RED is finally releasing final details about their DSMC system. We will keep track of the bits and pieces as they come out and collect them all in this post.
Scarlet and Epic Details
Jim Jannard posted a small update on the old S35 Scarlet. The new official name is Epic-S (not Epic Light) and it will ship in May 2011 for around $12k. Features are similar to the Epic-X but the Epic-S version will have about half the data throughput meaning framerates and Redcode rates will be limited. It will have HDRx as all of the new DSMC cameras do. The entire Epic lineup is being made here in the US. Scarlet will be mass produced overseas in order to bring costs down.
RED has decided to move the S35 Scarlet into the Epic lineup. The features of the S35 Scarlet were too close to the Epic so RED decided the lineup would make more sense if Scarlet referred to the 2/3″ cameras and Epic to S35 and up. The features and price will change and RED will announce exactly how in a couple weeks. Jim has said it will ship in 2011.
The Epic lineup now consists of the Epic-S, Epic-X and Epic-M. Epic-S (for standard, or S35 Scarlet) will be the Epic with basic features. Epic-X is now the high end Epic anyone can buy (it used to be a special package deal for RED One owners). Epic-M has the exact same features as Epic-X but is being hand machined while RED builds up it’s production capabilities. It comes with hand machined modules and will be the first Epic to ship.
This does not effect the 2/3″ fixed Scarlet or interchangeable. Jim has said they are both right on the heels of Epic.
Tonaci Tran hosted Ted Shilowitz in Vietnam while on his Asia Epic tour and asked him the top 10 questions about Epic. Watch the video below.
Here are some of the nuggets that come up in the interview:
- Lightest shooting configuration: 4 kilos (8.8lbs)
- Epic and Scarlet will make a shutter sound when in stills mode
- While shooting motion, a half press of the record button marks a frame as a still
- Epic may eventually do 5.5k but will not be confirmed in the near future
- Most popular electronic lenses from Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Tamron, Sigma etc. are pre-programmed into Epic. There is a generic profile for electronic lenses that are not programmed.
- Tonaci set the Epic to ISO 6400 and zoomed in on the monitor to a 1:1 pixel ratio and the image looked clean
Here is a fantastic behind the scenes video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WsKKB6ps-g
Now that Epics are going into production the finalized specs are slowly coming out. We will keep track of all final specs in this post.
- The Epic brain with a titanium PL mount weighs exactly 4.5lbs. Add the side handle and side SSD module and it is 5lbs 4oz
- Dimensions ( not including lens mount ): 4.5″ long, 5.5″ high, 4″ wide
- Epic boot up time is now 7.5 seconds.
- Temperature inside the camera can be shown on the monitor at all times
- The Epic can shoot up to ISO 12,800 in camera (meta data of course).
- Exact dimensions of the Epic brain.
MEDIA:
- You will get about 15 minutes of Redcode 5k wide 5:1 on a 64gb SSD drive, 30 mins on 128gb and 60 mins on 256gb.
- Offloading Redcode 5k wide 5:1 from SSD will be about 2x realtime. 3x realtime for 4k.
Record times for a 128gb SSD REDmag:
Jim Jannard has just announced that Epic is officially ready for production. RED will now begin ordering the 18,000 parts per camera and start putting Epics together. 95% of the announced features are solid and ready to go when they ship.
EPIC was officially declared ready for production today. We have prototypes that pass all the requirements we set out the past few months. That means we will finish the Tattoo program and put Tattoos on special jobs and begin ordering all the parts and pieces (over 18,000) to begin production. It will take a bit of time to set up the line and gather all we need, but the end is in sight.
Just to be clear, not every feature is currently enabled, but the most important ones are and the build seems very stable as a foundation. We expect 95% of the features to be ready by the time production EPICs are released.
This is a pretty big day.
Jim
Jannard just announced that RED has decided to add HDRx and Magic Motion to the Scarlet lineup. They will are adding extra boards to the Scarlet brains to process this extra data and this will raise the cost by $1,000 for all versions. Apparently this will only add a very small delay to the shipping date.
Jannard says that after testing HDRx and Magic Motion in the field they realized that it was revolutionary and didn’t want to leave it out of the Scarlet lineup.
RED has released the first HDRx motion footage (right click and save as to download) and it looks amazing. RED has measured HDRx to at least 18 stops on the chart. HDRx is recorded as two streams (twice the data rate) of footage that are then combined in post using Redcine-X. HDRx manipulation will also be in the SDK so we should see it in pretty much every NLE. There is another version called EasyHDR which is done in camera with no hit to the data rate.
