OSPREY HD TURNS UP THE HEAT TO 'RED' HOT
 
South Carolina High-Definition Production Company

Purchases Groundbreaking RED 4K Digital Cinema Camera Package.

Keeping with their pledge to provide clients with the most advanced production technology possible, OspreyHD recently purchased the RED 4K Digital Cinema Camera, recording at four times the resolution and image-quality of traditional high-definition video.

"We've shot on high-def for the last five years, and with film for years prior to that.  We know the different formats and their limitations however RED seems limitless. I think it will revolutionize the way we produce high end projects" said Osprey's Director of Photography Lee Dashiell.

How does RED 4K Digital Cinema compare to 35mm film?

Most 35 mm film outs that have gone through a scanning process have been scanned at 2K, or one quarter the resolution of RED's 4K image. Only extremely high content VFX work is generally scanned as high as 4K. Viewers that see RED footage for the first time either describe the quality as 65 mm film or "grainless 35mm".
 

RED possesses numerous features, that, in addition to superior image resolutions, make RED astonishingly similar to a high-end super-35mm film package.  These include a PL mount for 35mm lenses which allows for the same breathtaking depth of field and selective focus found in super-35mm film cameras; ASA based exposure control; shutter speeds at 1/25, 1/30, 1/400, 1/800, 1/1200; and variable frame rate recording from 1 to 120 frames per second.  These slow-mo and time-lapse functions are especially smooth, surpassing the quality of most 35mm film cameras.

Other accessories in Osprey HD's RED package includes a wireless follow focus system, daylight-viewable high definition LCD monitors, Zeiss prime and Cooke zoom lens packages, swing-away matte box, and hard drive back-up system create a custom set-up designed specifically for high-end commercial production.

More pragmatically, it is the elimination of the cost of film and processing that make the RED ONE so economically attractive. In addition to its extraordinary 4K quality, RED allows for sync sound and full color playback, in real time, that make shooting digital such a superior experience.

Another crucial quality of the RED is still-grab capture; thanks to the camera system's significant resolution, still-grabs from recorded footage can be used as high-quality, print-ready stills, eliminating the needs for an on-set still photographer.

"This system is tailor-made for high-end commercial projects," said Dashiell.  "When you combine the image quality and features of super-35mm film with the ease and convenience of a direct-to-drive workflow, as well as added benefits like outputting print-quality stills, you've got a system that does everything a commercial production could ever need, and then some."

The footage from RED is digitally recorded onto 320 GB RAID drives. Proprietary RED clips are then imported into Osprey's Avid Adrenaline HD edit suite using REDCINE transfer. This completes the workflow process making the RED field production and post production a seamlesss operation.

"I've been hesitant in the past with direct-to-drive workflows, having experienced some of the issues that can occur," said OspreyHD Post-Production Supervisor Robert Galloway.  "But with the RED system, there's none of that.  It's as seamless as it can be.  And the quality of the projects shot on RED is just amazing."

"Simply put, RED is a facinating camera system," added Dashiell.  "And we're excited to offer it to our commercial clients."