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This announced online November 5th by RED's Jim Jannard:

"EPIC was officially declared ready for production today. We have prototypes that pass all the requirements we set out the past few months. That means we will finish the Tattoo program and put Tattoos on special jobs and begin ordering all the parts and pieces (over 18,000) to begin production. It will take a bit of time to set up the line and gather all we need, but the end is in sight.

Just to be clear, not every feature is currently enabled, but the most important ones are and the build seems very stable as a foundation. We expect 95% of the features to be ready by the time production EPICs are released.

This is a pretty big day."

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More from Jim:

"I have said this before... if this was easy, the other guys would have already done it.

EPIC is a nuclear generator in a matchbox. It is the single most difficult project I have ever seen, worked on, or imagined. Think about it just for a minute... what else does 5K at 120fps, variable RAW (REDCODE) and records to an SSD with ramping, HDR (with magic motion), a full 1080P or 2K direct output via HDSDI, wireless control, modular, FLUT, non-destructive LUTs, and a hundred other features in the body the size of a Hasselblad? What else does any of this? It is no wonder we are late. It is a miracle we actually did it. Truly a miracle.

All this week Jarred, Deanan and I were testing EPIC until 4am EVERY night at the RED Studios. And we weren't alone. We had our ace, crack, number one firmware god with us updating and fixing issues we were finding during our testing. It really was unreal. It is something I will never forget. It was all about getting it done and getting it right. Every piece of us was invested in the process. I had to wonder how many of our competitors were up? How many cared as much as we did... how many really were as dedicated to ushering in the future as we were.

We love what we are doing... truly.

Right now... the ones we have do 5K at 120fps (2.40:1) and 96 fps at full frame or 2:1. It does REDCODE 3:1 to 25:1 on the RED SSD... and syncs at 23.98, 24, 47.96 and 48 fps. Timecode works. Audio does not (yet). REDCINE-X has EPIC support (internal build).

It is ready for productions... and there will be announcements pretty soon about some big ones that will be shot on EPIC.

BTW... OffHollywood is scheduled to get the 1st shipping EPIC. I am quite sure they will let you know when they receive it and what their reaction is...

Tattoo (+13) will not be for sale. These will go on selected projects while production EPICs are being staged to be built. We need to watch over the Tattoo +13's carefully.

OffHollywood, and everyone else, will get the same Stage 2 production EPICs."

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More from Jim:

"I expect that this will be a highly read post. Given that... I'd like to go on record that there are many faithful and dedicated people at RED that have worked tirelessly on this project and everyone needs to know how much effort they have put forth. If we ever earn respect in the industry for this work, many are responsible. There are many whose names people will never be heard. Many who have joined the fight because the challenge was worthy. My hat is off to the RED Army... every one."

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And from RED's Jon Sagud:

"I've never been so proud to be associated with any company, business or individuals as I have been to be a part of the RED team. What Jim, Jarred, Deanan, and the engineers have accomplished is nothing short of miraculous. This is a milestone, one that the industry will remember for decades to come. What EPIC represents is something that none of us can fully realize at this moment, but we all know that we are a part of history. This moment is all the richer because it is one shared with an amazing community, one that has had much to do with the final outcome. The effort continues and will never ebb because we are as passionate about the product, each and every employee at RED, as we can possibly be. Today, Jim addessed the team at RED, from the accountants to the warehouse employees to the customer service reps to the IT team to the engineers, each and every contributor along this incredible journey, and the message was one of congratulations for a job well done. We have only begun, and the impact of Jim's vision and the revolution that EPIC represents will change, forever, the way that movies are made. This is a great day."
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Jarred Land:

"The side and rear SSD recording modules are available first.. in fact the Side SSD is the standard side module, we will not be making a side CF module for Epic. Don't worry though, there is an SSD adapter that turns CF cards into an SSD mag so you can still use all your CF cards in either the side SSD or read SSD modules.

And of course all RED monitoring options already work on EPIC.. the existing EVF, 5" and 7" LCDs as well as the new touchscreen monitors and of course the Bomb EVF. Plus 1080 HD-SDI and HDMI outputs on the brain."

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Jim:

"Tattoo +13's are complete. All the board mods and changes made to finish it now need to get ordered. Can't build production boards until development/changes are done. They are now."

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Jim:

"Scarlet is just behind EPIC..."

Jarred Land:

"PL, Panavision, Canon mounts will be available for EPIC upon delivery. Nikon soon to follow."