If any DCFCPUG members are going to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in April, there is a RED Camera and Post training event sponsored by RED and HD EXPO the week before NAB.

REDucation is the only RED-approved and RED-sanctioned educational program for learning the RED camera, RED workflow, RED data management, and RED post production techniques.

REDUCATION Registration page:

SELECT YOUR WORKSHOP:
April 8-12, 2010 – Las Vegas – REGISTER NOW
August 2-7, 2010 – Los Angeles – Registration Open Soon
September 27-October 2, 2010 – New York – Registration Open Soon
December 6-11, 2010 – Los Angeles – Registration Open Soon

About RED

CURRICULUM
It is important to note that REDucation is the RED approved and sanctioned education for learning RED. While the popularity of the camera and the 1000′s of RED jobs and massive industry adoption of the RED have created a lot of entities teaching RED in some fashion – none have been authorized by RED as the best practices that we believe should be taught. REDucation is what RED believes is the best way to learn the RED camera and RED post production techniques.

RED TECH:

• Theory & Philosophy of RED – The concept of digital film and RAW Cinematography
• The Future of RED – A peek into the Crystal Ball – EPIC, SCARLET, REDRAY, and more
• RED Myths – Dispelling rumors, innuendos, misinformation and FUD
• Common On Set Scenarios – How to work most effectively with this new tool
• The RED ONE Camera – Menus, Frame Rates, Resolution, overview of how to best learn and use the tool
• The RED ONE production packages – Setups for various shooting styles and production scenarios
• Shooting assignments – Testing various lighting setups, exposure situations, and rigging styles
• The RED Lab – Exposure measuring tools, on-set grading & file backup, and prep options
• Monitors – Calibration and setup procedures, philosophy of RED on set monitoring
• Software – REDCINE, RED ALERT!, REDrushes & 3rd Party software
• REDiquette – On-set procedures and politics, dealing with tricky situations and various personalities
• Data Management – Options and best practices for protecting and managing the digital negative
• RED Tech kit review and setup – use of the data-wrangling tools
• Data management during prep – Various testing methods and benefits
• Testing with the DP and the assistants – Getting comfortable with each job and its nuances
• Data management during photography – How to tech the data efficiently and effectively
• Hardware and software solutions for on set work – What makes sense for various types of productions
• On-set footage and color checks – File requirements for post production
• Data Management Lab – Who’s Responsible and various options
• Camera-to-Posthouse workflows – Options and recommended practices
• Storage and backups – How many, how often, and where do they go
• On-set editing and dailies – The modern video assist and file prep station

RED POST:

• RED Post logic points and theory – The pros and cons of many flexible workflows
• Overview of Workflow Solutions
• Small – Kitchen table, Do it Yourself
• Medium – Indy, Commercial, Do it yourself or Outsource
• Large – Feature, Episodic, Do it yourself or Outsource
• The RED lab – Receiving data from the field
• Backing up data – Data and error checking and best practices
• Quality control checks and feedback to set – Informing the set of problems or concerns
• RED Proxies – What are proxies and the various ways to use them
• RED Myths – Dispelling rumors, misinformation and wild information
• Preventing problems before they get to the post stage
• Archiving data – On-set, very short term, short term, long term, very long term
• Dailies – pictures and sound, and the various modern and traditional methods for creating RED dailies
• Editorial Workflow – Yesterday’s offline is today’s online
• Delivering cut scene outputs and elements to directors and producers
• Working with directors, post producers, and post supervisors
• Politics in post production – Specific to RED and the modern state of the industry
• Software options – Offline and online editing, DI and finishing
• RED specific post utilities and the best practice uses – REDCINE, RED Alert!, RED Rushes & 3rd Party software
• VFX Handling – How to manage and optimize the pipeline
• Color Space and LUTs for Post Production deliverables
• Deliverables – Traditional 35mm, and DCP, large format film and digital, broadcast HD and SD, DVD & Blu-Ray, mobile devices, web delivery

RED Digital Cinema is taking the next step in the evolution of our various education efforts with REDucation. The goal of this effort is fully immersive, hands on, practical training and teaching of the RED ONE camera system for both on set practices and post production practices.

