"Just now getting theatres?" Not true. Adding more multiplexes? True. All-digital flavor? True, but most of them are in MPEG4 crunched mode, not DCI compliant (Not that it's perfect). The advantage is in saving costs and fighting piracy - the "experience" is secondary. But isn't that true all over the world? Money is the biggest star.

Most theatres in India have sad sound systems and poor projectors - and the cinema halls are as large as stadiums. I recently watched Avatar (3D) in IMAX and than again at another "great" multiplex. The difference was humiliatingly tangible. But people here don't watch movies for art's sake, it's the actors they want to see, and actors look good on 35mm, not in any kind of HD.

Why? Maybe the entire pipeline has to come through, not just the DP.

I met a businessman once who said to me: "Why reinvent the wheel? The man who gives people what they want will make far more money; and it's as risk-free as it gets." This is what ARRI has been doing. They are just introducing HD cameras to recapture the market that was once theirs, and they will succeed. Brand loyalty means a lot.

Red One has a great fan following, and it has the potential - but only time will tell how loyal its customers will be when something new comes along.

When you always compare a product with an ideal, people will still want the ideal. Hence HD vs 35mm. Redefine Ideal.

At last somebody listened!
 

Right out of the box you can bypass the raw workflow - addressing Red's major shortcoming of having to use raw even for a web project - making it the first digital film camera for everyday use.
Actually with the ProRes444 option, many would opt to forgo Raw even for serious projects.

I guess the choice of SXS was decided before CFast was an option but I have a question that the brochure fails to address:
Can Alexa record 1080 60p on SXS and if yes why Sony cameras can't?

In general a very well thought camera and for the European market, very competitive priced if you consider the Arri brand leverage in after sales support.



PS1. The choice of ProRes is a major blow for the Avid camp, unless of course there are more recording options in the future.

PS2. Arri camera bundled with Fujinon lenses!!! A true sign of our (financial) times.

Seems there may be announcement at NAB regarding Avid.

Given the market sector the camera is targeting, that makes sense. Although, when does that always apply.

According to Mike Curtis (hd4indies through PVC) Alexa can record ProRes 444(4) 2K @ 60p on the SXS cards.
Also he was very impressed from Alexa's footage, a remarkable declaration , considering his chronic Red infatuation.

Has anybody else attended the presentation to confirm any of the above?

In the TVBeurope site there was and additional piece of information beyond the usual reciting:

"The Alexa is currently being used to shoot ‘Anonymous’, a movie directed by Roland Emmerich. Before deciding to use the Alexa, there was a side-by-side test against the new Red Mysterium X sensor. Although the Red is rated at a lower ISO (320) than the Alexa, both produced virtually noise-free pictures at 800 ISO, however, they found that the Alexa could be pushed further – even at four stops underexposed (the equivalent of 12,800 ISO)"

Sounds like DSLR low light capability in a digital cinema package.

I am glad that Arri has emphasized the importance of a streamlined workflow. That is such a crucial topic these days.

Avid just announced that MC5 will have native quicktime (prores as well) support. Probably that was known to Arri when they choose to support only ProRes and not the Avid flavor. Now only Premiere an Vegas owners are left out but you never know what future has in store in the next few days.

Here's one of the filmmakers that's going digital from film.

http://red.cachefly.net/PJ.mp4