| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital cinematography |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Lake Forest, California, USA |
| Key people | Jim Jannard Jarred Land |
| Products | Red One, Epic, Scarlet, lenses and camera accessories |
| Website | http://www.red.com/ |
The Red Digital Cinema Camera Company manufactures digital cinematography cameras and accessories. It was founded and financed in 1999 by Oakley founder Jim Jannard. The company currently produces three cameras: Red One, Epic and Scarlet.
On November 13, 2008 Red officially announced that the DSMC concept of an integrated Digital Still and Motion Camera system was to be the overarching philosophy of Red's future product lines.
Red opted to design and build interchangeable camera components that are configurable to allow owners to replace various components as they are upgraded and improved, rather than having to replace the entire camera system.
These components come together around a central piece called a Brain, which houses a sensor and the necessary electronics to record, encode, decode, and otherwise control the recorded images. As with the other modules, the Brains can be upgraded independently of the rest of the camera, and can also be swapped, so that a single project could use multiple Brains as needed, while otherwise maintaining a preferred configuration of the DSMC.
Scarlet and Epic share the same modular design and are the two current lines of DSMC Brains.
All current Red cameras record only in the REDCODE RAW codec. It offers a constant-bitrate Wavelet compression with a compression ratio from 18:1 to 3:1. When Red introduced this codec it was the first to allow high bit depth bayer sensor video data to be recorded to CompactFlash, hard disk or SSD media instead of a big external storage system. Being a lossy codec, decompression does not fully restore the original image data recorded by the sensor. Red claims the codec is "visually lossless", suggesting that the information loss is not visible to the naked eye when images are viewed. Since Redcode is a wavelet based codec, it is possible to extract lower resolutions from the video stream to get real time playback on lower end machines.
Having a video stream that offers the same advantages of a raw image, one can make all adjustments like applying a curve, white balance, sharpening, or any other kinds of image adjustments in post like photographers do with their Raw images.
The Red One was announced in 2006 and released in 2007 as the first camera produced by Red Digital Cinema Camera Company.
Red ran a reservation for the Red One camera, requiring a $1,000 deposit, between April 24, 2006 and October 31, 2006. Around 1,000 cameras were reserved during that time. Reservations were reopened from January 21, 2007 until January 24, 2007.[1] The first 1,080 reservation holders each received a machined titanium "R" with their future camera serial number engraved on it. On August 31, 2007, Red shipped the first 25 Red One cameras to pre-order customers. Subsequently the camera became available for general ordering, although through late 2008, there was a wait time of up to several months, as Red filled its order backlog for over 3,000 units. The pre-order process has ended and the Red One became generally available in late 2008.[2]
At the National Association of Broadcasters 2007 show in Las Vegas, three working Red One cameras were on display as well as all-day screenings of the 12-minute short entitled Crossing the Line directed by Peter Jackson using two alpha versions of the Red camera nicknamed Boris and Natasha. The alpha versions had nothing but a record/stop button and shot at 4K at 24 frames per second and a 180 degree shutter. All other features were unavailable. Initially expecting a standard camera test, when Jim Jannard, Jarred Land and Deanan Dasilva from Red arrived in New Zealand, they were surprised to learn that Peter Jackson intended to shoot a ten minute short set in World War I featuring battles in trenches and in the air. The film was used to showcase the capabilities of the Red One camera in action rather than in controlled test environments.[3][4] The film was shot in two days.
Despite being feature-incomplete, Red assured booth visitors the camera would start shipping before the end of the year.
At NAB 2007, Red announced that Redcode raw data generated by the camera can be converted using proprietary software called RedCine into a range of formats, including DPX.[5]
The Red One has a 11.5 megapixel bayer pattern CMOS sensor. The sensor, called Mysterium measures 24.4 mm by 13.7 mm, and has 4,520 by 2,540 active pixels, though the camera only records a window of those pixels in normal operation. The sensor is about the surface area of a traditional Super 35 film frame, creating a similar angle of view and depth of field as the Super 35 film format. When shooting at 2k resolution the used sensor window is the same as Super 16 film. This allows the camera to be used with Super 16 lenses.