This is real world training – taught by working professionals, for working professionals and those looking to work in the field of DigitalCinematography and High Resolution Post Production.

Over the past few runs of REDucation, we’ve streamlined the course, and are combining the Camera and Post sides of the course into one comprehensive class (no longer will we have the option of taking just the camera side or the post side separately.)

We proved with REDucation what we knew all along, that with the RED, shooting and post are so intertwined, that it doesn’t make sense to separate them into to different modules. Considering there is a large on set component of post production, viewing footage, prepping files for editorial, screening dailies during or immediately after the shoot, etc. it really is critical to know all of it to be fully effective as a RED expert.

By combining the Camera and Post sides, we will be making it more focused on the subject matter that’s most important, based on feedback we have received from the first few classes.

The new structure for REDucation is as follows: 6 day class – 2.5 days of Camera tech and on set practices, 2.5 days of Post Production for both on set and off set (post environment) editorial, color grading and DI finishing for TV and Theatrical deliverables. Middle day will continue to be the RED community day, giving the students in the class time to interface with the various companies that support RED in both production and post.

Classes will still be fully hands on with many RED camera packages, all kinds of support gear, both 4k and 2k projection. many Mac workstations for On set Tech training and post production training, and RED rocket enabled 4k screening station to view Student shot footage in 4k.

Looks like the first class we will be run this way will be in Las Vegas from April 8 to April 12 at the Tropicana Hotel with registration open for the first 200. Then we will be running this class structure in NYC, LA, Paris, London and select Cities in Asia and India – dates to be announced sometime early 2010.

REDucation Vegas:

The first class we are planning to run as discussed above will be in Las Vegas from April 8 to April 12th at the Tropicana Hotel with registration open for the first 200. Then we will be running this class structure in NYC, Paris, London and select Cities in Asia and India – dates to be announced sometime early 2010.

This REDucation Vegas looks to be a very popular destination, as it is set to run directly before the NAB show, so many people coming in from all over the USA and Internationally will extend their trip by a week, and combine REDucation with their NAB activities.

Even though this class will be larger than our normal class size, we will be increasing support staff, gear and the venue to support it properly. All the learning will be hands on, just as with the LA classes.

Michael Cioni and Steve Freebairn will be instructing with twenty TAs and forty camera packages. A massive gathering of RED gear and technology.

If you are interested in Vegas REDucation, please register soon, as we anticipate this class will fill up fast, even with the larger number of students we plan to work with on this run.

The app is organized into 5 sections: RedEye, RedAngle, Lens2Lens, 4KStore, and RedSetGo:

“RedEye“ is a calculator that works out Depth of field (DoF)”

This section is a depth of field calculator – you punch in data for the lens (in mm), f stop, distance, feet or meters, and 16/35/Red sensor size, and it’ll tell you the following:
-hyper focal distance
-far focus limit
-far working distance
-focal distance
-near working distance
-near focus distance

A “More Info” option lets you input lens magnification factor or custom circle of confusion, if you want’em.

“RedAngle” is a calculator that works out Dimensional and Angular Field of View (FoV)”

You punch in the lens (in mm) and distance (in feet or meters), and iSee4K will tell you what the scene coverage will be – how tall and how wide, and what angles for the field of view for tall, wide and diagonal. Cool.

The More Info button allows for 2:1 or 16:9 aspect ratio, lens magnification factor, and the ability to crank in a custom sensor size – for those of you with other cameras.

“Lens2Lens“ is a Lens Equivalence Calculator”

You can crank in the lens (in mm) and f stop (what about t stops?) and 35mm/Red2K/3K/4K, then pick 35mm/Red2K/3K/4K for the 2nd camera, and it’ll give you the equivalent lens (in mm) and f stop for the other lens – handy.

Clicking More Settings lets you control aspect ratio (2:1 or 16:9), lens magnification factor, and custom sensor size – you can set all of those for either lens.

