DC Metro FCP UG

Our combined May meeting of the Washington DC Apple Final Cut Pro Users Group (DCFCPUG), DC After Effects and the DC Digital SLR (DCDSLR) will be an exciting knowledge sharing event!
Adam Lubkin and Zhibo Lai will be presenting the following agenda:

• Intro to the RED Epic camera
• How to shoot with it
• Show some sample footage and HDRx clips as well
• Shoot a few seconds of live footage
• Shoot same footage using a DSLR
• Downloading media
• Workflow demos using FCP, Color, Redcine X, and AE
• Compare/contrast footage from Epic and DSLR
• Q&A

REGISTER EARLY AND SHOW UP ON TIME AS THIS WILL BE A FULL HOUSE EVENT!

Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Time: Doors open at 6PM for networking time, event starts around 6:30PM..

COVERED PARKING – AVAILABLE

Our May meeting features a RED owner, ALAN Lubkin and his RED EPIC!

Looks like another director’s been on a shopping spree lately, as RED’s Jim Jannard’s just announced that he sold another 50 EPIC-Ms to one generous customer. Who’s this, you ask? Why, it’s James Cameron of Avatar and Titanic fame, and he’s probably just blown $2.9 million on his latest stash of cinematographic toys — it’s $58,000 a pop for these hand-machined professional cameras. Details are scarce at the moment, but any educated guess would point at the upcoming Avatar 2 due end of 2014, meaning our favorite blue aliens will be returning in a healthy 5K resolution. Keep an eye out for Jannard’s official announcement later this week for the full lowdown.

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Source: REDUSER

Insane Specs

Mysterium-X at the heart of the brain
Massive 5K RAW resolution sensor
Records full resolution 100 FPS to postage stamp
Magic of FLUT Color Science and REDCOE
Incredible 13.5 stops of dynamic range

Go HERE for more info…
Listen to Post Pit and Digital Production BuZZ on the latest from the NABshow activities.. the CEO of RED will be here!

FLUT™. What?


FLUT™ (or Floating Point LUT) is a science developed by Graeme that efficiently allows you to balance your mid-greys in the center of the histogram without worry that you’re pushing highlight detail over the edge.


FLUT™ works to smoothly bend in any highlights that might get clipped when going to a higher ISO, working like film’s smooth highlight roll-off.


As a user, you really don’t need to know anything about how FLUT™ works… just that it should be your primary brightness control.

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Jim Jannard – RED Leader

Open letter to Variety from RED Digital Cinema.

Hopefully this will spark some spirited and interested commentary …. Please feel free to forward this to those you work with in the production and post biz that do not spend a lot of time on the forum, as it is a constant point of discussion from what I gather.

+ Ted

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There was a recent article in Variety regarding the confusion on if it’s really cheaper to shoot in Digital as compared to film.

Here is the web link to the original article from a few weeks ago:

While the article was interesting to read, I think it just added to the confusion and did not offer any data or assistance on how to make the best choice regarding shooting Digital or Film as it relates to the financials.


I believe that we do a service to the entertainment community by making our best efforts to be logical and factual about the process and associated costs of shooting digital vs. shooting film.* Mentioning in the article that it is confusing and difficult to figure out I believe does not accomplish anything positive.


In our specialized RED education classes that we have been teaching in Los Angeles, we cover this in depth, and I wanted to share our findings.

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Attached are two PDF cost matrix charts based on 3 perf 35mm film shooting, vs. HD tape shooting on F23 vs. Digital Data shooting on RED.

Attachment 1: A Conservative Cost Comparison – One Week Rental Package/ 10 hrs of shooting / 10 hrs of dailies

Attachment 2: A Conservative Cost Comparison – 90 minute feature | 4 wks shooting | 100 hours dailies | 50 hrs of grading

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This is not meant to be a comprehensive budgeting exercise, just an overview of costs based on conservative numbers from local labs and rental companies in LA, and current film stock, digital stock, processing, data copying and prep, camera rental costs and post production costs.


