Curious about why we make such a fuss over our REDRocket?
Check out the speed tests we ran across multiple systems to
test out just how good this revolutionary card could be...

REDRocket Transcoding Speeds

I’m sure you know very well that after the fun of shooting with RED comes the dreaded time to render. The price we pay for recording in 4K is the enormous file size of the footage, which isn’t such a problem until it starts eating up production time and resources. We’ve been working with the RED camera systems for almost 3 years, and finally decided to put an end to being slaves of the day-long renders by adding the RED Rocket Encoder to our arsenal of goodies!

We are blown away time and time again at the difference it makes not only for our render times, but for our entire production workflow as well. All of a sudden RED started living up to the quick turnaround speeds associated with most digital video cameras. Kiss those overnight renders goodbye!!

We understand that there are only a handful of RED Rockets available in the Bay Area, so we have put together a way for others to benefit from these game-changing options with our “Transcode on the Road” services. We can bring our Rocket-fueled decked-out MacPro system to your shoot, whether it’s in a studio or on location, and set it up so you can color grade, preview, and render out the footage you just shot quicker than ever before. To find out how much time the RED Rocket was actually saving us We rendered out the same 10 minute 4K 16:9 23.98 clip on our Rocket system and on a couple of our other suites, and the differences in render speeds was astonishing. Here are some of our comparisons for the same 10 minute clip:

Our REDRocket Transcoding Speeds:

4K ProRes 4444 = 47 min
4K ProRes HQ = 48 min
2K ProRes HQ = 13 min
2K ProRes LT = 12 min
1080p ProRes HQ = 11 min
1080p ProRes LT = 11 min
1080p ProRes Proxy = 11 min
1080p ProRes Proxy w/ Burn In = 16 min

4-Core MacPro Transcoding Speeds:

4K ProRes HQ = 5 hrs 1 min
2K ProRes HQ =6 hrs 18 min
2K Half ProRes HQ = 2 hrs 11 min
1080p ProRes HQ = 5 hrs 28 min

8-Core MacPro Transcoding Speeds:

4K ProRes HQ = 4 hrs 18 min
2K ProRes HQ = 5 hrs 1 min
2K Half ProRes HQ = 1 hr 47 min
1080p ProRes HQ = 4 hrs 34 min