“4KStore“ is a storage calculator for REDâ„¢ footage”

This is one of my favorites, since it is such a hassle to figure out otherwise without a custom Excel sheet. Crank in the duration in minutes, punch in 2K, 3K, or 4K; 2:1 or 16:9 aspect ratio; Redcode 28 or Redcode 36; and framerate and it’ll tell you how many GB of storage it’ll take up. I’d love to see them add an option to run it the other way – crank in a capacity, and have it tell you how much time that’ll take up – which is a more practical limit on set I find – how much footage fits on a 8GB card, a 16GB card, or a Red Drive?

Hitting More Info lets you enable Variable Framerate, high detail scene (high datarate implied), and the custom frame rate if enabled.

Finally, you have my favorite -

“RedSetGo“ is a frame rate and timbase settings calculator for the RED ONEâ„¢ digital cinema camera ” – or as I’d frame it, the max frame rate calculator.

Crank in resolution, recording media (8/16GB CF or Red Drive), aspect ratio, Redcode 28 or 36, and it’ll tell you the maximum frame rate – otherwise you need to carry around a chart.

So there you go – this is a great little app that just needs a few little tweaks to be spot on. I’d also love to see the lesser text be not so dark – it is hard to read on screen. That and a bit more labelling to make things absolutely clear and it’d be perfect for my needs (oh, and the reverse storage/time calculator – see VideoSpace for a perfect model).

So if you if you’re going to be using a Red One for a shoot, EVER, and you or somebody on set has an iPhone or iPod Touch, this is a MUST have utility – go to iSee4K.com. There are very detailed explanations of the 5 tools on the site, and clicking the big icon in the middle takes you to the iTunes Store for the FREE download.

Regards,

DCFCPUG staff

<Source: Provideocoalition>

PDF link

Mike Jones of Digital Producer recently released an article entitled ” Going one better: RED editing and what Vegas 9 has under the hood” that is well written and highlights how Sony Vegas is making considerable gains in the standard Big Three “A”s (Apple, Avid and Adobe) support of the RED platform.

Here is the link!

Enjoy, Rodney – DCFCPUG

It started with the RED 18-85 mm T zoom. RED Professional series lenses and accessories should begin rolling out in force the next few months in support of the RED ONE and in anticipation of Scarlet & EPIC.

Jarred will post a pic of the Prime lens set (1st). These are incredible. The bench testing is beyond our widest dreams. As you know, we have lots of lenses here for testing. These new primes outperform them all… especially wide open… and it isn’t close.

Matt is developing an all new accessory program that is equally incredible. “Everything will be machined and incorporates all we have learned over the past couple of years getting our feet wet in this industry”. If it says “Pro” on the box, it is.

So what is “Pro”?

1. All newly designed, machined accessories, including new base plates (15 mm, 15 mm offset and 19 mm), top and bottom mounts, BombEVF, dovetails, etc.

2. Lenses
18-85mm zoom T2.9
300mm T2.9
100mm T1.9
85mm T1.9
50mm T1.9
35mm T1.9
25mm T1.9

[Photo: Jarred Land - reduser.net]

Rod – DCFCPUG

For those of us wandering the periphery of the East Coast “industry” – noses pressed against the glass, staring at the shiny toys of the elders – the RED camera is the buzz product that you read about but rarely see. So, when David Brillhart of Brillhart Media offered a hands-on tour of his RED ONE kit this past Monday, it drew some grateful attendees. The 3-hour event took place at the Georgetown campus of the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University. Besides letting the eager grabbers paw his gear, Brillhart offered various insights into his real-world use of the RED and gave a detailed demo of his post-production workflow (which includes FCP, of course).

DCFCPUG couldn’t resist the opportunity to pose a few questions to David on his RED experience. The answers are worth a read by anyone interested in buying, renting or just learning about the latest watershed product in the ongoing HD revolution:

1. You’ve got an impressively low-numbered RED ONE. What was it about the RED camera that made you decide to get on the wagon so early? I was happy to see a “David” coming out to slay the “Goliaths” who have created great product but at premium prices – and product that was brand specific. You buy Sony and only Sony… etc.