There are no doubt variances in these figures based on special deals that savvy producers can cut with rental houses, labs and post facilities. *This is a starting point, based on factual data.* It clearly shows the general cost matrix of the different formats, and is a good starting point for creating a comparison of film vs. digital budget in a logical, comprehensive manner.


Note that our budget reflects using 3 perf 35mm for shooting, as this appears to be the most popular choice currently for TV and a fair amount of feature film work. If you prefer to budget for 2 perf 35mm, then subtract 25% to the film stock and processing costs in the chart. If you prefer to budget for 4 perf 35mm, then add 25% to those costs.


Note that we used an average rental rate for an F23 camera package in our cost matrix as well as an average rate for both 35mm and RED camera packages. For F35, you would budget higher for the rental, as that camera typically rents for more than the F23. The Genesis Rental rates and F23 rental rates I’ve been told are comparable based on current rental numbers. You can of course check with your preferred rental house for proper budgeting on 35mm film cameras, HD video cameras and RED cameras for a true comparison based on your project parameters. You will find rental rates all over the map for cameras, usually based on how the gear is maintained, the level of rental expertise, and the level of customer service provided.


Note that the charge for shooting stock of the RED camera is included in the camera rental cost in one chart, and as a line item for production to own their own media assets in the other chart. Since RED the media is re-usable, the cost of renting the appropriate amount of RED media for a one week shoot is typically very low and usually included in the rental cost of the camera equipment.


We find, and you can get many Producers, Directors and DPs that shoot RED on a regular basis to attest to the fact that it takes no longer to prep for a RED shoot than a 35mm or high end HD video shoot, and shooting style of RED is cable free if desired, just like shooting film. The RED does not require a video village tent or traditional DIT role, just like shooting film. The RED stock and the film stock live directly on the camera body, and RED can be shot just as quick or quicker than a film shoot. We do recommend the modern version of a 2nd AC on RED shoots, the First AC job of focus pulling remains the same as film. If the project is large enough, we recommend on set Data Manager, since you have the ability to take portions of the lab processing and file prep for editorial steps onto the set, or into offline editorial, as they are all data functions, requiring off the shelf computer gear.


In addition, you can take the same post pathways with RED that you do for 35mm with the exception that you replace the expensive telecine to HD tape step with a more cost effective data prep step. You can also use a modern approach to tapeless post production, end to end, for both TV delivery and theatrical delivery, and find extraordinary cost savings over traditional methods.


We at RED believe that all these shooting mediums are all viable and good choices for high end production.* This is not meant to be a value judgement on what camera to shoot for your production, just cost matrix data and some workflow logic for budgeting.


If there are any questions, comments, thoughts regarding this, please direct them to my email: ted@red.com. We are always happy to assist, discuss and debate for the purpose of allowing Producers and Productions to make well educated decisions.

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Ted Schilowitz
RED Digital Cinema
ted@red.com

“The new color science aspect is vastly improved calibration of the camera (and necessarily extended to work with M-X and future cameras) way beyond what we did back with B20 (Build 20).


REDGamma is a new philosophy in gamma curves that attempts (and we’ve been shown this attempt worked) to make a curve that’s as gradable as REDLog, has extremely smooth highlight rolloff, and looks “nice” both in camera and as a post starting point.


FLUT™ is a new control (for very fine ISO / mid grey adjustments without inducing clipping) and an underlying technology that facilitates all of the above, and indeed was necessary to make the new color and new gamma curves work.

“It’s a whole re-write, from the ground up, of RED color science and image processing math, with an emphasis on accuracy, precision and improving the image in terms of color accuracy, highlight roll-off and avoiding unnecessary clipping.

We give you the “user curve” tools to allow you to either modify the existing standard curves or to build your own. But we think REDGamma is a very much superior starting point to that which we’ve had before.


To me, the other benefit of REDColor/REDGamma is that it offers a standard starting point for your footage, that looks good, and offers a great grading starting point. This helps remove indecision on what setting to use.


FLUT™ REDColor and REDGamma were designed to get the best out of the new sensor. That they happen to improve old images too is just a bonus It’s only available in the new REDCine-X.