Red specifies the sensor's signal to noise ratio at greater than 66 dB,[6] with 11.3 stops of total dynamic range.[7] The default sensitivity is ISO 320.[8] Red later shipped new cameras with the Mysterium-X sensor with higher signal to noise ratio and a native sensivity of ISO 800 and improved dynamic range of about 13[6] stops, which had the same dimensions and pixel count as its predecessor. They also offered an upgrade programm for older Red Ones to replace their Mysterium sensors with the Mysterium-X.
The Red One camera utilises an interchangeable lens mount system allowing for the use of several industry-standard lens types. The default lens mount is a PL mount, the most common mount for modern 35 mm and 16 mm motion picture cameras. An adapter for 2/3" B4 lenses, and for Nikon F-mount lenses have also been created.
At least two third-party suppliers have made a Canon EF lens mount for the Red One, which can provide full electronic control of EF lenses.[9][10]
The Red One can record at several resolutions in a proprietary video lossy format called REDCODE, all recording is progressive scan. Lower resolutions are achieved by windowing the sensor.
| Frame size | Width | Height | Aspect Ratio | Maximum fps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.5K | 4480 | 1920 | 2.33:1 | 30 |
| 4K | 4096 | 2304 | 1.85:1 | 30 |
| 4K | 4096 | 2048 | 2:1 | 30 |
| 4K HD | 3840 | 2160 | 1.78:1 | 30 |
| 4K ANA | 2816 | 2304 | 2.44:1 | 30 |
| 3K | 3072 | 1728 | 1.78:1 | 60 |
| 3K | 3072 | 1536 | 2:1 | 60 |
| 3K ANA | 2112 | 1778 | 2.44:1 | 60 |
| 2K | 2048 | 1152 | 1.78:1 | 120 |
| 2K | 2048 | 1024 | 2:1 | 120 |
| 2K ANA | 1408 | 1152 | 2.44:1 | 120 |
Despite variable frame sizes, the Red One does not allow capture at standard definition or high definition resolutions. However, as part of the process of delivering the REDCODE data recorded by the camera, standalone desktop conversion software called RedCine can be used to downscale to these resolutions for purposes of proxy editing or final output. After the required debayering process, the images resolution of the Red One is approximately 3,200 lines for the Red One M sensor and 3,700 lines for the Red MX sensor. The resolution advertised by Red Digital Cinema is the resolution of the camera's sensor, not the actual amount of lines and rows the sensor can resolve.
The Red One records footage to Redcode data files on disk or flash-based digital storage. Four different recording units with flash, SSD or mechical drives are available.
The Red One camera body weighs ten pounds (4.5 kilograms).[6] Dimensions are 12.02 in long × 6.34 in high × 5.2 in wide (30 cm × 16 cm × 13 cm).[6]
The camera is based around a modular design concept. It has many mounting points; accessories like recording devices, viewfinders, etc. can be mounted to the camera, rather than being integral parts of the body.
Red began shipping cameras with on-board software capable of adding additional features and bug fixes over time, via the camera's software updating mechanism. The current firmware release is a version of build 30.[8] Since the initial release of the camera, new firmware releases have enabled sound, higher frame rates and better image quality, among other features.
Field monitoring is possible by using either Red displays or connecting a display to the HDMI or SDI port of the camera.
The Red One has four TA3 ("mini XLR") connectors, and can record up to four channels of 24-bit 48 kHz digital audio, with or without phantom power.
Additionally, the camera has HD-SDI and HDMI outputs for connection to external monitoring devices.
The Red One generates a variety of data overlays which can be displayed on its video outputs, including histograms, waveform plots, false color exposure aids, time code, project recording formats, audio levels, and two different focus-assist displays.
Unlike virtually all HD video cameras, the Red One does not generate a video stream in-camera which represents its final product. Its real time monitoring outputs do not reflect the resolution and dynamic range captured in the raw files it records. The camera's live outputs are intended to be used only for on-set monitoring, similarly to the way a video tape is often used with film-based acquisition.