2. Can you tell us a little bit about your current set-up: the camera, the bell and whistle add-ons? My package I built from the ground-up except for some existing Pelican and Porta-Brace cases I had. I have a solid Miller 55 head and heavy duty two-stage carbon fiber sticks. A sweet 3-stage swing away Vocas Matte Box. A set of soft edged grad ND filters and a set of standard ND filters, a Polaroid Filter, Classic Soft and IR Filter. These are all P4′s (Panavision 16:9 aspect ratio). I also have the Electronic Viewfinder which is like looking at a 720P 17″ monitor at 4 feet. I’ve added some Element Technica options — a viewfinder mount and a box that converts the tiny BNC connectors standard on the RED to regular size BNC’s. I also have a few Zacuto items, an articulating arm that the LCD display mounts to (or the EVF if needed) and platter for a wireless receiver.

3. Has the RED met your expectations? Have you had any pleasant surprises that exceeded expectations? It’s 30% heavier than I expected and builds out normally to about 35lbs. But it delivers the kind of cinematic images I anticipated. It’s too cool.

4. What has been the greatest hurdles in each of the production phases: pre-production, acquisition and post-production? Just getting my outfit so it packs easily and moves easily from location to location. I’ve been able to put together a fairly transportable kit – a big hurdle with this camera that has many parts and pieces attached to it. Going out for solo shooting is not recommended. It really requires two people to manage the gear and a third if you are in the city or needing to keep a vehicle close-by. Render times for the one-light color corrections are timely, but that’s what Playstations were made for. However, Build 16 and the new RedSpace colorspace may end up being a big time saver for those who don’t care to mess with the curves in post (i.e. adjust the RAW R3D files.)

5. Gear geeks like you, me and half the DCFCPUG membership drool just thinking about a fully-functioning RED kit. What about Brillhart Media’s clients? Do they “get” the RED revolution? Are they clamoring for you to use the Red on their projects? I’ve been fairly low key about it. My clients, like everyone else’s, care mostly about budget and then about look. What is cool about the RED camera is that completely outfitted it costs only $1200 a day. It requires more personnel, but the results are so stunningly different, the clients are happy to gain the edge that RED gives.

6. How do you decide whether a project is right for the RED – or do you just shoot everything you can in 4K? I don’t consider it a run and gun camera. It’s not a Varicam or an HDCam. It’s a Digital Cinema camera that requires a different pace and a somewhat different skill set. I’ll shoot with my XLH1 for my next two jobs, and then the RED for the two following that. It depends on what the project demands both in terms of art and in terms of budget. As for 4K — I shoot everything I do in RED in 4K.

7. Tell us a little about your basic post-production workflow. I don’t have a fixed workflow yet. If I need to punch something out quickly I import my folders from a RED shoot into FCP, use the medium res proxies to cut a piece, export to REDCINE via a third party application, RED Crimson, do my one-light color corrections, export to the flavor of QT I want my conformed piece to be in FCP, and then import the project via XML back into FCP. Voila, a conformed piece. Or, I might do a log and transfer into FCP of whatever clips I know I want to work with and never go back to REDCINE. I believe it’s possible now to set up a ‘look’ in Red Alert and apply it to one’s Log and Transfer into FCP. In either scenario, I’d probably use some of the color correction plug-ins in FCP if needed or grade it in Color.

8. Any exciting RED projects for Brillhart Media in the coming months? Every project is exciting!

9. Do you have any advice or insight for the video professionals and semi-professionals counting the days until their budget warrants a RED ONE (or maybe the upcoming RED SCARLET)?

Well for those of us who have taken the plunge, count us as a rental resource. There are several of us in town and we’d all like to keep our gear busy. Everything is negotiable. But even at $1200/day (or a $1000/day without my lenses), I rent on a 3-day week and 3-week month. Most of the owner operators will come with the camera as a full-on DP if you like or as a first AC. We know you need it, so that’s what we will recommend. And don’t assume the RED is right for your project. It’s really well-suited for the high end promotional market, political market, commercial and narrative markets and some documentary markets. Scarlet will be a very cool add-on as it will allow for some awesome second unit and even crazy first unit image capture.

10. Care to add anything else RED-related? There is likely going to be a RED users group created in the DC area soon. We’ll keep you posted.

By Rich Volin

Photos by Shawn David