RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera [Paperback]

Noah Kadner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0321617681 | ISBN-13: 978-0321617682 | Edition: 1

With the release of the RED ONE™ digital cinema camera, the possibility of recording stunning, cinematic-quality images with an affordable camera became a reality. Now that the industry has embraced the nascent technology and added new tools and workflows, filmmakers—from independents on up—are leading the charge on establishing new rules.

Here to guide newcomers and RED veterans alike, popular trainer and filmmaker Noah Kadner picks up where the manual leaves off. You’ve got the basic operations down and now you’ll learn how to use the camera in a production environment and discover the various options in post. Using a clear, objective approach, he offers best-practice advice on utilizing RED’s proprietary tools, explains the workflows for Final Cut Studio, Avid, and Premiere Pro, and gives workaround solutions where needed. Well-known filmmakers and industry leaders share their own bleeding-edge production methodologies throughout, offering a rare view into this exciting new world of filmmaking.

Here are just a few things you’ll learn to do:
•Build a RED package that fits your budget
•Set up for sound recording and learn which audio tools to use
•Achieve the optimal exposure using RED’s onboard tools and external gear
•Edit your footage with step-by-step instructions for Avid, Final Cut Pro, and Premiere Pro
•Work color correction into your HD, film, or Web projects
•Prep your project for output and archive your footage
•Learn from pros such as Rodney Charters, ASC (DP, 24), Simon Duggan, ACS (DP, Knowing), Albert Hughes (Director, The Book of Eli), and many others using RED
•Stay up-to-date and download additional resources at the companion Web site at www.peachpit.com/red


"If you want to dive in and starting using the RED, look no further. This book is the next best thing to having a top-notch production crew with RED experts working by your side." —Arthur Albert, Director of Photography, ER

"An essential guide loaded with knowledge, I recommend it as the first purchase for any filmmaker who is thinking about owning or currently owns the RED." —Rodney Charters, ASC, Director of Photography, 24

"If you're planning to shoot with the RED camera, this is the book to get!" —Rob Cohen, Director, The Fast and the Furious

"Noah Kadner takes the best practices of using the RED camera and shares them with the rest of us in this indispensable guide." —Simon Duggan, ACS, Director of Photography, Live Free or Die Hard, Knowing

"Written in an easy-to-follow style, yet thorough in covering everything from production to postproduction to making money from your investment, this is a book that should be on every filmmaker’s desk and in their kit bag." —Norman Hollyn, Film Editor, Instructor, and author of The Lean Forward Moment

"If you want to see how the pros are using the RED camera, you need this book." —Nancy Schreiber, ASC, Cinematographer, Every Day

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Writer/director Noah Kadner provides training and workflow presentations for moviemakers at all levels. He has worked at Apple, testing future versions of Final Cut Studio as part of a special internal production team. Noah hosts and produces Call Box, a series of digital filmmaker training courses on DVD; he works as a forum administrator for 2-pop.com, CreativeCow.net and DVXuser.com, and is an Apple Certified Trainer. He also writes for publications such as 3D World and American Cinematographer. Noah was an early adopter of RED and has owned two RED cameras since October 2007. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (August 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321617681
• ISBN-13: 978-0321617682
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Producer/Director Noah Kadner was born in New Jersey and raised in New Mexico. He graduated from the MFA program in film production at the USC School of Cinema-Television. Noah runs Ternura Corporation, a film, television, production and post-production company.

Noah has directed several short films, commercials and music videos. He also works as a DVD authoring specialist and is a certified Pro Trainer in Final Cut Pro. His clients have included the U.S. Army, United Nations, NBC, PBS, Sony, Panasonic, Fox and Apple.

His documentary work has taken him to many working locations over the years including medical labs and coal power plants in the U.S.; analysis labs and nuclear power plants in Europe and the United Nations Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. In the narrative field, Noah made his feature directing debut with Formosa, a 1950's romantic comedy shot on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in Hollywood. The movie enjoyed a successful festival run and is currently playing on a number of cable and broadcast television outlets throughout the world.

In 2006 Noah founded Call Box, an interactive training and production company. Call Box produces and distributes a successful line of DVD training videos for independent filmmakers and broadcast producers. Call Box also offers its full production and training services to corporate clients. Noah has plenty of expertise with a wide variety of digital cinema cameras including the RED, VariCam and Phantom High Speed cameras.

Noah also administers several online filmmaking forums including Withoutabox, 2-pop, Creative Cow and DVXuser.com. He also writes for industry magazines like Videography, PC Photographer and American Cinematographer as well as for websites including Apple.com. Noah wrote the cover stories for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Noah also wrote RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera for Peachpit Press.

He also interviewed Michael Bay about Transformers for American Cinematographer. Noah currently splits his time between the Bay Area and Mexico City with his wife and son. He maintains extensive production contacts with film cast and crew members both in Los Angeles and throughout Latin America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Little Bit Of Knowledge, November 1, 2009

By 

David Addison (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera (Paperback)

When I ordered this book, I was really hoping for "the ULTIMATE" guide to the Red camera system. You know, something that would explain some of it's quirks or how to get the best out of it under varied lighting conditions or even some discussion into the technical aspects of the camera beyond where in the menus you can find the settings for Zebra Stripes. While Noah Kadner is obviously an expert with the camera and its support systems, he provides very little insight for working professionals. Even the First Person POVs at the end of the chapters are little more than anecdotes about working with the Red camera system.
On the other hand, if this is your first time working with advanced video acquisition systems and specifically the Red, then this book is definitely for you. The book does presume you have the most basic of technical proficiency with digital cinematography; mostly to understand its terms, but even that is dealt with by providing a simple glossary in the back. I feel the strength of this book is to provide a quick "up and running" guide to working with the Red camera and its peripherals. It also competently explains the integration of those support systems to provide a comprehensive review for the choices we face in post-production when you acquire your footage with the Red camera.
Ultimately, if you are a working professional, you'll find more resources and technical information by spending the time it takes to read this book at the Red and Red User websites...as even Mr. Kadner suggests.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good for newbies, waste of time for pros., October 7, 2009

By 

KLK (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera (Paperback)

If you are new to production (student)this book is a good primer on a lot of very basic information. If you are a seasoned professional looking for some in depth information on the idiosyncrasies of the Red One, than this book is a waste of time. I don't think there's any more practical information than what can be learned from Red's documentation. As a working professional I wanted to see workarounds, solutions to everyday problems, fast tips on error codes, etc. Basically I was looking for some out of the box solutions from production through postproduction and this book read more like a product brochure than anything else. For example, there is a blurb on lens mounts. They exist. If this is the ultimate guide it should have gone into the importance of collimating the mount- PL, Nikon, and any other, as you switch them around. Doing it in the field. Practical working solutions. This book had none of that information.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, February 15, 2010

By 

Khan Shadab Ahmad "RED OWNER" (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera (Paperback)

I went to LA from Qatar, paid a fee of 2500$ and spent an additional 15000$ for travel, stay, food and other stuff to do a course called 'REDUCATION'in July 2009. It was a course for 6 days. 3 days about camera and 3 days about EDITING.
WHAT A WASTE!!!!
I wish I knew about this book before. I have my own camera and lenses and all accessories. Having this book in my kit is an added advantage. A great advantage I would say!!!