Import RAW codecs

Hello,
our company was a long time user of Apple Final Cut Pro shooting with Canon and Sony cameras.
Last year we decided to go further and invested in a RED Komodo 6K Digital Cinema Camera.
Then we naturally move to Davinci Resolve to get the fully R3D RAW codec compatibility and the best image quality especially in image calibration.
We recently upgraded our photo shooting config to get more than full frame and bough a Fujifilm GFX 100S Digital Medium Format camera that shall be used as a second Digital Movie Camera recorded by an Atomos Ninja V in Prores RAW.

I was so disappointed to find that Davinci Resolve 18.1.1 DOES NOT SUPPORT APPLE PRORES RAW!!!

Isn't it the major movie codec adopted by the most camera brands and the professional film industry?

Then it complicates all the workflow to import R3D RAW shots in Resolve and need to convert Prores RAW to Adobe Cinema DNG with RAW Convertor (for Mac OS only) before to be able to import in Resolve.

So much wasted time, energy and consequently image quality.

I know that relationship between Apple, Atomos and Blackmagic Designs must be complicated and each brand has its own proprietary codec but hundred thousands including me have the same query.

Please add Davinci Resolve Prores RAW support to direct import and edit RAW files with all the workflow and image quality advantages

As Adobe Premiere Pro and AVID Media Composer do have the two of both world.

We do not plan to buy a Blackmagic video assist and use BRAW codec.
If some people have other solutions?

Our Graphic workstation config.
Davinci resolve 18.1.1 build 7
Mac OS Monterey 12.6.1
iMac Pro
CPU intel Xeon 18 core W-2191B
RAM 128GB
First GPU integrated AMD Radeon Vega 56 8GB
Second GPU external AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB
Mac OS 12.6.1 graphic drivers
External 4TB nvme/Thunderbolt 3 SSD for project and 1TB internal Apple SSD for cash.

Thanks.

Olivier Henri CHRETIEN
cOs Plaza Studios

Been discussed multiple times.

Apparently less than great cooperation between Apple and BM on having competing raw standards.

I hold out zero hope of BM add PR Raw.

Atomos doing Braw is probably also a stretch as it competes with the View Assist.


Avid releasing a DNxRaw seems like the ideal solution. Everyone seems happy to work with them. But never heard even the slightest of rumor on that.

Well, ProRes is widely seen as a standard and fully supported by DR. Even on PC for reading.
ProRes RAW is not so much seen as a standard, but the lack of support is disappointing nevertheless. Neither is Apple supporting BRAW, so it seems to be a mutual issue.
You should still have Compressor around, so just convert.

This might be helpful too (sorry, in German, use DeepL for translation):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ip58u11xundbl ... s.pdf?dl=0

Isn't it the major movie codec adopted by the most camera brands

Actually, there's only one camera that can record ProRes RAW - the Zenmuse X7.

All other cameras require an external recorder, so maybe the Video Assist recording BRAW can work here?

Isn't it the major movie codec adopted by the most camera brands

Actually, there's only one camera that can record ProRes RAW - the Zenmuse X7.

All other cameras require an external recorder, so maybe the Video Assist recording BRAW can work here?

Actually that is not correct. The Nikon Z9 can record ProRes Raw internally as well as Nikon's own Nikon RAW. The Z9 was released in late 2021 and the ability to record internal raw was introduced by a firmware update in April 2022.

The Nikon Z9 can record ProRes Raw internally as well as Nikon's own Nikon RAW.

And the lawsuit initiated by Red because of this camera will go to trial in the beginning of 2024.
https://ymcinema.com/2022/12/08/red-vs-nikon-jury-trial-is-set-for-january-2024/

Amazing - a trial by jury. It's hard to imagine how a jury would be able to reach a verdict on something so complex and technical. And what the outcome would be if they ruled against Nikon.

And what the outcome would be if they ruled against Nikon.

Status Quo. Anyone using compressed Raw in a camera needs to write a check to Red.

I believe Nikon's angle is that Red didn't do all the copyright hurdles in the correct order. That Red released the product before applying for the patent.

If that is true, I am surprised the past lawsuits didn't press that argument.

And if Nikon looses they have to cough up the dough or kill the recording with the next firmware, just like BM had to do with DNG.

Amazing - a trial by jury. It's hard to imagine how a jury would be able to reach a verdict on something so complex and technical. And what the outcome would be if they ruled against Nikon.

If it starts in 2024 by the time any appeals are over it might be past the life of the patent. 2027 I think.

I think Nikon has already implied they don't see any damage to Red. If they lose I'd assume they'd push that line of reasoning. No harm no foul.

