Compressing uncompressed raw footage for archive

I'm about to get a bmcc/bmpcc and will probably shoot some work on a remote location without endless storage space for a couple of weeks.
I just wondered if there is a way to convert all uncompressed RAW shots to lossless raw dng to save a bit space.
Of course without affecting their readability in Resolve, metadata etc.

I tried a search, but didn't find such a topic. Anyone tried this?

Apart from using things like zipping or rar comprssion, Cineform raw is worth a look at. Its a video format which stores the video in its bayer format with a very high level of quality at a fraction of the disk space.

Tom,

Do you have a conversion tool for cineform raw that you recommend? I've seen a couple via Google, but I'm curious if you have a specific recommendation that you've had experience with.

Thanks!

Matthew

I'm on a mac, so cineform convertion isn't possible for now, unless someone has a workaround...
Has anyone tried the LR dng export?

First make sure the raw footage is really uncompressed. BMDPCC is to have compressed raw so there is no point to compress it further. Images compress truly lossless only to ca 2:1 ratio. Such can be "mathematically" lossless, meaning the string of digits will reverse perfectly while uncompressing. Digital Betacam has this kind of compression if I remember correctly. RED on the other hand compresses raw in a lossy Redcode manner. They call it "visually lossless" but this is just an euphemism for a good , yet lossy compression. Alexa has a truly lossless raw. The idea behind raw is that it's a perfect archival format for bayer array derived images.
Debayering algorithms improve all the time and old raw images can only get better. Any lossy compression will negate this feature. So best is to leave raw--raw, as it came from the camera.
PS. Cineform is 3.5:1 to 10:1 so it's definitely a lossy codec.

nugat,

Pocket won't have raw yet, but I was referring to BMCC's files.
I'll be pretty happy with 2:1 compression. That is 2h more on 1TB storage!

Look at it this way:
WD Passport 2TB is 140$. That's 4hours of raw.
Same price HDcam tape is half the storage (2hr), 8x volume/weight and compressed on top.
4TB internal disks are 170$.
I don't know any simple ways to compress BMDCC raw 2:1 and maintain integrity safely (metadata) but I just would not bother . Perhaps somebody else can advise here.

Tom,

Do you have a conversion tool for cineform raw that you recommend? I've seen a couple via Google, but I'm curious if you have a specific recommendation that you've had experience with.

Thanks!

Matthew

I use the one which comes with Cineform. Works perfectly, IF you are doing it on a pc :-p

I use the one which comes with Cineform. Works perfectly, IF you are doing it on a pc :-p

CURSES!!! STEVE JOBS!!!!

Thanks for the heads up Tom.

Matthew

Does it work with the free Cineform Studio?
I guess I can do it via VMware.

Try: http://cineform.com/products/gopro-cine ... io-premium