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RED RAY definitely looks like a great product.

I'm very interested in the possibilities of a "RED RAY PRO" for more than just QC playback or a consumer device. If just a few features are added, it could be an extraordinary tool for on-set playback, both for Assist and DIT purposes, but also for high quality playback to Monitors within the scenes themselves. (sometimes also known as "On-set displays", "24 frame", or simply "playback". Example: An actor is playing a character who is interacting with a TV or Computer screen within the scene.)

Right now, a major shift is happening for on-set playback from SD to HD.
There are a couple of HD solutions being worked on at the moment, but RED
RAY could be the killer app since it can go up to full 4K and is a compact quiet device.

Here's a great example of why on-set playback would benefit from RED RAY.
We have had this come up before, in fact I remember specifically on "Fun
with Dick and Jane" where a scene was shot on DigiBeta for playback on a TV
monitor. It was Jim Carrey being interviewed on a News program. After
principle photography ended, the Director decided he wanted to have that footage not only play on the monitor, but be blown up for full Film Res.

Problem was it was only shot DigiBeta, so, as you can imagine, the result
was not anywhere near the quality of film.

Had we shot on RED 4K, we could have done a down convert and yet still had
the original 4K footage in case they ever wanted to go Full Res with it.

Further, having the ability to playback to set using a higher quality HD
monitor (or eventually up to 4K displays) we can have a complete solution
with no rendering.

Here are some simple features that could be added to RED RAY (if they are
not already on the spec sheet) that would make "RED RAY PRO" the playback system of choice for onset playback (or "24 Frame" as it is often called) as well a great tool for DIT and Video Assist work:

1) Ability to quickly set in and outpoints for Clip Playback. Ability to add multiple cue markers on the fly while playing clips and/or playlists.

2) Ability to set infinite loops (for clips AND/OR in and out points of clips.)

3) Seamless loops. (If playing from RED RAY optical disc, a cache would be
used to be able to preload the clip.) By building in a large RAM cache, this is
possible (as has been done with the Pioneer DVJ-X1).
See:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...DVJ-X1.Support
And this spec sheet:
http://www.performanceaudio.com/medi...162/6895_m.pdf

This is an outstanding device which has been embraced by Warner Brothers
Production Services. It was originally made for VJs but has many useful
features for onset playback and hopefully RED takes a look at it for ideas
for the RED RAY.

4) Ability to Make, Save, and Load clip playlists based on clips on DVDs with ability to remember cue points (in and out points for each clips). Also, loops for playlists.

5) Ability to remember Disc IDs, for quick auto loading of Disc Playlists
or "last known state" for inserted REDRAY disc. The Pioneer has this and
it's SO great to just insert a disc and all of the cues and loop points are
already set.

6) Remote Control Ability. (Infra RED Remote).

7) Adjustable playback speeds. (including reverse)

8) Ability to adjust volume of clips independently and mute volume of
individual clips in playlist.

9) Ability to pause / resume clips and playlists.

10) Physical VTR controls for manual control with possible small LCD screen
ala RED ONE back panel).

11) Easy to use UI. Have the device completely controllable by using a USB
connected Computer (or RS-422 / RS-232). (Hopefully we see this soon for RED Cameras as well).

Thanks for listening to our feedback. We would love to be considered for Alpha testing for RED RAY when it reaches that stage.