It has to do with in camera because it helps you get a better image while shooting that carries more easily though to post.”

“We are recommending that everyone download the new REDCINE-X (Mac or Windows) and open some of your old files. They are certainly going to be better than you remembered…

The new FLUT™ Color Science works a bit of magic on all RED footage, old or new. The power of REDCODE RAW. But you need to try it for yourself.


Spread the word to all your RED-shooting friends. This one should NOT be kept a secret.”

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Jim Jannard – RED Leader

So what is FLUT?

FLUT is the brainchild of Graeme.

The “F” in FLUT stands for “floating point”.

If you haven’t clipped RAW, you haven’t clipped any ISO. Move your mid grey anywhere you want without fear of clipping.

FLUT includes another new color science. That’s right. Number 3. Better than number 2, which was better than the original.

FLUT includes a new color space- REDcolor (more accurate than before)

FLUT includes a new gamma- REDgamma (more info from RAW than before)

Since an r3d is RAW, you can re-grade any old footage with the new color science.

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FLUT works with the Mysterium sensor. It works better with Mysterium-X sensor.

FLUT Science

1. New Color Space.
More accurate color science and a new color space called REDcolor. Remember that Color Space is not baked in to RAW. This will be the option to CameraRGB or REC 709. I pick REDcolor every time now. But all are more accurate.

2. New Gamma.
REDgamma. It is a gamma that uses more information from RAW than REC 709 or REDspace. It matches your meter. It looks fantastic. The standard REDgamma is fairly flat and ready to grade. REDfilm is a gamma that emulates scanned film… for those traditionalists.

3. Old Legacy.
REDspace, as a color space or as a gamma, plus all the old “other gammas” will be included in REDCINE-X for legacy use. But you can grade your old footage with REDcolor and REDgamma… that is the power of RAW.

4. FLUT.
Graeme’s baby. This one will be shown and explained at RED Day. You are going to love this. Money back guarantee… oh, forgot. It’s free.

In REDCINE-X, you set Color Space (REDcolor). Set Gamma (REDgamma). Set or check your White Balance. Adjust the FLUT Control. Grade. Easy.

REDCINE-X has several new features that you will appreciate… like Shadow Control. Plus… a few new big surprises.

“FLUT™ is a name we are giving to a new set of image processing features in post and in camera. As Jim mentions, along with it comes new histograms, new false color, and new camera settings. The work done on FLUT™ has helped to enable these functions in camera.

But let’s talk about how FLUT™ works with image processing, and how specifically it deals with the concept of “gain”.

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Gain is a necessary part of image processing and it’s simplest to think of it as the most basic way to brighten an image. Traditionally, gain in camera was done in the analogue domain. The downside to this is that as the image is gained up, it causes bright highlights to clip, and indeed it will loose one stop of highlights to clipping for every stop of gain applied. Originally in our camera and software, we applied gain (under the controls ISO and exposure) in a way that worked just as analogue gain does.


Although it sounds simple enough to just adjust the gain so that it does not clip the highlights, like a traditional video “knee”, the devil is always in the details. Instead of a gamma option, which is what a traditional knee is, it was decided to build the smooth roll-off and non-clipping gain properties into a complete system, which much more suits the RAW development nature of working with the R3D files.


This means that while all RAW development controls benefit from the underlying FLUT™ math, the main controls that directly effect it are ISO and the new FLUT™ Control. ISO and FLUT™ Control work together and produce exactly the same results, but FLUT™ control is calibrated in stops and has a fine degree of control, whereas ISO is labeled in traditional units and 1/3 stops. They work together, so if you gain up on ISO and back down the same amount on FLUT™, they cancel each other out. If you gain up on ISO and add more gain on FLUT™, you can get an awful lot of gain. You can use ISO, or you can use FLUT™ and get to exactly the same point. You can roughly gain up the image with ISO and fine-tune with FLUT™ control. The choice is yours. I love FLUT™ control as it’s in stops, and to me, that’s a more natural way of thinking than the ISO numbers.


