Red Helium and Dragon: Controlling the camera with the Upgraded Cineflex®

All functions of the Red Helium and Dragon are available via the laptop. The most recent version of the interface, as of January 1, 2016, provides for control via the joystick. Older systems use various knobs and controls of the laptop. Both systems are described here.

Joystick Laptop Control:

The most recent release of the AgileCine software allows for control of the Red Helium menus via the Cineflex laptop. These systems use the Roll polarity switch to toggle between normal gimbal operation (Gimbal Mode) and Red menu control mode. These systems have the words “Gimbal” and “Menu” located on either side of the Roll polarity switch.

Older systems use the 2x/1x switch to enter Menu mode for control of the Red Helium. Please see the end of this posting for an explanation of functions on these pre- January 1, 2016 systems.

Joystick Controlled Red functions:

All of the Red HeliumHelium controls can be accessed by moving the Joystick. To enter this mode, note that the switch that originally adjusted the Roll polarity (this switch affected which direction the joystick knob affected the roll axis) now controls whether the joystick drives the Red menu or not. There are labels on the switch, and it’s obvious. Gimbal Mode means you are operating the gimbal. “Menu Mode” means you are moving the menu in the Red.

Red Menu Operation:

Flip the Gimble/Menu switch to Menu.
Move the joystick left/right up/down and the menu will respond as expected. Rotate the joystick to make selections.
The joystick button closest to you sends the “Enter” and “Back” commands. It’s super intuitive. Press the button quickly and it’s “Enter”. Press and hold it for a second and then release it for “Back”.

For example, if you want to change ISO, you would do the following:

Switch into Menu mode.
Move the joystick to the right until the ISO is highlighted.
Press momentarily on the joystick button.
Next twist the joystick to select your ISO setting.
Press and hold the joystick button to back out of the menu. Or, just flip the switch from Menu to Gimbal and the menu will automatically disappear.

Gimbal Moves While Adjusting Menus:
As you move the joystick to move around the Red menu, the gimbal will move. This is a feature not a bug! We allow the gimbal to move because some users (including us) have scared themselves after power-up when they’ve moved the joystick and the gimbal doesn’t work. This happened when the Gimbal/Menu switch was set to Menu. It can be scary if nothing happens! Camera operators expect the joystick not to move the gimbal in C-mode/parking mode, but other than that, we expect the gimbal to respond to the joystick.

Now Agile has introduced the Gimbal/Menu switch, and if users are not familiar with it, they may panic when the gimbal doesn’t move. Make sense? Thus we keep the gimbal moving when you move the joystick, even in Menu mode. Of course, if it’s just you operating the system, and if you get use to the Menu mode, then you may want to disable the gimbal’s movement, and this is possible through the Wifi interface.

Motion mount:
You have complete control of the motion mount, and it’s super simple. Be sure that you are in Gimbal mode. Note that you really want to be in Gimbal mode because if you hold the button while in Menu mode, then after ten minutes you will be sending a Red-Shutdown command!

Change Motion Mount Settings:
Be in Gimbal Mode (which you should be set to if you are in the middle of filming)
Press and hold the joystick button closest to you.
Press the zoom rocker in either direction. One way increments the other decrements the motion mount.
Let go of the joystick button. You are done.

Lens:
Your AgileCine controlled lens has ramped zoom stops. As you pull wide, it will slow smoothly at the end so you don’t get a clunk at the end. You’ll appreciate this as you pull wide and your horizon is perfect!

Full lens focus range:
You have two focus ranges for the lens. In normal operation, the range is 0040 feet to infinity. This limited range gives you expanded resolution on the focus knob while near infinity. The second range is full range, which you may want while on a crane. Switching between these will be added to the Wifi menu, but it’s not there yet. Right now, you have control only via the laptop by doing the following:

Flip into Menu mode.
Hold down on the joystick button closest to you.
Move the focus know to its middle position.
If you want more close-focus, then rotate the focus dial twice toward close focus.
If you want more resolution for work near infinity rotate the dial twice toward infinity.
Switch back into Gimbal mode.

Shutting down the Red:
The Red wants a proper shutdown. To do this, simply go into Menu mode and hold the joystick button down for 10 seconds. The Red Helium will receive a shutdown command. Concurrently, the camera will tilt up automatically. It will receive an up command for ten seconds. If you have the AgileCine Tilt Lock installed, your turret will stay up, even after gimbal shutdown.

Backfocus (and Hide Overlay Mode):
Adjusting the backfocus is the same as it was in the original system. However, there’s one change you should be aware of. You must be in Gimbal mode.

To adjust the backfocus:
Enter Gimbal Mode
Hold up on the Roll select switch for 6 seconds (same as original system)
Rotate the Tilt Drift knob (same as original system). If the focus doesn’t fully reach the position needed, simply let go of the Roll select switch and then hold it up again. This resets motor control and will give you additional motor control.

Except for entering Gimbal Mode, everything works the same as the original system– provided that you are in Gimbal Mode. When you do the same thing but the switch is in Menu Mode, then you are toggling the Hide Overlay Mode. see below.

Hide Overlay Mode:

Enter Menu Mode (using the Gimbal/Menu switch for systems Jan 1, 2016 and newer. Use the 1x/2x switch for older systems)
Hold up on the Roll select switch for 6 seconds (same as original system backfocus command)
Release the Roll select switch.
Switch back to Gimbal mode and do a test recording by pressing the joystick button closest to you.
To exit Hide Overlay Mode, do the above again. It toggles on/off.

Note: The Hide Menu Mode is factory set to reset on power up. Thus, this feature will need to be reset for each use.

Using the Hide Overlay Mode:

In a perfect world, you can set your HDSDI recorder to start recording when it sees timecode. You can then set the Red to do “Record Run” timecode, rather than time of day. This should trigger the HDSDI recorder automatically. That’s in a perfect world. However, we’ve seen this work about 80% of the time. Often the HDSDI recorders don’t get the trigger. To be safe, it’s probably best that you just keep the HDSDI recorder going all the time. Let your client know that anything with no overlays is captured in 4k/5k.

Original Systems with Software Prior to 1/1/2016

Laptop controls of backfocus, hide overlays, motion mount, shutdown are all the same as above. The only thing different is menu navigation. Rather than moving the menu with the joystick, older systems use the following controls:

Iris wheel– East/West

Focus knob– North/South

Zoom rocker– Left/Right