Jump to content

Red Dragon


Recommended Posts

  • Premium Members

I don't know if this problem had been fixed, but I've had this problem twice. Sometimes the HD-SDI line or of the camera will go haywire. Don't panic, just restart the camera.

 

I was once shooting a person against a solid colored wall, and the horizontal alignment went crazy on the Dragon. It shifted the entire image to the right, and wrapped the image back around to the other side of the monitor like an old video game. Since the wall was all one color and I had all of the camera information off, it didn't look like there was anything wrong. I kept hearing the director and DP telling me to frame up and center the actor. It looked centered to me, but since I was broadcasting from the brain HDMI through my Arrow+, they weren't having the alignment problem. They thought I was having a stroke or something.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

I recently op'd a music video with a dragon. Very fast paced tight shooting schedule, rolling on rehearsal, 30/31 setups were steadicam. Obviously the camera needs some time to cool down between takes, and we probably weren't giving it enough time to do so, but it had a tendency to overheat and shut itself off in low mode, rather frequently. I don't think it happened once all day in high mode, but if you know you have a lot of low shots planned, make sure to give it adequate time between takes, and don't have anything even remotely covering the fan. we even had to take the vented wooden camera plate off, as it was adding to our heat problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Leave the camera mounted as in high mode and flip the image instead of flipping the camera for low mode. Much quicker and you don't have to cover the camera top with any plates. I hardly ever use traditional low mode brackets these days. If the camera can't do its own image flip, do it in your monitor and have them flip the monitor image at DIT cart. Make a note to post to flip the image back. Even film jobs can be done this way since everything goes through a digital intermediate anyhow. No rerouting cables or anything. Flip the rig, flip your monitor, change the gimbal position a bit and go. Fast low mode. Haven't done traditional low mode in years and I have used every camera out there, film and digital on big and not as big shows.

 

Grayson Grant Austin, SOC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Grayson, I appreciate the advice, unfortunately thats actually how I had the camera setup, without a low mode bracket. It was still causing problems. I made sure to dock it rights side up, and flip it right side up between takes. I think keeping the camera upside down during takes might just make it harder for hot air to escape. Hopefully it was just a fluke with that particular dragon, or the amount of time it was in low mode that day. If you've flown them in fast low mode for prolonged periods of time, without issue, thats great news, just figured I'd warn everyone incase my experience was the norm rather than the exception.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Apparently Dragons breathe fire. I also never use traditional low mode anymore. Just flip the rig over. I also do not flip my monitor, just rock it up towards the post, so I never need to flip the image if it is not flipped in the camera. Have not used the new Alexa software yet that does allow one to flip the image for all to view.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

The dragon needs the upgraded Fan system to be properly ventilated. http://www.red.com/store/products/dsmc-fan-2-upgrade-kit-collection-mx

Keep the camera in the shade when possible. Keep an space blanket on top when the camera is off (silver side out). Make sure that no accessories (Bartech, wireless video) is blocking the air flow from under the lens to the top of the camera.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...