I don't think many are using ProRes raw in the Z9. You'll be hard pressed to find one positive review of ProRes. It's lower quality than NRaw 8k.

And if Nikon looses they have to cough up the dough or kill the recording with the next firmware, just like BM had to do with DNG.

or DJI with proresRAW in the ronin 4D

Amazing - a trial by jury. It's hard to imagine how a jury would be able to reach a verdict on something so complex and technical. And what the outcome would be if they ruled against Nikon.

If it starts in 2024 by the time any appeals are over it might be past the life of the patent. 2027 I think.

I think Nikon has already implied they don't see any damage to Red. If they lose I'd assume they'd push that line of reasoning. No harm no foul.

I don't think many are using ProRes raw in the Z9. You'll be hard pressed to find one positive review of ProRes. It's lower quality than NRaw 8k.

only that red has recently extended (supplemented) its patent.
and that's why i don't see nikon's chances as good.

.

Some how I doubt Nikon is surprised that Red is suing.

IIRC Red's new patent is for smartphones or something.

Why don’t they use braw?

Sony, Nikon, Fuji etc….


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Because BM owns it.

But bm said that’s everyone can use it.


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The RAW battle has been going on for years. Nobody has been able to find a standard that everybody thinks will do the job. Sony, Nikon, BM all think theirs is best, and to use someone else’s compromises their equipment’s performance. Adobe tried first with their DNG standard which had some success, but the plethora of sensor designs doesn’t seem to optimize for it.

But bm said that’s everyone can use it.

Everyone can use the SDK to decode it, yes.

BMD hasn’t said anything about anyone having free reign to implement braw encoding anywhere.

I don't think many are using ProRes raw in the Z9. You'll be hard pressed to find one positive review of ProRes. It's lower quality than NRaw 8k.

Sensor dictates the quality of raw data. Unlike braw, prores raw actually stores bayer pattern data. What the quality of that data is depends on the sensor. How the prores raw decoder is implemented in some software X is also mostly dependent on those implementing it, not prores raw as a format. Right now most implementations don’t expose all prraw decoder functionalities.

How can I convert PRO RES RAW from my RONIN 4D into Cinema DNG to work with DVRS. Any ideas?

Thx.
Nico.

Why would you want to do that? You have a Mac. Get Apple's Compressor and convert to ProRes.

Why would you want to do that? You have a Mac. Get Apple's Compressor and convert to ProRes.

Hi Uli,
I thought that with CDNG you have more editing capabilities in DVRS than with ProRes compressed. Now that I can finally shoot in raw format again in the Ronin 4D, I actually wanted to continue working in raw format in DVRS. That was the background. Or am I wrong about the Cinema DNG format?

How strong is your machine? DNGs are pretty heavy.
You don't loose much with ProRes 422 HQ and next to nothing with 4444.
But anyway, try for yourself.

Personally I use Final Cut Pro for converting ProRes Raw files for grading in Resolve. I'm not sure if it is possible to make any changes (white balance, ISO, exposure) to the raw file in Compressor which are possible in FCPX (for Nikon ProRes Raw at least). I can't find any way of doing it in Compressor from a quick look.

There are a couple of options if you want to convert ProRes Raw to CDNG. There is an app available on the App Store called Raw Converter which does this and you can do a free limited trial. I tried it and was pretty disappointed with CDNG when imported into Resolve in comparison to editing BRAW but maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance. You could download the trial and see what you think (assuming it works with your camera). The full version is $60 on a per camera model basis.

There is also an app called Assimilate Play Pro Studio which can convert ProRes Raw to CDNG. This was just released yesterday. I only know about it because I previously got an earlier version of Assimilate Play Pro free with my Ninja V. I got an email earlier today with an upgrade offer for $30 but I think it is $299 if you are not coming from the Ninja version. You can get a monthly subscription for $39 which can be cancelled any time.

If you are familiar with FCP-X, I'd say it's the better solution to do your editing and a 'first light' grading of ProRes RAW there and export the whole project as ProRes 422 HQ or 4444 to DR for final grading.
Depending on your distribution, ProRes 422 HQ might suffice for most cases other than cinema.

I don’t do any actual grading of ProRes Raw files in FCPX as this requires adding clips to a project (timeline) and exporting that. You can’t easily export individual clips (requires making ranges) from a timeline and even if you do that they all have the project name.

For exporting individual clips I think it is best to do that from the browser. You can modify the white balance, exposure and ISO of individual clips and export batches with the clips retaining their names, import into Resolve and off you go.