At the age of 70, RED founder Jim Jannard has announced he's retiring, saying that between his age and a few health issues "it is now time." As he steps away from the company, he also announced its Hydrogen phone project will end after producing just...
I probably wouldn’t… but this phone’s not for me. Coming from RED Digital Cinema, the company that makes most of Hollywood’s high-end cameras, the Android smartphone doesn’t want to be called a smartphone, but rather a Holographic Media Machine. It comes with a screen that is capable of delivering glass-less 3D visuals. 3D screens could be big, HTC tried and failed, but with VR being the next big thing, who knows. All we have right now is this singular render, a code-name Hydrogen, and a price tag of $1,195 *coughs*.
Let’s have a look at the image we’ve got… That camera bump on the top clearly means business, and coming from RED, maybe it’ll rival any pocketable camera you currently own. I’m not a fan of the grips on the side of the phones because A. not everyone holds the phone the same way, and B. it solves an apparent ergonomics problem but instantly creates an aesthetic problem. I’m also having second thoughts about that charging port. It looks nothing like anything I’ve ever seen… which leads me to think that it may be proprietary. Above that, on the back of the phone, are a series of magnetic connector plates, possibly for an attachment like a flashlight (which the phone…sorry…holographic media machine doesn’t have built into it).
At a staggering price of over a grand for the Hydrogen smartphone ($1,595 for the titanium version), clearly this phone has a rather fixed purpose and therefore a fixed target audience (probably VERY serious videographers, or just plain rich people). Which makes me wonder… is the title of this article as rhetorical as you thought?
This time last year, the folks from Red Digital Cinema dropped a few exciting goodies off at our trailer, so we're more than happy to welcome the company's co-founder (aka "Leader of the Rebellion") Ted Schilowitz to our stage, to check out the latest in high-end cinematic hardware.
If you were thinking of getting a Red Scarlet-X 4K baby cinema cam for that pet film feature, but were on the fence because, well, $11,900 is a lot of cash -- there's good news. The company just announced they would be selling "a whole truckload of Scarlets" for $7,100 each instead, as they had been used on a rental for a "pretty special 3 second shot." As such, the camera body has less than a minute of recording time, and would come with an SSD module, Canon mount and full warranty for that sum -- along with the option to change out the MX sensor to Red's upcoming Dragon model, presumably. Bear in mind that you'd still lack the SSD drive, LCD, batteries or charger needed to shoot, but even with all that would still be under the regular basic price -- meaning you might be able to stop saving up and start shooting.
RED's dabbled in the workshop arena with its three-day REDucation classes, but the cinema company's new program ups the session time to a full 16 weeks. REDucation X, which kicks off on October 1st, will run you a cool $15,000 -- approaching the cost of an entire Scarlet-X package. While getting REDucated at RED Studios in Hollywood, you'll learn from high-end film pros alongside 20 other deep-pocketed students as you cover digital production from A to Z, including lighting, shooting and equipment brass tacks, followed by a one-week shoot, and finishing with editing, grading and big-screen delivery. So given the choice, should you buy a new Scarlet, or take the training? We'd love to own one, but it would be nice to know how to use it properly, too.
With his use of Red cameras, 3ality rigs, and high frame rate 3D technology, no one can accuse Peter Jackson of being stuck in the past. Need more evidence of his anti-luddism? He just gave the first projection of footage from his 3D opus "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" in its full 48 fps glory at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas. With the public having endured 80 years of 24 fps film-watching, Jackson appealed to viewers to allow their eyes to adjust to the doubled rate during the ten minute screening. But the reaction showed that public acceptance might take a while. One projectionist compared it to made-for-TV fare, and others referenced Mexican soap-operas and TruMotion. The reply to these criticisms by Jackson (and James Cameron) has always been that 3D is better suited to faster frame rates than 2D -- making it more immersive, reducing headaches and improving stereoscopy. We'll have to wait for the film's release this December to find out whether he's right, or if this attempt at high frame speeds will go the way of Showscan.
At the age of 70, RED founder Jim Jannard has announced he's retiring, saying that between his age and a few health issues "it is now time." As he steps away from the company, he also announced its Hydrogen phone project will end after producing just...