Sometimes, however, you may wish to have absolutely linear gain and clip those highlights, so “exposure” control works just as it did before – it’s pure linear gain and it will hard clip. However, because FLUT™ is an underlying system – all is not lost…


Take the user curve controls for example, they’ll allow you to “pull back” a highlight you’ve forced to clip through use of the “exposure” control. Or the new Lift/Gamma/Gain controls will also allow you to do the same and pull back highlights you’ve clipped earlier in the image processing chain.


So, to put it all together simply:

FLUT™ is an underlying technology, designed to help you avoid clipping unnecessarily.
It works primarily through ISO and FLUT™ Control, but helps all RAW development controls.
Exposure works just as it’s always done if you need it.
The ISO and FLUT™ controls work together – think of them as “better gain.”

“The wonderful thing about REDCODE RAW is that when color science improves… you can go back and old footage becomes NEW.

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Jim Jannard – RED Leader

With the advances made with the RED camera sensors, color science, codecs and the like, we can all learn from the fundamental science of what’s happening with all things digital and the impacts to digital cinema.  Take a look at a series of videos we posted from Panavision in 2008 by searching on the keyword: PANAVISION and take a look at the 7 part series: DEMYSTIFYING DIGITAL CAMERA SPECIFICATIONS.

You will quickly find out that we are just scratching the surface of what we consumers see as HD (720/1080P) as the high end market pushes beyond 4K to 5K and up.

One of our DCFCPUG sponsor companies’ founder, Graeme Nattress [yes, the same guy who makes those impressive plug-ins at NATTRESS], is heavily involved in the color science work at RED.

Graeme Nattress is behind the FLUT, Image Processing, Colour Science and Demosaic Algorithms and RED4K delivery at RED.








Being a Computer Science major with a minor in Computer Studies, I love his tag line:

Science enables stories. Stories drive Science.

While he is the public face of the mad science work going on, there are other smart guys working with him pushing the limits of resolution to all time highs.  Keep up the good work Graeme and the team at RED!


Keep your eye on the Mysterium sensor:

4520 X 2540 pixels… DATA TO BURN. At the heart of RED lives the 12-megapixel Mysterium™ CMOS sensor, Super 35mm sized, with unparalleled fidelity and flexibility.

It combines low noise with superior charge capacity for dynamic range and color fidelity that allows you to finally have a no excuse digital imaging alternative to shooting 35mm film.


DIGITAL SUPER 35MM

Record 2540 progressive at up to 30 fps REDCODE RAW. With 4520 X 2540 pixels, Mysterium™ puts pure digital Ultra-High Def in the palm of your hand.

RED ONE™ and REDCINE™ also support down-sampling to 1080p and 720p for in-field monitoring and compatibility with non-linear editors.

You get the same breathtaking field of view and selective focus found on film cameras. Mysterium™ boasts a greater than 66db Signal to Noise Ratio thanks to its large 29 sq. micron pixels. And 12,065,000 pixels deliver resolution that can only be called Ultra High Definition.


How does 4K compare to 35MM Film?

Most 35 mm film outs that have gone through a scanning process have been scanned at 2K, or one quarter the resolution of 4K. Only extremely high content VFX work is generally scanned as high as 4K. Viewers that see RED footage for the first time either describe the quality as 65 mm film or “grainless 35”.  More pragmatically, it is the elimination of the cost of film and processing that make the RED ONE so economically attractive, in addition to its extraordinary quality.





What are the Advantages of Shooting DIGITAL vs. FILM?

Beyond the obvious advantage of cost savings with the elimination of film and processing, both consumable products, it is the benefit of being able to watch dailies immediately, in real time, that make shooting digital such a superior experience. In adding the extraordinarily high quality of 4K capture and at such an affordable price, RED has tipped the scales for the industry.

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Follow us as we learn from the pioneers at RED, Canon, Nikon, etc in bringing digital science and resolution to yield real options to shooting on film.  Just like our Larry Jordan FCP Tips, we will have similar words of wisdom from the team at RED.

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Head on over to SHOT ON RED and get excited!

Enjoy the ride!


Rod – DCFCPUG Leader