Tag Archives: RED Digital Cinema

DJI Ronin 4D Delivers Cinematic Stabilized Slow Motion!

In what could be called a new paradigm or class of camera, DJI the drone maker has launched a couple of cinema full-frame cameras geared to professional productions that merge their Ronin gimbal products with their Drone pro Zenmuse cameras to create a massively appealing system for pros and enthusiasts that want no compromise stabilization with enough image quality to be able to use them in professional productions for TV and film.  The pricing at just over 11.5k for the 8k version and 7.2k for the 6k version is small potatoes for movie and TV studios but might put off some buyers. 

It is of note that a fully working system bundle is assembled at that price which is much better than other options. It includes the Gimbal, camera and body, 1TB SSD M.2 card, battery, touch screen and cabling. In cinema systems like RED and ARRI this is just the brain or camera body with everything else being added on top as ancillary costs. The frame rates on these cameras are limited to 120fps as the highest at 4k and 75fps at 8k.  They might not be huge but the quality and stabilization should make them quite useful.  → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nissan GT-R High Speed Camera Car Reigns Supreme!

Nissan GT-R High Speed Camera Car

The Nissan GT-R continues to be unmatched in the high-end sports car world by offering a performance way above its price range.  For the new NISMO GT-R 2020 they needed to film the car at full performance. After looking for solutions in the market it was immediately apparent that they needed a car with a rig system that could keep up with the new supercar.

As it turns out the only solution would be to build a custom GT-R with expert and Drifting world champion Mauro Calo, with camera rigs normally used in big Hollywood productions as you have seen in the Fast and the Furious series. Nissan decided to paint the car Matte black so it would not reflect on the other car’s paint and or create unwanted flares on camera lenses.  The result is the best performing camera rig car ever made. It is capable of carrying a fully rigged camera system including but not limited to ARRI Alexa,  RED Dragon, Sony Venice, Panasonic Varicam or high-speed solutions like the Vision Research Phantom Flex 4k.

Nissan GT-R High Speed Camera Car Specs:

  • Twin-turbo 3.8 V6
  • All-wheel drive (Ideal for motion camera mounted systems)
  • Matte Black Anti-reflective paint
  • Flight Head Mini Stabilized Gimbal
  • Carbon-fiber mounting system
  • Ability to mount 360º Action camera systems
  • Reversible Mounting for Front or back camera placement
  • Wireless Follow focus system
  • Up to four crew passengers including the driver
  •  Configurable with any modern camera system under 12kg
  • Cost not shared…“one of a kind”

The car uses the Flight Head Mini from Filmotechnic with the following specs:

 3-Axis Gyro-Stabilized
• RF Wireless capability
• Pan Axis travels through 360º
• Roll Axis travels through 270º
• Tilt Axis travels through 200º
• Payload Capacity: 26lbs.(11.8kg)
• Light Weight: 20.9lbs.(9.5kg)
• Temperature Range: -40ºF to 104ºF (-4.5ºC to 40ºC)

The following video shows the system in use, expect to see this rig being used in dozens of high-speed movies, commercials and TV shows. We are excited to see how it will be used with super slow motion footage, imagine a controlled crash scene at full speed at over 1000fps, things just got way more interesting in the mobile rig camera world and a lot more fun too. -HSC

Nissan GT-R: the ultimate high-speed camera car by Nissan:

Learn more at the official Nissan website here!

Nissan Official Press Release below:

→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

Red Hydrogen One Might Be Best Slow Motion Phone Ever!

Red Hydrogen One

The RED Hydrogen One phone has a lot to live up to but contrary to many doubters it may be just that good when it comes to video and photo quality. How good? By some accounts, it may be unrivaled by any phone currently and possibly for the foreseeable future thanks to the special software that is running on that last year’s Snapdragon 835 chip which is now outdated but still usable to create what RED touts as an imaging phone for the connoisseur.

We expect 4k quality in better codecs than the competition, with the ability to surpass 4k 60p which is the current phone upper limit for frame rates and resolution. As far as higher frame rates go we simply cannot find a lot of information when it comes to the way video is captured but read along to see something that may get a little closer to unraveling the mystery. New phone final body images have been released here in the forums.

Red Hydrogen One Is this the phone we have been waiting for?

As you can see in the image above which was found on the RED Hydrogen forum here there seems to be an ability to move frame rates on the phone to 120 and 240fps even in UHD and 2k cinema resolutions, but it could also mean that only the green portions are available for each resolution and the greyed out ones are not selectable as indicated by a commenter below. As to the validity of this, we will have to wait and see but it is quite encouraging to see an interface devoted to professional video options which take care to establish frame rates as a prime feature.

The Youtuber Marques Brownlee has also posted a Hydrogen One Prototype unboxing which you may find interesting and will give you a sense of what the phone is like physically.

