New RED digital motors... 1250$...Shipping this summer.

[Alan Rencher]

Daniel, are you saying that being a Red fanboy is an insult?

[Brian Freesh]

I'm no fan of REDs, but sheesh, I think one of 'em must've shot Alan's Pa. ;)

[Alan Rencher]

I just think smug comments are game for a little teasing.

[William Demeritt]

But what if he actually physically laughs... ALL THE WAY... to the BANK?

 

I saw Dan's tribute video to Dan Kneece when he retired, and he seems like the type to engage in physical manifestations of common colloquialisms. I'd bet my life on it! *

 

 

*NOTE: would not actually bet my life on it.

[Frederic Chamberland]

Ok, I just received my RED motor after almost a year....

I hooked it up to my Preston MDR2 and HU3 and here are my first impressions:

 

•Very small, very light, very silent.

•Torque is less than a DM2 but seems to be around a Heden vertical motor.

•Gear snaps on both sides in a breeze.

•Holding bracket is very intuitive and can also be used on both sides. 15mm inserts (not shown) just snaps into the 19mm one (no screws required)

•Swivel connector

•Price is so low it is hard to not be tempted : I won't sell my DM2's but this will surely be my new iris motor from now on.

 

Fly safe.

 

F

[Jarrett P. Morgan]

Frederic,

Does the motor come with any other gears than .8 pitch? for panavision iris?

 

 

EDIT: Also, looking at the specs listed on the element technica website it looks like the Red/Element technica motor has just a touch more torque than the smaller Heden (M21VE). That makes sense given your findings as well.

I look forward to hearing how it ends up working on set. It would be a nice cheap iris option.

[Louis Puli SOC]

Hi everyone

Here are 2 comparisons of Heden and Preston motors .As for Red motor well they did buy Element Technica so their gear is very good .2k cheaper (Preston )1K cheaper (Heden) and yes lets see if you get what you pay for .

[RonBaldwin]

for comparison...here is some info on the DM-4:

weight -- 250 grams (with bracket)

continuous torque -- .8 Nm

peak torque -- 2.0 Nm

$2650 (with bracket)

 

http://prestoncinema.com/Products/DM4.pdf

 

I bought one summer 2012 -- took a poop 7 months later and been going fine ever since. My DM-1 has been going strong season after season since 1999. Maybe been in once for a looksie during some down time just as a preventative measure but it was fine. The DM-4 is small, light and seems fine but I don't think I'd buy another. I'd love to get a Heden or one of the Red motors (if they prove well built) as a backup motor.

[Jarrett P. Morgan]

I actually had a chance to go over to Red today and play with the system (right down the street from me). Here are my initial thoughts in no particular order:

They didn't have a charged battery for the handset, so they just used a cable line. But I am not really interested in the handset; not a fan of the HU design.

The MDR (or WMD I think it is called) is a bit slimmer than the MDR2, but about the same width and height. there is a fairly intuitive menu system, but I for one would much rather have physical controls like the MDR, BDR, arri, etc. the ports seem well laid out, but there are a couple of things that I was a little hesitant on the WMD:

1) the antenna doesn't have any protection at all. I feel like it could easily be broken. Just a feeling though.

2) the camera start/stop connector has a ton of pins, but you still have to change the output trigger type in the menu for different cameras (Arri was not one of the options, but the Red One option should provide the same momentary short needed).

3) the power connector is a 1B 302. Not sure why it is so big.

 

Now to the motors:

-Easily the best designed of the components (in my opinion).

-I really liked the swivel connector (though I feel like I would just keep it flat and use a right angle connector, I see how it could come in handy). it has several positions that a little locking tab clicks up and locks into. It won't turn around while being used, which is nice. Key is toward the bottom of the motor (right angle cable heading up the motor)

-The mounting bracket is quite nice. slides up and down on the motor and can be inserted over the rod: no taking off other accessories to put on the motor.

-I played with it some and the motor seemed responsive and quick. I think the speed is at least on par with a DM1 and quite possibly on par with a DM2 (it was a Red 17-50 lens, so nothing stiff at all to drive). I haven't used the DM1X to compare.

-The motors are really small and light. Impressively so. almost as small as the Heden M21VE.

-The drive gear is attached similarly to the Hedens (reversible sides), though it is magnets holding it on. a touch more play in the connection, but I don't think an alarming amount by any means.

-As of now I haven't seen anything on any other pitch gearings available (which could prove to be an issue. Hopefully that will be fixed)

-For me at least the worst part about the motors is that they have a Red logo on them (and the stigma that brings to the table with ACs)

 

as long as nothing crazy happens I would not be surprised if I picked one up as an iris/backup motor. Hopefully one of the Element Technica branded ones, or I guess it there will be some black tape going on it.

[Kar Wai Ng]

Preston and Heden motors all have Faulhaber motors inside them; chances are the Red motor has one as well, most likely a cheaper or different part in their product line?

[Jarrett P. Morgan]

Preston and Heden motors all have Faulhaber motors inside them; chances are the Red motor has one as well, most likely a cheaper or different part in their product line?

Perhaps. It would be interesting to talk to the engineers who designed them at Element technica and ask them some of these questions.

 

Where do the cheaper motors like the Red Rock micro motor get their parts? Also Faulhaber?

[MagnusBalte]

Redrock are using Sayama inner motors. The Heden M21VE-L is approx the same size as the RED motor and slightly larger than the M21VE.

It has approx double the torque compared to the RED motor and it is also a bit faster.

 

Magnus Balte

Heden Engineering Co.

[Peter Hoare]

It should also be noted that quoting torque figures is not always that helpful. Torque all comes from current, and some systems provide more current than others, so a motor may not be as powerful on some systems as it can be on others.

 

There are also various ways to measure the torque, either by taking the manufacturers torque output and multiplying it by the gear ratio, or you can actually measure it somehow, but there are various methods. I have here a laboratory force gauge, and I keep meaning to make a device to test torque levels of motors at a set current and then we could benchmark them all.

 

For this reason, I never quote a torque level for our motors, I just tell people they are strong.

 

Pete.

[Jarrett P. Morgan]

It should also be noted that quoting torque figures is not always that helpful. Torque all comes from current, and some systems provide more current than others, so a motor may not be as powerful on some systems as it can be on others.

 

There are also various ways to measure the torque, either by taking the manufacturers torque output and multiplying it by the gear ratio, or you can actually measure it somehow, but there are various methods. I have here a laboratory force gauge, and I keep meaning to make a device to test torque levels of motors at a set current and then we could benchmark them all.

 

For this reason, I never quote a torque level for our motors, I just tell people they are strong.

 

Pete.

Good point, for sure.

 

Are you selling your motors al la carte for the use with other systems?

[Peter Hoare]

We keep meaning too but we cant make enough to keep up with complete axis1 kits, so have not had any spare motors to sell as singles. We are working on it though.

 

If I do build this motor bench mark tester, do you think other manufacturers would be willing to let us test them for benchmarking?