As with many CMOS-based cameras, images captured by the Red One may show rolling shutter artifacts. Such cameras read data from the sensor line by line over a short period, rather than all at once, so each frame in an image sequence does not represent a single instant. Rolling shutter artifacts can cause vertical objects to appear to lean as the camera pans them horizontally, and can cause strobe effects like camera flashes or lightning strikes to appear only on portions of frames, creating a "tearing" effect. The effects of the rolling shutter have been improved in recent versions of the Red One camera firmware, but have not been eliminated. Rolling shutter also appears on film cameras, but they are not subject to the "tearing" symptom.
The first feature film shot and completed on the Red One 4K was Red Canvas, starring Ernie Reyes, Jr.[11] Director Steven Soderbergh shot both parts of the movie Che entirely with the Red One camera. After completing the films, Soderbergh stated: "this is the camera I've been waiting for my whole career: jaw-dropping imagery recorded on board a camera light enough to hold with one hand. I don't know how Jim and the Red team did it—and they won't tell me—but I know this: Red is going to change everything."[12] He again used the Red One for his subsequent films The Girlfriend Experience and The Informant!.[13] The Academy Award-nominated District 9 was mostly shot using nine Red Ones.[14] The film's producer, director Peter Jackson, was one of the camera's earliest advocates, and has used it to shoot portions of his 2009 film The Lovely Bones.
Werner Herzog shot his film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? with the Red One. He was disappointed with the camera's long reboot times, saying "It drove me insane, because sometimes something is happening and you can't just push the button and record it". He described the camera as "an immature camera created by computer people who do not have a sensibility or understanding for the value of high-precision mechanics".[15]
On April 15, 2010, an Epic prototype was demonstrated at an off-site meeting during the 2010 NAB show exhibition (Red did not have an official booth at NAB).[27] The Epic M was introduced in early 2011, the Epic-X in late 2011. They share the same technical features, the only differences are the manufacturing process and their delivery dates.
The camera sensor, called Mysterium-X, is a 27.7 by 14.6 mm 13.8 (5120 by 2700 pixels) megapixel bayer pattern CMOS 14 bit sensor which is rated at ISO 800 at daylight with a dynamic range of 13.5 stops. It has approximately the same surface area of a traditional Super 35 film frame masked to the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, creating a similar angle of view and depth of field as the Super 35 film format.
The Red Epic camera utilises an interchangeable lens mount system allowing for the use of several industry-standard lens types. The default lens mount is a PL mount, the most common mount for modern 35 mm and 16 mm motion picture cameras. Red also created a Canon EF lens mount for the Red Epic, which provides full electronic control of EF lenses. A Leica M-Mount has been shown as a prototype[28] and is planned to be sold in December. A Nikon mount will full electronic control over F mount lenses has been announced by RED.
The Red Epic can record at several resolutions in the proprietary video codec REDCODE. Lower resolutions are achieved by windowing the sensor.
| Frame size | Width | Height | Mpix | Aspect Ratio | Maximum fps | Maximum fps HDRx | lowest possible REDCODE at 24 fps | REDCODE compression at maximum fps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5K | 5120 | 2700 | 13.8 | 1.9:1 | 96 | 48 | 3:1 | 12:1 |
| 5K WS | 5120 | 2134 | 10.9 | 2.4:1 | 120 | 60 | 3:1 | 12:1 |
| 4K | 4096 | 2160 | 8.8 | 1.9:1 | 120 | 60 | 3:1 | 12:1 |
| 4K HD | 3840 | 2160 | 8.2 | 1.78:1 | 120 | 60 | 3:1 | 12:1 |
| 3K | 3072 | 1620 | 5.0 | 1.9:1 | 160 | 80 | 3:1 | 12:1 |
| 2K | 2048 | 854 | 2.2 | 2.4:1 | 300 | 120 | 3:1 | 12:1 |
Table shows maximum frame rates at different resolutions for the Epic camera.