RED Hydrogen One Unboxing! (Houdini Edition) by Marques Brownlee:

We do not venture on speculation much here at HSC but we will keep a close eye on the Hydrogen One and how it develops.  You may also like to see some of the posted image samples from the still camera module on the Houdini prototype phone in this pretty cool thread here: https://h4vuser.net/t/houdini-camera-quality/2027

RED has pushed back the Hydrogen One release date to 2nd of November 2018, with pre-orders beginning October 9th.

The Hydrogen One aluminum version will be available on these carriers: AT&T, Verizon, and Telcel for $1,295.00 USD. The Titanium variant will be out in 2019 and should be $200 USD More. More to come as the release date nears. -HSC

RED Hydrogen Phone for High Speed?

RED Hydrogen Phone

So we have gotten a lot of speculative emails regarding the RED Hydrogen phone teaser announcement.  There are no real specs listed, only pricing which for Aluminum  $1195 and Titanium $1595 USD is no bargain.  It will be an Android phone with a revolutionary Holographic display capable of doing 2D-3D and holographic multiview which will be a mixture of the two.

The phone will also be a possible monitoring device for RED camera owners which will be able to control the cameras from the device.  If you are a RED owner it makes sense to have this as your phone and we expect most RED camera owners to own the device or pre-order. After all the phone will be the same cost as a breakout module for the RED camera which costs up to 70k ready to shoot in the highest spec configurations.

RED Hydrogen Frame Rates?

While no detailed information is presented we expect the phone to have a really good camera sensor and processing pipeline. What does that mean for slow motion? Well, we expect it will at least match the iPhone 7 and or Google Pixel at 240fps 720p and 120fps 1080p.

Knowing RED however we expect the phone to be able to trounce other phones by possibly recording video in a REDCODE RAW codec that is dumbed down but still plenty useful. After all RED invented the modern compressed RAW video revolution. If the phone is capable of recording in RAW mode even while compressed it will eclipse the output of all other smartphones when it comes to production worthy footage.

The biggest clue comes from this snippet on the press release:

“The HYDROGEN SYSTEM incorporates a new high-speed data bus to enable a comprehensive and ever-expanding modular component system, which will include future attachments for shooting higher quality motion and still images as well as HYDROGEN format holographic images.”

So it will have probably dual cameras to be able to do 3D video separation. The higher data bus which will allow for recording attachments means that the phone will be able to output RAW data for recording media and will be unencumbered by the phone’s limitations. This, of course, will mean a higher cost for your pocket which as RED users know is a common occurrence. Even some RED interface cables cost upwards of $200 USD. See the funny video below of a RED Weapon 8k camera being unboxed by Linus Tech Tips:

This Camera Costs HOW MUCH?! – 8K RED Weapon Unboxing, HOLY $H!T Ep. 17 by Linus Tech Tips:

We also expect higher frame rates to be possible in 4k with the Phone, maybe even 120fps at 4k with possible RAW output to a secondary module. All is up in the air but the modularity promised by the phone could do for phones what the original RED Camera did for professional-quality cinema capture for digital producers.   It pushed an entire industry forward to get us DSLRs, cameras like the Sony F5 and F7 and basically improve the way video is recorded around the globe with aesthetic qualities that up until recently were only in the realm of big TV and Hollywood productions.

So in the end what the RED Hydrogen could do is to push high end smartphone makers to offer increased features, modularity and capture higher quality footage among other things. We are all for RED pushing them forward and make them sweat a little.

RED love it or hate it continues to push the envelope with 8k recording and now a modular smartphone that could one day be your B camera.  What is not to love?

We will follow the Hydrogen information closely to see if slow motion is in the cards for the device slated to ship in January 2018, cross your fingers. -HSC

RED Hydrogen Phone PDF Info:

  • The HYDROGEN ONE is a standalone, full-featured, unlocked multi-band smartphone operating on Android OS that just happens to add a few additional features that shatter the mold of conventional thinking.
  • GLASSES OBSOLETE Wearable displays not spoken here. It is no longer necessary to carry (or charge) another device to enjoy multi-dimen­sional content. Experience “look around depth” in the palm of your hand, no glasses or headsets in sight.

5.7″ PROFESSIONAL HYDROGEN HOLOGRAPHIC DISPLAY

This incredible retina-riveting display advancement features nanotechnology that seamlessly switches traditional 2D content, holographic multi-viev,1 content, 3D content, and interactive games … both landscape and portrait modes sup­ported.