RED also has a new motion mode called “Magic Motion“. The effect of Magic Motion is to basically get rid of the stutter in fast pans that is inherent to all digital cameras. Objects that have motion blur also appear more “present”. You really get a sense of this in the “blonde twirling rod” video. A “More Normal Motion Blur” (MNMB) will also be available with HDRx and easyHDR. MNMB is being developed in co-operation with “The Foundry” (the guys who make “Nuke”).
HDRx motion clips. Right click and “save as” to download:
Adam Wilt got a personal demonstration of HDRx from Jannard and has done a fantastic write up here: www.provideocoalition.com/red_visit_21_september_hdrx
Here are some of the details of the HDR motion mode:
- HDRx max framerate: 48fps
- HDRx can record to RED drives up to a certain REDcode
- When shooting HDRx you can chose to use only one of the two streams if you decide you don’t want HDR
- HDRx is not blending disconnected images
- No data rate hit for EasyHRD
- Extra boards are being added to the Scarlet line so that they can do HDRx as well. Each brain will now be $1,000 more.
Here are some stills pulled from HDRx footage. Click images for higher resolution:
Here are some more examples of HDRx RED has posted. The first image in each sequence is the normal exposure, the second is the X track, and the third is the two combined into an HDR image.
Jarred Land has just posted a list of Scarlet details over at reduser. You can read the whole thread here: www.reduser.net/45431
- Scarlet fixed zoom focal length: about 7.5mm-58mm or FF35 Equivalent of 28mm-224mm.
- Mysterious item #21: It is still far enough out that you need not worry about it right now. It is however worth the recognition that it mysteriously has received
- RED ONE owner priority: RED ONE owners who have not executed their cameras for Stages 1-3 of the EPIC program will have a short window of priority on Scarlet packages.
- Scarlet brain weight: Current weight of Fixed Scarlet is just over 4.5 pounds.
- First Scarlet to ship: Scarlet 8x is first to be brought up in the lab. It is still in engineering form, not “run around and take pictures form”. Think of a mini-Franky. There is alot of effort is going into the autofocus algorithms and lens optimization, and alot of waiting for bits of code to come down from it’s big brother. ASIC, Sensor and Lens work have been complete ( the hard parts ), but there is still alot of firmware work to be done and some minor mechanical changes waiting on tooling.
- 2/3″ image quality: The images coming off of it are incredible…remember, the 2/3rds sensor is part of the Mysterium-X family, and you all know what that looks like.
- 120fps is working on the CF-Module with 64GB cards at a reduced REDCODE rate. The highest REDCODE number you can use with the CF cards are still being determined as optimization work is progressing.
- Scarlet sensor read/reset: The read/reset will be on par to the read/reset times of EPIC S35.
- Dynamic range: Compared to the EPIC S35 they will be close. The actual delta changes every day, as both systems continue to independently improve.
- Delivery dates: Scarlet Fixed 2/3″ is currently behind EPIC and likely will be for the forseable future. Some things are caught up, but as a whole it is a step or two behind it as it inherits a good portion of EPIC’s development efforts.
- Biggest change: The autofocus is actually the most impressive work going on right now… Nobody has seen autofocus on a video camera work like this before, and it is pretty impressive to actually see it work. Of course #21 is pretty incredible. And the (optional) Titanium Lens mount is pretty cool.
- Custom colors: Kind of… the side”cosmetic” pieces on Scarlet are removable.. and you can get different finishes. I can’t remember if we officially mentioned that before for the 2/3″…… but you can. But please… No pink.
Here are a couple other details Jarred mentions in the thread:
- The motors are in the lens, both autofocus, iris and zoom. That 8x lens all by itself is a technical achievement all by itself. This is a cinema lens: with custom actuators and lens group movements designed for both motion and still.
RED is making a new module for Scarlet and Epic that will stream h.264 1080 over WiFi to any iPhone, iPad, or live internet broadcast. It also records high quality h.264 1080 scaled proxies to Compact Flash cards. The module will cost $2,500 and will be available around September 2010.
This module will allow you to hand iPads to your directors, producers, script supervisors etc. and they can all view what the camera is shooting real time. more…
RED has confirmed that they are working on ProRes and AVID DNxHD modules as well. These will allow you to record RAW to you main media and simultaneously ProRes or DNxHD files to a CF card in the proxy module.
RED is making some announcements and clarifications leading up to NAB 2010. Here is a list of new information that has come out this past week.
- Epic @5K 2.37:1 (5120 x 2160) is now 120 fps. 5K 16:9 is 96 fps. 5K 2:1 is 100 fps.
- Epic can process 1.5 gigapixels per second. 5x as powerful as the RED One.
