Eight things I learned while shooting with the RED OnePosted by Jon on June 15, 2008
After having a chance to work as assistant camera on a RED One shoot, I felt the camera was impressive, but doesn't live up to the hype. It's obviously a great value (whether comparing it to high-end video cameras or budgeting for film), but I think the excitement about RED still hasn't translated into a product that can make digital filmmaking simpler than celluloid, yet. I thought I should take a few moments and review what I learned, and maybe give other cinematographers and ACs a chance to learn from my experience.
- 8. Get the accessories. The Red One camera is known for being relatively inexpensive, but if you're going out in the field without the proper equipment, you're not going to get an image that's worth shooting. High-end glass is critical. Have a nice monitor, and a heavy-duty tripod and head. You're not going to want to carry this camera very far, since it's easy to get up to 25 pounds. Bring the crew to go with, there is a lot to handle with this camera.
- 7. Prepare to spend some time with the DI. The workflow options now are very much like film, where you pass your editor a slightly mis-timed workprint and make your real color decisions in the DI suite. The RAW files give you a lot of flexibility with color without adding noise. Don't WB at all, but if you have time, you might get slightly better results using filters to take your image closer to the finished product.
- 6. 4k RAW files are huge. We were generating about 200GB a day once we got up to speed. In a doc situation the amount of data could be crushing. Hire an AC whose primary job is data management. Use a RAID 1 array on set. Bring much more empty space than you think you'll need. The plus side is that you've got a sharper image than a 35mm 4k film scan. You might want to add film grain if you're not outputting to film at some point in your process.
- 5. Bring a light meter. Don't let the digital element fool you, this is a film camera. You have the added benefit of a histogram, but light with the meter to prevent surprises. In many indoor situations available light will be a stop or more too dark. The meter will also keep you more confident when you start seeing your footage played back with gamma and LUT issues inherent to Red on the Mac.
- 4. Use external snyc sound. Red's software has workflow issues with sound right now. The hardware on the Red One takes decent audio, but the software makes it difficult or impossible to use. Hopefully Red will sort this out with a few software revisions, but right now, treat it like a film shoot with sync sound.
- 3. Don't use the HDD in any environments with vibration or shock. We mounted the Red One on a bike and the hard disk couldn't handle the vibration. The CF cards were pretty reliable, although we did have one file error over our five-day shoot.
- 2. Red's software solutions suck right now. RedCine and RedAlert look and function like they were coded in a high-school C++ class. If space and rendering time aren't an issue, I advise getting away from Red software as early in your workflow as possible. The R3D files have lots of data, but without an application to manage it, you're better off just getting close and finishing the work in Color and FCP. I'm hopeful that plug ins for the Adobe suite will make things simpler, since After Effects could do some very amazing things with the RAW R3D data.
- 1. Always rate the camera at 320 ASA. Pushing a stop to save time lighting will leave you wanting more later. The bottom 1/3 or ¼ of the histogram is the noisy part, and shooting at 640 makes most of the image gritty. This isn't a filmic grain, but a non-organic noise. Because of the RAW format, the single pixel grain doesn't devolve into macro blocking, and would probably come out very well with a sofware de-noiser, without much loss in sharpness, but you'll already be spending a lot of processor time fixing gamma, LUTs, and cropping footage.
The Red One 4k 35mm sensor is competitive with film in about every way except latitude. I found my rolling shutter fears to be completely unfounded, although we didn't push the camera to see its limits. Latitude came in around 9 ½ stops, which is enough for almost any indoor shoot. I would really only feel confined by the latitude in a documentary or run-and-gun situation. In a controlled environment, no details were lost, even white walls and black clothes held detail in the RAW image. It's not Vision2, but anyone with a light meter should be able to make it work.
Overall, I wouldn't suggest the camera to anyone unfamiliar with a traditional film workflow. You will be editing on the digital equivalent of a work print, you will have sound issues, gamma issues, and copious amounts of data. If you're looking at digital cinema cameras like the ARRI D-21, then consider the RED One. If you're more comfortable with a video workflow, you can get more latitude and all the benefits of RAW (with fewer drawbacks) using a camera like the Thomson Viper. And if it's budget concerns that are pushing you toward RED, consider turning to a 35mm adapter solution on a 1080p HD camera.