• View all traditional 2D content normally at full-screen resolution• View all traditional 2D content normally at

• View all traditional 2D content normally at full-screen resolution• View holographic RED Hydrogen 4-View content (H4V)• View stereo 3D content• View 2D/3D VR, AR and MR

• View holographic RED Hydrogen 4-View content (H4V)• View stereo 3D content• View 2D/3D VR, AR and MR

• View stereo 3D content• View 2D/3D VR, AR and MR

-ASSAULT YOUR SENSES
Embedded in the OS is a proprietary H30 algorithm that converts stereo sound into expansive multi-dimensional audio. Think 5.1 on your headphones. The perfect match for holographic H4V or just listening to your favorite tunes. The differ­
ence this makes would be enough to justify the entire system.
-MODULARITY
HYDROGEN ONE is the foundation of a future multi-dimensional media system. The HYDROGEN SYSTEM incorporates a new high-speed data bus to enable a comprehensive and ever-expanding modular component system, which will include future attachments for shooting higher quality motion and still images as well as HYDROGEN format holographic images.
-COMMAND CENTRAL
The HYDROGEN ONE will not only be the control center for the HYDROGEN system, it will also integrate into the profes­sional RED camera program, working together with Scarlet, EPIC and Weapon as a user interface and monitor.
-RED CHANNEL
One channel to find all 4-View holographic content. Create .h4v (or convert 3D to .h4v) content and upload. Download or stream to view. Movies, documentaries, games, shopping and other apps all found with one click.
PRICE. $1195 Aluminum. $1595 Titanium.
Orders placed today will ship from my own personal first production batch. I can also assure you that after this initial release we will NOT be able to fill all orders on time due to display production limitations. We will NOT guarantee these prices at the time of release. Taxes and shipping not included in the price.
WHAT DO YOU GET?
The HYDROGEN ONE Media Machine with a USB-C cable and charger, an expandable Micro SD card slot plus a “special small token” for ordering early. All other accessories available at launch will be available at an additional price. Additional modules will NOT be immediately available at the time of this first production launch.
WHEN DO YOU GET IT?
The HYDROGEN ONE is targeted to ship 01 2018.

RED Raven Will do 120fps at 4k for 6k!

REdRaven1

RED digital cinema has been releasing information about a new camera brain or body that will be just under $6k US in price but offer a 4k S35 like Dragon sensor with up to 120fps recorded in Redcode RAW at 4k resolution.    It is not known at this time if other frame rates at lower resolutions will be supported but since other RED cameras do window the sensor for 300fps and the like it is pretty safe to say you will be able to shoot smaller frame with higher frame rates.   As to the quality of the 120fps mode it is still up in the air but it could be compressed with RED Code RAW codec in a wavelet lossy format like it does many higher frame rates on other cameras of the line.

Sample video of the RED Raven camera interface reaching 120fps at 4k in a Facebook Post!

Pricing and More Info:

Raven is RED’s new entry level digital cinema camera. It will be $5950 for just the camera Brain, release date unknown as of yet. However, that does include a fixed SSD Media Bay as well as the fixed Canon EF Mount. There hasn’t been other news regarding other mounts just yet, but more info will likely spill out of Jarred’s insomnia or during the official announcement on the 25th (wait was tonight the official announcement?). RED Raven features a 4K Dragon sensor with a width 20.48mm that is capable of up to 120fps 4K recording and is part of the “DSMC²” family style of camera body along with Weapon, which likely means Raven will be compatible with the same accessories. RED RAVEN is the lightest weight camera body in the DSMC² family.

A modest shooting package with 120GB MINI-MAGs, the new 4.7″ LCD Touch, and battery solution can likely be had for under $10k.”

HSC:  So if you have 6k you can have a RED Raven Brain or Camera body but in order to shoot you need SSD mags, batteries, a screen, plates and other accessories.   Still it is the cheapest RED yet when you tally everything up.  If you love the RED workflow and filmic quality of the camera this is a pretty great development for you.  If you are cost conscious and would rather get a Sony FS5, FS7 or upcoming Panasonic DVX200 that will compete in the same space you could save a few bucks.   It is of note that the RED Raven will shoot in REDCODE RAW format which is a near RAW quality workflow with minimal loss in image quality with much smaller file sizes.   You are paying for an ecosystem and workflow solution for latitude and color correction support.  Some of the cameras that it will compete with will only do 4:2:2 8 bit at best so RED should have the upper hand for colorists and outright uncompromising image quality.

Link: You can find the RED official thread on the Raven camera HERE!

The camera will have internal microphones, metal body and support for most red Accessories.

There might be a lot of disappointed RED Scarlet users but they received a camera years ago that was in spec with what was promised.   The original RED One camera also did 120fps at 4k way back when but it was also several orders of magnitude more expensive and bulky. Technology has advanced a lot and this camera is proof that the relentless pace of technology obsolescence spares no-one.

More details will emerge about the RED Raven in the coming weeks!

RED EPIC Samples showing 120fps 4k RED quality:

RED Epic Smoke Trick Compilation (4K-120fps) Cameron J Olsen:

Test RED EPIC 120 fps 4K, Broadway, Los Angeles SimBiker: → Continue Reading Full Post ←