BMD Camera Update

[Joe Marler]

[Ricardo Marty] “There is no prores over 4k even prores raw. So i think bmd has the leverage for this one.”

Here is 8k ProRes from a RED camera: https://youtu.be/LinWyRFeE5E

Here is 8k ProRes (internally recorded) from a Kinefinity MAVO: https://youtu.be/KKPfOrn3yeE

The ARRI Alexa can technically record internal ProRes above DCI 4k, since it can go to 4448 x 3096 (open gate).

You likely won’t see any of these other cameras record BRAW since that is a camera-specific codec. ProRes (including RAW) is camera-independent, which is why many cameras and recorders from various companies use it.

BMD has published an SDK to allow *decoding* BRAW. That SDK includes compiled binaries that are essentially a “black box”. I don’t think they have published any info about how to *encode* BRAW which means nobody but BMD can do that. This differs from ProRes, where anybody with a license can encode it. It would seem until this changes that BRAW will be limited to BMD hardware, whereas ProRes (inc’l RAW) is hardware and manufacturer independent.

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[Michael Gissing]

[Joe Marler] “I don’t think they have published any info about how to *encode* BRAW which means nobody but BMD can do that.”

I would be surprised if they gave encode away for free. Maybe BM are open to licensing it to other camera people but who would use it. RED have their own as does Arri. Maybe Canon now they are recording internal 8K. It might make their cameras run cooler and give longer record times.

ProResRAW isn’t free either and they have limited acquisition to Atomos. So same problem. What is baffling is that Apple won’t include the free BRAW decode in FCPX. Equally baffling is that BM won’t license ProResRAW for Resolve. So far I’ve not seen any ProResRAW in productions I’ve worked on. Plenty of BRAW however so that problem is yet to manifest itself for me.

[Brad Hurley]

“What is baffling is that Apple won’t include the free BRAW decode in FCPX. Equally baffling is that BM won’t license ProResRAW for Resolve. So far I’ve not seen any ProResRAW in productions I’ve worked on. Plenty of BRAW however so that problem is yet to manifest itself for me.”

At some point last year on BMD’s DaVinci Resolve forum, someone from BMD explained that it’s up to Apple to add BRAW support to FCPX and if enough people don’t demand it, it won’t happen. A lot of people have been asking BMD to make BRAW available in FCPX, but they’re asking the wrong party (according to BMD). They need to take it up with Apple.

As for ProRes Raw in Resolve, I suspect Apple sees ProRes Raw as a selling point for Final Cut (and by extension Macs), so there’s not much incentive for them to make it available to competing NLEs…especially competing NLEs that work on Windows as well as Mac. The Atomos recorders can now record ProRes Raw from a growing number of cameras (from Nikon, Panasonic, Fuji, Sigma, and possibly Sony when the new A7s iii is announced later this month), so we might start to see more use of it. Apple published a white paper in January with several alternative workflows for ProRes Raw in FCPX.

[Oliver Peters]

[Michael Gissing] “ProResRAW isn’t free either and they have limited acquisition to Atomos”

I’ve sort of changed my thoughts on what Apple may be doing with ProRes RAW. I think their motivations for ProRes RAW is different than RED or BMD.

https://digitalfilms.wordpress.com/2020/07/10/time-to-rethink-prores-raw/

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Joe Marler]

[Michael Gissing] “ProResRAW isn’t free either and they have limited acquisition to Atomos. So same problem”

Re FCPX supporting BRAW, why this is any different than RED RAW and Canon cRAW. In both cases RED and Canon have written plugins which add this support to FCPX. Why can’t BMD write a similar plugin to enable BRAW support in FCPX like RED and Canon did for their raw formats? You download that code from the manufacturer’s web site (who developed and supports it), not from Apple.

Re Resolve supporting ProRes RAW, I’m sure BMD could license it, write the code and include this in Resolve if they wanted to. Adobe supports ProRes RAW in Premiere right now.

Re how widespread BRAW is vs ProRes RAW and the future outlook, currently BRAW is supported on BMD cameras plus the C300II and EVA-1 if you get the BMD Video Assist 12G.

ProRes RAW is not tied to any camera manufacturer and is currently supported on about 12-15 cameras via Atomos, and Atomos claims it will be supported on 30 cameras by end of this year. Currently (or imminently)-supported cameras: Nikon Z6/7, Sony FS5, FS5II, FS7, FS7II, FX9, Canon C300II, C500, C700, Panasonic EVA-1, S1H, Varicam 35, Varicam LT, Z CAM E2, DJI X7.

The Kinefinity MAVO Edge will support internal ProRes RAW, not using Atomos. I don’t know how they deal with the RED patent. The DJI X7 seems to side-step the issue since technically it is not internal to the camera but integrated into the Inspire2 airframe SSD package.

[Brad Hurley]

Oliver — great article on ProRes Raw, but you should add Blackmagic Design to the list of camera manufacturers that record ProRes internally — they’ve offered ProRes since at least 2013, maybe earlier, on all their cameras. I have the original Pocket Cinema Camera (circa 2013), which records several flavors of ProRes in addition to CDNG raw.

I’m referring to this bit in your blog post:

“Despite ARRI’s success, only a few other camera manufacturers have adopted ProRes as an internal recording option. To my knowledge these include AJA, JVC, and RED (as a secondary file to REDCODE).”

[Oliver Peters]

[Brad Hurley] “but you should add Blackmagic Design to the list of camera manufacturers that record ProRes internally”

Thanks. Will do.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Steve Connor]

[Oliver Peters] “[Brad Hurley] “but you should add Blackmagic Design to the list of camera manufacturers that record ProRes internally”

Thanks. Will do.”

Although I’d read the 12K doesn’t record Prores internally?

[Brad Hurley]

“Although I’d read the 12K doesn’t record Prores internally?”

That’s true! Although the Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K does, as do all the other currently available BMD cameras.

[Oliver Peters]

Overall, forget about the RAW. What’s really interesting is that BMD has deviated from the “off-the-shelf” Bayer-pattern sensor design. Most of the other cameras use a design with 50% green-filtered photosites and then 25% for each red and blue. BMD has opted to go equal numbers of photosites for RGB light. That’s pretty cool.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com