The Red Epic and HDRx Part 2

So HDRx as I wrote in my last entry is one of the key selling points of the new Red Epic. Last week I spent the morning at S+O Media to have a quick play with the camera’s High Dynamic Range function. I thought a good and simple test for the Epic’s HDRx would be an unlit in-car shot. We grabbed one of the very nice Optimo 16-42 short zooms that S+O Media has and one of their car kits, and popped it in the front of my VW Transporter van. 

I’ve uploaded three videos and I’m sure you’ll immediately notice my poor grade on them; I’m not the most experienced colourist. And yes that’s me in the video. Don't panic if you can't hear me, there's no audio. The videos are just examples of pictures. But just so you know...I wasn't talking to myself!

First up, below, is the standard footage with no HDRx. I’ve processed the footage in RedCine at 250ISO; there is a little more highlight recovery you could do on this footage, maybe half a stop extra. There is pretty wide latitude in the picture without HDRx, although as I’ve set the camera to such a low sensitivity there is a serious clip in the highlights. If I were shooting this without HDRx I’d likely rate the camera at 800 or 1600 and bring up the dark areas of the picture, protecting the highlights. Setting the camera to 1600iso and then processing the footage as such, would have given another three stops in the highlights that could have been rolled off in the grade. But this test isn’t about that. The lens was set at T8 and at 16mm, you’ll notice how wide the 16mm is on the Epic, it becomes a real wide-angle lens. The camera was set to 1/50^th of a second shutter. 

 Red Epic 250iso No HDRx from Benedict Spence on Vimeo.

 The second video, below, is a blend of 50/50 A-Track (50^th of a second shutter) and X-Track (the HDRx Track). We set the camera to give four stops protection; so the HDRx frames are taken at 1/800^th of a second, or 11.5 degree shutter for you to film people. Immediately you can notice the strobing of the HDRx track. This is especially noticeable because of the speed of the car and for me it’s the least attractive feature of HDRx. However, on slower moving subjects it is far less noticeable and many people have commented on how much they like the combined regular and high shutter frames. Currently in Redcine-X there is a simple HDR slider, from 100% A-Track to 100% X-Track and anywhere in between. The Foundry who are very well known video software engineers are apparently working closely with Red to develop More Normal Motion Blur (MNMB). MNMB will blend the HDRx frame with the standard frame to produce, as the name suggests, a more normal looking image blur. With HDRx enabled, and even with my poor grade, you can see the extra highlight detail. Look at the white vans that go past.

Red Epic 50/50 HDRx Blend from Benedict Spence on Vimeo.

The third video is a combination of a split of two other videos. Firstly the original non-HDRx video, then secondly a video made from 66% HDRx and 33% normal footage. You can really see the difference on this video; look at the shop signs and clouds. The extra grading on the HDRx footage feels very different to the standard Red footage. The wide latitude means a very low contrast picture from the start - it’s definitely something I need a bit more practice with.

Red Epic HDRx/No HDRx split screen from Benedict Spence on Vimeo.

Finally the forth video, just for your benefit, is the HDRx track. It’s four stops underexposed from the original A-Track and brought up to 1600ISO, It’s pretty much noise free on the original ProRes transcode too. This is to show you what is possible if you were to expose like this in the first place, although the shot is still a stop underexposed after this processing.

Red Epic 1600iso from HDRx from Benedict Spence on Vimeo.

The conclusion here is that HDRx is a very powerful tool. While it’s not perfect and in its current state some won’t want the shutter effects that are created by it, like everything with the Epic it’s a work in progress. There will be all sorts of tricks over the next few months to make it work perfectly. I’m sure there are ways for an experienced colourist to work with the footage to make it really sing; I’m looking forward to seeing what people come out with as much as I’m looking forward to using the function myself. My feeling is that getting in on the ground floor and understanding how the technology does and doesn’t work, is essential for using it to it fullest extent.

For the time being please enjoy the fact that we shot a video, completely unlit, from the inside of a moving car. If that wasn’t enough, the camera managed to keep hold of both the interior and the exterior without a problem. And this was with the camera set to four stops protection… It goes to six!

Benedict Spence has been working as a lighting cameraman for nine years and a director of photography for the past three. Ben will be dishing the dirt on his experiences with Red’s new Epic–M, on behalf of broadcast and crewing facilities company S+O Media.