- Epic body with CF module weighs 5lbs
- The new Redvolt batteries last 40-60 mins, while the old RED bricks last 3 hours
- Epic has Clean 1080p HDMI/HD-SDI output feeds while also displaying menus on the LCD/EVF
- DSMC EVF/LCD ports are dual use
- Boot up time on the prototypes is currently 12 seconds from completely off to monitors on and ready to record. Goal for shipping brains is 10 seconds.
- Jannard confirms that their will be discount packages for not only the fixed Scarlet kit, but the other DSMCs as well.
OTHER STUFF:
- RED 64gb CF cards will be shipping by summer. They skipped the 32gb cards.
- PL Mount Diascope for setting PL Backfocus / Flange distance on the RED ONE / EPIC / SCARLET cameras announced.
RED SIDEHANDLE
- Flash triggering options: PC/X SYNC port integrated into the side handle is compatible with Pocketwizards, Profoto, Hensel, Elinchrom, AB, etc. Wireless triggering options are in development
- RED side handle now has a working LCD display
- Side handle has a motion/stills switch on the front
CF MODULE:
- Now has push button eject mechanism
- CF module now has a record button
- Also has two user assignable buttons
The Epic brain in the images below is prototype “Thirteen”.
Jim Jannard just announced that REDCODE 2.5:1, a mathematically lossless compression option, will be available on the Epic. more…
EPIC has a REDCODE mathematically lossless compression option (2.5:1) that records to onboard SSD module (not to CF).
Jarred has just posted the first ever image from a working Epic/Scarlet prototype. Meet “Charlie” the peacock at 5120 × 2560 resolution. Shot with a 300mm RPP on a prototype form-factor Epic. More… Click the image to see the full 5k version:
This photo of the setup is the first picture of a working Epic brain:
Jannard has just confirmed that RED now has 3 working Scarlet/Epic prototypes. They are named “Blackie”, “Lucy” and “Desi”, an ode to Ren Mar studios that RED has just purchased.
The names are references to movies/shows shot at RED Studios Hollywood which was previously Ren-Mar Studios and before that Metro Pictures Back Lot #13. “Blackie” refers to the “Boston Blackie” films that were produced by Metro Pictures at the beginning of the 20th century and Lucy and Desi refer to “I Love Lucy” which was shot on the location while under the Ren-Mar name. More…
Deanan DaSilva and Graeme Nattress have also been twittering about the image coming off the prototypes:
From Deanan:
- 9:05 PM Mar 7th Almost 7 HD frames in one Epic frame
- 2:27 PM Mar 7th 5k, 14 megapixel 24p blows away 4k. Pretty exciting to see how beautiful MX sensor looks at it’s full resolution.
From Graeme:
- 6:27 PM Mar 7th 5120 pixels across. Can you say effortless detail? Even half rez spills over onto my 2nd monitor.
Jannard has just announced that the added specs to the Scarlet and Epic line now mean that the DSMC start up time will be 10 seconds.
In an effort to get the bad news out as soon as we have it, it looks like we will likely miss (at least) one proposed spec on EPIC/Scarlet. The engineers tell me that a 2 second startup time is now not possible given all the changes/additions to the program. Our current prototypes are starting up in 15 seconds and we think a reasonable target for production cameras is about 10 seconds. more…
If “sleep mode” is still in the final specs this shouldn’t be a big problem.
If you read between the lines it looks like RED finally has a working ASIC for the DSMC. Jannard mentions a prototype and it must fully functional if they can deduce a start up time.
We just got back from RED Day at RED’s newly purchased RED Studios Hollywood in downtown Hollywood, CA. The RED team showed off new footage from their Mysterium-X sensor and had Scarlets, Epics, and DSMC accessories out for people to play with. Here are some of the new bits of information and pictures from the event:
- RED now will have 3 locations in the US: RED Studios Hollywood, RED Ranch Las Vegas and the original Lakeforest location.
- The miniRED primes are TINY and have butter smooth focus and iris rings.
- Matt is designing a tiny mattebox to go along with the tiny miniPrimes.
- The RED Gunner is a platform that allows you to mount picatinny rails and any NATO accessory on the market. RED will also be making their own NATO accessories for cameras. Maybe now weapons manufacturers will get into the camera accessory market?
- FLUT: stands for “Floating-point Look Up Table”. From Jannard: “If you haven’t clipped RAW, you haven’t clipped any ISO. Move your mid grey anywhere you want without fear of clipping. FLUT works with the Mysterium sensor. It works better with Mysterium-X sensor.” Basically there is a new color science that includes REDcolor and REDgamma which will be options in camera and in Redcine-X. This means we can go back and re-process old RED One footage and take adantage of FLUT. If you expose between the new “goal posts” in camera and in Redcine-X your footage will not clip at any ISO.
- Matt is designing a rail mount option for the RED clip on mattebox.