The Epic "brain" records at a data rate of up to 225 MB/s to proprietary SSD drives called RedMags. Having no moving parts and being lightweight they allow for lightweight camera rigs and resist sudden motion or intense vibration that could cause dropped frames with mechanical hard drive storage.
On November 19, 2011 Jarred Land announced in-camera playback for the Epic.[29]
The camera weight with just the mount and the SSD module is 2.4 kg.
The camera is based around a modular design concept. It has many mounting points for accessories like recording devices, viewfinders, etc. that can be mounted to the camera, rather than being integral parts of the body. Several cages, plates and rail systems are available that provide protection or extra mounting points.
Three first party, on-camera monitoring options are available for the Red Epic, a 5" LCD touch screen, a 7" LCD screen and an electronic viewfinder. The screens have a native resolution of 1,024 by 600 pixels, while the electronic viewfinder has a native resolution of 1,280 by 848. Both the screens and the viewfinder connect through proprietary interfaces and rely on in-camera processing to generate their data displays, making them compatible only with Red Cameras. If the 5-inch isn't used there is an additional device called the Redmote required to control the camera.
The Red Epic generates a variety of data overlays which can be displayed on its video outputs, including histograms, waveform plots, false color exposure aids, time code, project recording formats, audio levels, and two different focus-assist displays. Unlike most HD video cameras, the Red One does not generate a video stream in-camera which represents its final product. Its real time monitoring outputs do not reflect the resolution and dynamic range captured in the raw files it records. The camera's live outputs are intended to be used only for on-set monitoring, similarly to the way a video tap is often used with film-based acquisition.
Shutter angle can be set by the user to up to 359°.
When enabling HDRx, the camera records a second underexposed video track. A user-definable shutter speed of up to 6 stops less than the main track can be set, however Red doesn't recommend to go further than 3EV difference. The underexposed track is recorded in parallel after each frame of the main video track during the time the main shutter would be closed. The underexposed track can be blended together later via RedCineX to recover blown out highlights in the main video track. Shooting in HDRx reduces the achievable frame rate by half and doubles the data rate of the video stream.
Framerate on the Epic can be brought down to 1 fps to shoot time lapse footage with a user-definable shutter speed.
Red announced the Red Dragon 6K sensor to be the first from the Monstro sensor family. Upgrades to that sensor will be available for both Scarlet and Epic cameras.
The Red Epic brain is also announced to come in the following variants:
| Name | Chip Size | Resolution (in pixels) | Mpix | bit depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epic FF35 | 36x24mm | 6000 × 4000 (6K) | 24 | 14 |
| Epic 645 | 56x42mm | 9,334 × 7,000 (9K) | 65 | 16 |
| Epic 617 | 168x56mm | 28,000 × 9,334 (28K) | 261 | 16 |
The first major theatrical releases to be shot on the Epic will be the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man, Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Killer, Ridley Scott's Prometheus, Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, James Cameron's Avatar 2, David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Måns Mårlind's Underworld: Awakening, Paul W. S. Anderson's Resident Evil: Retribution, Michael J. Bassett's Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, and Ajith Kumar's Billa 2 (first Indian film shooting with this camera).
A self-contained 2⁄3 in Scarlet prototype with an attached lens was demonstrated at CES 2010.
On November 3, 2011, RED officially revealed the new Scarlet system, outfitted with the same S35 Mysterium-X sensor and the same housing (without the cooling ribs) as the Red Epic. It can record stills with a resolution of up to 5120 x 2700 pixels (5K) at 12 fps. For 24 fps recording the resolution has to be lowered to 4k by windowing the sensor, the frame rate goes up to 120 frames per second at 1K.
