assist with RED one.

Obviously RED reserves the right to change the RED One specs as necessary, and a final spec sheet has not been published for the camera, but what have RED development team members stated concerning their intentions for the on-board screen, focus assist, and outboard monitoring options?

Jim Jannard’s statement about the on-board screen planned for RED One, and off-camera monitoring buses, in my exclusive interview with him on 4/3/06, published in Studio Daily, 4/14/06:

“We’re still working on which exact screen we’re going to use. The idea is to get something larger than 31/2”, and higher resolution than what you’ve typically seen before. If there is a problem associated with shooting 35mm depth of field, it is the ability to focus, and a high-resolution display helps make critical focusing possible. So a high-resolution LCD - it may or may not in-fact be an LCD - serves double duty obviously, or maybe not so obviously, for focus and also the menus.

You also have the ability to use a larger LCD or any other monitor that the camera will drive, either separately, or in conjunction with the onboard LCD. In addition, we’re providing a HDMI digital viewfinder port for somebody who wants to add an accessory electronic viewfinder, like an AccuScene, or something else that may come up. So for those who are used to shooting with viewfinders, as opposed to LCD’s, we’re enabling that option.”

Jim Jannard, DV Info, 5/1/06, on focusing with the RED One on-board screen:

“Pulling focus will be the big surprise to those moving up from 1/3" or 2/3" sensors. It is a whole new ballgame. Standard LCD's won't cut it. It will take a new "trick" not seen before to help the shooter focus accurately without an optical finder (which many will tell you is still a challenge in lower light conditions). I think we have one.”

Stuart English, DV Info, 5/10/06, when listing standard and optional equipment planned for RED One:

“Flip out hi res LCD… HDMI / DVI monitoring…”

I could list several other references to RED development team members referring to their development goal of making the on-board screen “high-res”, or “high resolution”, and to make the focus assist function unique and effective for accurate critical focus.

Technology and/or resolution of the on-board screen? They haven’t released any confirmation of the exact technology or resolution, other than confirming that it will be “high-res” or “high resolution”. It could be LCD, OLED, nono-LcoS, or whatever. There are obviously 1080p-capable screens out there. Will it be 1080p? It hasn’t been confirmed or denied, but they have stated repeatedly that it will be high resolution and enable the effective use of RED’s new focus assist technology.

High-resolution outboard monitoring of RED One? They have confirmed their intention of putting HDMI (which is backward compatible with DVI), dual HD-SDI, and a high-speed serial data port to enable the likes of Infiniband, etc. There should be no shortage of high-resolution monitoring options with Red One beyond the multi-placement onboard screen.

Considering the above, if by chance the on-board “high-res” screen and focus assist functions dance together really well, it follows that it may be feasible to obtain critical focus at resolutions of 2k and lower completely with that screen – no need for an 8.5” or larger outboard monitor, unless you want one, in which case the HDMI, HD-SDI, and high-speed serial data ports give you many options. For real mobile production, ENG-style, Steadycam, etc., it would be awesome if the multi-position onboard screen and focus assist were so good that another larger outboard screen was not needed…

It's going to be interesting when the final spec sheet is published, don't ya think?!

Gibby
RED #8
www.cut4.tv
www.4umat.com

 

[Proteus]

holy smokes. I browsed through the lu men lab forum. impressive stuff. fortunately I have an electronics guru who I can bribe to make one for me. I'll post results when done.

I'd suggest you to read as much as you can and use their "pro" lens. Also make the ventilation better by placing two fans, one blowing in and one out. If you go for this, I wish you good luck!

 

[Proteus]

“Standard LCD's won't cut it. It will take a new "trick" not seen before to help the shooter focus accurately without an optical finder (which many will tell you is still a challenge in lower light conditions). I think we have one.”

From this statement it seems that most likely they are going to use a medium res-panel along with a “trick” “not seen before”. What matters, is to prove effective..

For real mobile production, ENG-style, Steadycam, etc., it would be awesome if the multi-position onboard screen and focus assist were so good that another larger outboard screen was not needed…

Amen…

It's going to be interesting when the final spec sheet is published, don't ya think?!

Well, I prefer to wait for the first review before I get excited..

 

[D_and_G]

Considering the above, if by chance the on-board “high-res” screen and focus assist functions dance together really well, it follows that it may be feasible to obtain critical focus at resolutions of 2k and lower completely with that screen – no need for an 8.5” or larger outboard monitor, unless you want one, in which case the HDMI, HD-SDI, and high-speed serial data ports give you many options. For real mobile production, ENG-style, Steadycam, etc., it would be awesome if the multi-position onboard screen and focus assist were so good that another larger outboard screen was not needed…

It's going to be interesting when the final spec sheet is published, don't ya think?!

Gibby
RED #8
www.cut4.tv
www.4umat.com

Thanks for the summary Gibby. I have full faith in the team of RED to make focus smooth for 2K resolutions. That's not in question for me. My only caveat was using a follow focus during a complex action scene (like in Collateral) using a variety of lenses. It's the ease of use for the complex shots, delegation of composition etc... that has to be balanced against how thrid part products may improve either of those. And frankly, i'm budgeting for something that will has a built in waveform and vectorscope anyway (although that certainly isn't a necessity for using RED effectively)... thus my interest in peoples workflow on set. I wouldn't be buying the camera if i didn't think that it could be used smoothly without the add ons, but i'd be crazy not to explore them :beer:

Heck, 2K is a brave new world indeed. This time around i'm keeping my expectations in check, while getting ready to let the RED revolution out of the dock. BTW, your last sentence sounds like some little dickie bird has given you a glimpse of the specs. Give me a hint, will ya?, I won't tell :grin: :beer: :beer:





RED# wish I was higher

 

[mike the beginner]

Good post Gibby. I really dont think Red will give us an LCD that will not be capable of good focus with resolutions up to 2k. The LCD might not be big enough for some but i expect it will do the job. It's worth noting that Red both in its specs and its thoughts does not do things in half measures.

Michael

 

[Gibby]

Postscript-

Graeme Nattress post yesterday (7/23/06) on the RED: Focus Assist thread on this forum:

“IF you're happy with a green light, then I think what we have in camera as a focus assist will not just blow your socks off, but the rest of your clothes too. You'll have to wait and see, but I think you'll be rather impressed.”

Proteus – I agree on the mid-res probability on the screen, but I have my fingers crossed for higher. I’ll be excited when the spec sheet is finalized and released, because I have confidence that what they state the camera will do, will be accurate for how the camera will perform. Analyzing each of the development teams backgrounds, each has a history of delivering on what they say they’ll do. Like you, I’ll also be way amped if the field tests demonstrate that the camera maximizes the spec sheet, but frankly, I won’t be surprised.

D & G – Nah, I’ve had no peeks at the final spec sheet. I’m just connecting the dots on what was said by the development team about the screen, what technology is practical, available, and cost-effective, and the history/mentality of the development team that I mentioned in the paragraph above to Proteus. I personally believe that whatever they come up with will be an effective solution to the mobile monitoring/focus assist conundrum.

Gibby
RED #8
www.cut4.tv
www.4umat.com