RED notes: Build 16 released; “nearly ready”

The science project continues: back in mid-June when we looked at RED build 16 beta firmware, we saw some must-have enhancements, but some showstopper bugs. That was then; this is now: here’s how build 16 has evolved…

Non-Locking Connectors Considered Harmful

All hail the progress of inexpensive CE (Consumer Electronics) and IT (Information Technology), and the cost benefits they bring to production! Unfortunately, they also bring some gotchas, like a plethora of non-locking connectors. Most us have probably struggled with the diminutive and easily-disturbed four-pin FireWire connector, and who hasn’t had a 1/8-inch stereo audio miniplug unplug itself at some point? 

How Important is Resolution?

SD, 408p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p… 2k, 4k, UDTV… it seems like the big push is to get ever-higher resolution. It’s true that given two pictures, identical in every other way, that the higher-res image will look better—if you’re close enough to see the difference. But it turns out that resolution isn’t as important as you might think.

Quick look: RED Build 16

Last week, Dane Brehm gave a bunch of us a tour of RED’s build 16 features (as Art Adams reports here). While three beta releases of build 16 had come out in the preceding week, the sacrificial test camera at Chater was “only” up to the second beta build. With builds coming fast and furious, it’s clear that this build isn’t considered ready for prime time just yet. Still, even with the protean nature of build 16 so far, we saw some interesting things.

Cine Gear Expo 2008 - Day 2

Day 2 of Cine Gear Expo dawned sunny and hot—our in-car temperature display registered 102 degrees Fahrenheit by 1:30pm. Despite the heat, there were plenty of things worth seeing.

Cine Gear Expo 2008 - Day 1

We came down to LA for Cine Gear Expo, a two-day showcase of all manner of production things: grip gear, lighting, camera accessories, and so on.

It is quite literally the hottest equipment show around…

Maelstrom - Production (part 2)

[See also: Preproduction; Production (part 1)]

Day 4 - We have a 3pm call for a 4pm start (we’re skewing later in the day as we need to shoot nighttime footage) and plan to shoot to midnight, covering the climactic dinner and post-dinner scenes. 

Maelstrom - Production (part 1)

Day 0 - Finishing up our preproduction for Rob Nilsson’s film, “Maelstrom”, Tim and I head up to San Francisco and Emeryville to pick up gear. Videofax has an EX1 with wide-angle adaptor to back up ours and serve as a B camera, and Chater Camera has two Lectrosonics wireless systems with Sonotrim mikes to supplement my two existing Sony WRR/WRT-28 wirelesses with ECM-77s. 

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