r/RedCamera

Hi all,

I'm the data manager on a feature film currently shooting in France. We have a recurring corruption issue on our A-cam (RED Gemini) that nobody, including our rental house, has been able to solve. We're still shooting, so any help at all is more than welcome.

In contact with RED support they don’t have a solution yet

The problem

• Randomly, the first frame of some clips is broken into purple/white corruption blocks.
• In worse cases, that frame isn't decoded at all (shows as media offline).
• In the worst cases, the clip crashes every app: Resolve, REDCINE-X PRO, Silverstack. The only way we've read one is on Windows with an Intel GPU (Resolve flags the first frame offline but plays the rest).
• Nuke flags the corrupted first frame as a debayer error.
• The B-cam (RED Komodo) has zero issues, same workflow, same DIT station.
• Happens on almost all mags, randomly. No link to a specific card.

Setup

• Camera: RED Gemini, 5120×2160, 5:1 (sometimes 8:1), 25 fps. Firmware: last v7.4.1
• Media: RED Mini-Mags 120 GB & 480 GB (High Speed)
• Offload: RED reader → Mac Studio M2 Ultra, later replaced by Mac mini M4. Silverstack XT, XXH64 checksums.
• Checksums always match. The copy is identical to the card.

What we've already tried (no success)

Camera / power / media

• Swapped for a second Gemini: issue persists
• Factory reset of the original body
• On the new body: no hot swap, power accessories via D-Tap only, I/O AND hotswap removed
• Tried brand new 240 GB Mini-Mags: issue persists
• Cleaned all connectors (mags, reader, camera)

DIT side

• Changed the backup station (Mac Studio M2 → Mac mini M4)
• Changed the card reader and its cable ( try new 240gb media)
• Offloaded fully isolated: no UPS, no internet, nothing else plugged in
• Updated Silverstack XT to the latest version

Playback / cross-checks

• In-camera playback before offload: the corruption is NOT visible.
• But if we put the offloaded mag back in the camera and play it again, the corruption appears.
• Reading the card in RCX on the computer before offloading: corruption is already there.
• Same crash from the card, a TeraCopy copy, a Finder drag-and-drop, the shuttle drive and the DAS.

Questions

1. Has anyone seen first-frame corruption like this on Gemini (or other DSMC2 bodies)?
2. Any known firmware issue, or a setting (pre-record, recording mode, format options, etc.) that could cause it?
3. Could mounting the mag on a computer alter the clip ?

Any lead, even a small one, would really help. Thanks a lot! <3

I am prepping my Komodo X (rf) for a job and yesterday I updated the firmware to the current official build and today I turned my camera on and after the normal skull boot-up screen the top screen turns to this and is completely non-responsive.
I can’t find the camera on the iPhone app either. The weird thing is that it still sends a good clean signal to my monitor via the sdi port. (Now there is no sdi signal either after restarting it a couple times and trying to reset my t manually)

Any ideas what is wrong and how to fix it? I even tried the startup where you hold down the right rec button while powering up to factory reset and no success.

Thanks!