HD For Indies

This is an updated and expanded earlier article, with the further inclusion on details from Jim Jannard's update posted on DVInfo.net

Full update from Jim Jannard:

Jim Jannard, founder of Red, posted on DVInfo.net last night, stating "Time for a full update."

Salient points:

-on track overall
-still on target to get 20 to 30 cameras put together in December for shakedown testing
-THINKS they'll start shipping March/April timeframe (hopefully, and NOT a promised ship date)
-more explanations coming for REDRAW, which they feel strongly should be your preferred shooting format
-traditional RGB recording will be offered as well (Mike's insert here - yeah, I'd expect 720p, 1080p, 2K RGB REDCODE options)
-Redcine will be key, so get familiar with it, detailed explanations start Nov. 1st
-pretty much final camera, cage, rail, & lenses at that time
-specs on lenses, including MTF charts, around that time (Nov. 1st)
-thermal management is a challenge, two FPGAs in there

Mike's Comments: Read the article for more details. I think the biggest piece of news in there is this is the most specific time frame estimate for when they'll start shipping. As I've got a reservation in queue now (did I mention that? I've got a Red One and a zoom lens on order, will be for rental market), I'm especially interested in that part, and in how long it'll take to fill backorders. They've previously stated that Oct. 31st is the closing day for reservations - no more pre-orders taken after that time.

But I'm pleasantly surprised at this shipping estimate - with the complexity of the product they are talking about, and all of the other details and capability ramifications not even discussed yet, this timetable is ambitious - I had previously thought they'd start getting their first cameras out in the May/June timeframe at best, since this is practically a moon shot in terms of new frontiers and complex systems for this new company. The timetable may still slip, but for them to be guesstimating this time frame is good news - it would be out of character for Jim to pick a date he knew he couldn't make. I would further hazard to guess that this would mean it would be a short number of months to get through the 500-600 pre-orders, and new orders could start being filled sometime in the second half of 2007, probably Q3 '07 I'd guess based on Jim's estimate. But again, these are just my own guesses based on Jim's guesstimated shipping time frame. But at this point, by the time new orders are taken next year when cameras are shipping (after the pre-orders stop being taken on Oct. 31st), there will probably be 500 to 600 cameras working in the field, so there should be good evidence of how well they do (or don't) work. As with many other working professionals, I'd rather see this camera ship late and right rather than early and buggy.

Macbeth color chart image from Mysterium sensor

For the camera hardcore, here's a Macbeth color chart shot with the Mysterium sensor with their test mule camera, no color correction applied, with a digital version of what the thing is supposed to look like in the lower portion of the image - follow the link in the top posting from Jarred.

There's also a link on the second page with composited squares from the "should be" comped over what they have at the moment, makes it much easier to comprehend. Plus, apparently Graeme has done some tweaks to get it even closer.

This is all well and good, but the catch is will it be this close or closer in varying light conditions (tungsten vs. daylight, for instance), in low or overexposed situations, will skintones still look good even if it is mathematically still "right," and will all this survive compression with Redcine OK? Another random thought - will the HD-SDI have the same curves to match the Redcine output? Will the in-camera curves be upgradable/editable easily? This is a LUT issue.

Hard numbers on the ISO rating of the Mysterium sensor

There is also discussion of the ISO rating of the sensor based on empirical data here, started off by Jim Jannard himself stating that the sensor seems to have an ISO rating of 160. Much much geeky discussion ensues, gets over my head quickly (I'm just a po' post guy).

Discussion on the boards about Red

There's also just good interesting discussions in general about stuff like quick conversion for reconfiguring the camera and other stuff. As always, the Red forums on DVXuser.com and DVInfo.net are worth checking out.

Some facts and a lot of conjecture about the break-in at Red

Other Red news - looks like the Mysterium sensor and the Frankenstein test mule camera were not taken, so that's great news in terms of no slowdowns, but the shiny prototype from IBC did get stolen. I'd also be ticked if I were the Red crew if somebody got their test sensor (I'm guessing there's only one working prototype, but I don't know for sure).

In the "totally pure conjecture based on no hard data whatsoever" category, while it still smells like some kind of corporate espionage and not random theft, the thieves weren't completely competent/thorough/successful (thankfully) - while they did get a lot of data and some prototypes, they didn't get some of the most valuable stuff - the working sensor, the test mule camera, etc. One camp would posit that the thieves didn't go after the most valuable items, another would suggest the thieves got what they wanted - comparison competitive data, so that a competitor could gauge their progress and how good the results were, so that they would know how to respond in their own future product offerings. Would a competitor be so bold? I would hope in this day and age not, but there are tens of millions of dollars at stake here, if not hundreds long term. Careers are in trouble. What if some hired third party sent to get info got overzealous, or o'erstepped the intended bounds of effort?

Of course, perhaps the valuable items not stolen were kept offsite or secured somewhere, I dunno. Again, this is all uninformed conjecture, I honestly don't know any more than I've read on the boards. But it sure is a weird thing to happen, and I'll bet Red never leaves themselves that vulnerable again.

UPDATE ON THE THEFT

Some of the stolen items have been recovered it turns out - some of the more personal data, the aluminum non-functional prototype, a lens, and some other stuff. Jim Jannard, founder of Red, stated on dvxuser.com:

"What is still out there are computers that had most of the camera related development info. It appears that the "booty" was broken up into two segments. Our pro investigation team and police are still on the trail of the balance."


So good news for them to get some of their stuff back, interesting to note that the booty was broken into two groups, but the group of stuff with the most sensitive info is still out there unfortunately.

-mike

PS-for those of you waiting, I DID manage to squeak into the screening of The Fountain last night, will post after I get back from a run)