With specific hardware limitations, the Scarlet comes with a heavily reduced price tag, but at the sacrifice of frame rates and compression options. The body, a side Solid State Drive module, and an aluminum Canon lens mount costs $9,750. Adding a side handle, redvolt batteries, a charger, a 64 GB SSD, RED station, and a 5" touchscreen LCD brings the package to $14,015. On January 1, 2012, the total price for the kit is expected to increase by about $2,000. The customer is also given the chance to replace the aluminum lens mount with a titanium one for $1,500. The titanium equipped Scarlet began shipping November 17, while the aluminum equipped Scarlet started shipping on December 1.[30]
Maximum data rate for Scarlet camera is 55 MB per second (440 Mbit/s)
| Frame size | Width | Height | Aspect Ratio | Maximum fps | Maximum fps HDRx | lowest possible REDcode at 24 fps | REDcode compression at maximum fps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5K | 5120 | 2700 | 1.9:1 | 12 | 6 | not possible | 5:1 |
| 4K | 4096 | 2160 | 1.9:1 | 25 | 12 | 6:1 | 6:1 |
| 4K HD | 3840 | 2160 | 1.78:1 | 30 | 15 | 6:1 | 7:1 |
| 3K | 3072 | 1620 | 1.9:1 | 48 | 25 | 4:1 | 7:1 |
| 2K | 2048 | 1080 | 1.9:1 | 60 | 30 | 3:1 | 4:1 |
| 1K | 1024 | 540 | 1.9:1 | 120 | 60 | 3:1 | 3:1 |
Table shows maximum frame rates at different resolutions for the Scarlet camera.
Red has created a series of self-branded spherical PL mount prime and zoom lenses. These lenses all have an image circle that covers the sensors or frame size of Red Epic and film cameras.
The following prime lenses are currently sold by Red:
| Name | Focal length | t-stop |
|---|---|---|
| Red Pro Prime | 18mm | 1.8 |
| Red Pro Prime | 25mm | 1.8 |
| Red Pro Prime | 35mm | 1.8 |
| Red Pro Prime | 50mm | 1.8 |
| Red Pro Prime | 85mm | 1.8 |
| Red Pro Prime | 100mm | 1.8 |
| Red Pro Prime | 300mm | 2.9 |
The following zoom lenses are currently sold by Red:
| Name | Focal range | t-stop | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Pro | 17-50mm | 2.9 | 1.5 kg |
| Red Pro | 18-85mm | 2.9 | 4.5 kg |
In Q1 of 2010, the 18–50 mm t/2.9 zoom was supplanted by a 17–50 mm t/2.9 zoom.
In January 14, 2010 Jim Jannard announced the development of a set of anamorphic prime lenses with a focal length of 35mm, 50mm 85mm and 100mm with t/2.4.[31] In October 20, 2010 Jarred Land confirmed that those lenses are still in development.[32]
Four first party, on-camera monitoring options are available for Red Cameras. The screens and the viewfinder connect through a proprietary interface and rely on in-camera processing to generate their data displays, making them compatible only with Red Cameras.
| Name | Size | Resolution | ppi | touch screen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOMB EVF | n.a. | 1280x784 | n.a. | no |
| RED TOUCH 5.0" LCD | 5" | 800x480 | 187 | yes |
| RED PRO LCD (7") | 7" | 1024x600 | 170 | no |
| RED LCD (5.6") | 5.6" | 1024x600 | 212 | no |
Red offers several accessories for their cameras such as batteries, side handles, decoder cards and matte boxes.
Red Rocket is a monitoring solution in the form of an internal PCI Express card called Red Rocket that is capable of 4K, 2K, or 1080p video playback via HD-SDI to a user-supplied monitor. The card uses on-board processing to render 4K (or other resolutions) in real time.
A breakout box component of the Red Rocket allows users to convert the HD-SDI signal to four HDMI outputs.
On November 13, 2008, larger formats were announced, including a proposed expansion of up to 28,000 horizontal pixels, for a 261 megapixel sensor.[33]
In September 2008, Jim Jannard made several announcements on the RedUser forum:
On August 18, 2008, Red filed a lawsuit against the electronics company LG over its use of the name Scarlet.[35] Jannard accused LG "...of taking the "Scarlet" brand name from the camera company, despite RED's denial of their request."[36]
On September 23, 2011 Jim Jannard announced that his personal email account was compromised by former Arri executive Michael Bravin.[37] A lawsuit against Arri has been filed at the end of 2011.[38]
These competitors have very similar features and some are already in wide use by the film industry.