The new Blackmagic RAW Codec

[mercer]

16 minutes ago, DBounce said:

Exactly, it can record an hour plus... but you need pocket to support it's appetite for storage... And that storage had better be fast. I have had lesser "bargain" CFast card produce errors as they could not manage the data rate. There are SSD solutions for the C200 also. Granted, with the collection of CFast cards I acquired, I would have no difficulty feeding the P4k. I want to see the camera in the hands of independent reviewers. I'm going to get one... it's so cheap that it would be silly not to have one on hand. That said, I think many will get this camera, only to sell if shortly thereafter. It will not be for the casual shooter. Don't be fooled, in the right hands almost any of the usual suspect could produce amazing footage. 

This reminds me of something that happened to me when I was 4 years old. I was walking in London with my father. Then a short distance away something caught my attention. There in the hustle and bustle of down town London stood a man. Floating above him was a replica of an Airship. I marveled at the attention to detail. I was captivated by how realistic it looked. I begged my father to purchase one of the replicas that the man was selling. He looked at me and patted me on the head after paying the stranger and handing me a small envelope containing the wondrous replica. I recall pondering, how it was possible to fit such a magnificent model into such a small package?

Later that day we arrived safely back home. I was eager to open the package to see this incredible work of art. Upon opening the envelope my heart sank.... the package contained nothing more than a gray ballon. It looked nothing like the amazing model that the man was holding. I  sadly realized there was no way I would be able to make it look like the model the man had shown me. I learned something that day... And it has stuck with me ever since. I supposed what I'm saying is  that I believe some are really looking for Hollywood in a box... Any camera can produce compelling stories... but first you need a compelling story... and all the other element to tell it. The camera is only one part of the puzzle. 

 

Well told story. Stop buying cameras and turn that into a short film.

[jonpais]

4 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

Also their eGPU isn't needed to use the footage at all.

This is big.

[BTM_Pix]

20 minutes ago, mercer said:

Well told story. Stop buying cameras and turn that into a short film.

If you are setting it in the modern day, make sure that the child does an unboxing video of the balloon.

And set it in Hawaii.

With the balloon seller being played by Tony Northrup.

[KnightsFan]

1 hour ago, Lenscamera said:

what does BM stand to gain?

I'm not super knowledgeable about Businesses, but my 2 cents: Unlike many other camera companies, Blackmagic is private. Shareholders require that a large public company GROW in order to make share prices rise, while a private company can stay about the same size without much consequence. So Blackmagic has a lot more leeway to pursue a philosophy, even if it makes them less money in the short term.

What they stand to gain in the long term is to make their name synonymous with innovation, the way that Arri or Leica are synonymous with quality.

[jonpais]

And incidentally improve image quality, reduce file sizes and make their cameras more accessible to a wider audience.

[KnightsFan]

9 minutes ago, jonpais said:

And incidentally improve image quality, reduce file sizes and make their cameras more accessible to a wider audience.

Exactly! But since the format is open, other manufacturers can get those benefits as well. Only Blackmagic gets the street cred for it, though.

[webrunner5]

8 minutes ago, KnightsFan said:

Exactly! But since the format is open, other manufacturers can get those benefits as well. Only Blackmagic gets the street cred for it, though.

I would be amazed if Apple implements it in FCPX LoL. It would make their Raw Light look a bit dated already, not counting a money grab. Man things are changing faster than I can process it! What a year this has been. Up and down for sure.

[sanveer]

4 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Waaaaiiiiit......   what??? Where did you read that? This is sad news. 

I clearly remember some codec not making it. It couldn't be RAW, cause RAW can be sourced or created. ProRes is absolutely Propreitory, and from a single source. 

[KnightsFan]

Like with ProRes Raw, I was initially kind of skeptical, but I've read a bit about this Blackmagic Raw and it looks phenomenal. Here are my thoughts.

 

- It's not RAW in the way we used to mean. It's compressed, processed, and partially demosaiced. While the terminology doesn't detract from its awesomeness, I feel strongly about calling things what they are. (I said the same thing about ProRes RAW, Canon RAWLite, Redcode RAW, etc.).

- It's got a variety of compression ratios. This is VERY important! This means that no matter what quality level you are currently using, you can have the same exact workflow every time. This means the same workflow not just for the image, but the metadata as well.

- The .sidecar files allow metadata created in one program to be used in another. Additionally, the .sidecar metadata replaces (without overwriting) the original metadata. You can make color adjustments in software A, then see those same changes in Software B--and then revert back to the original if you want.

- Metadata can hold manufacturer-specified color information. This was a criticism Petty made earlier this year against ProRes Raw. Looking back, he was probably itching to blurt out how much better their raw format was!

- Metadata can be stored per frame for things like focus distance. This is a must-have for VFX.

- Unlike cDNG, the new format is in a single file. Small improvement, but good.

- Some processing is done in-camera. I'm very curious how this works, but the promised result is better performance while editing.

- And finally, the big one: The SDK is open!  I imagine this will quickly find its way into open source programs like VLC, Ffmpeg, Blender, Kdenlive, and more. This won't affect the Big Guys much, but for the low budget folks that will be huge.

- Imagine if VLC implemented the SDK and could natively show Raw files, with color correction information. You could send a client/friend a raw file straight from camera for viewing without transcoding or using proxies.

- The file size was one reason I haven't really looked at the P4K, and have been so intent on cameras with H.265 (Fuji, Z-Cam). It looks like Blackmagic Raw might bring drastic file size improvements. 46 MB/s for 4.6k 12:1 isn't bad. I'm guesstimating that's like 12 MB/s for HD? That's low enough for me, though I'll have to see how the quality compares to H.265 at the same bitrate.

[Danyyyel]

3 hours ago, DBounce said:

Here is some info from Canon's website. The C200 records in Canon RawLite format.

I can't see datarate, it only says 5x smaller.

[majoraxis]

Well done Blackmagic!

Is it possible to transcode my current non-BRAW video files to BRAW in Resolve 15.1 before I edit?  And can I master to BRAW as a delivery format?

Seems like the path to recording 8k video is set before us and 4k now seems like a reasonable workflow choice especially if 12:1 is a good as it is said to be.

I would like to see a link between external follow focuses like the Nucleus M and and BRAW so the metadata I capture has the focus distance for post relate processing.

I wonder if the audio for BRAW gives the option to record PCM and hopefully up to 24bit / 96k?

[Anaconda_]

1 hour ago, KnightsFan said:

Imagine if VLC implemented the SDK and could natively show Raw files, with color correction information. You could send a client/friend a raw file straight from camera for viewing without transcoding or using proxies.

Don't forget emailing hundreds of sidecar files to and from a colorist, like it's nothing.

[KnightsFan]

Just now, Anaconda_ said:

Don't forget emailing hundreds of sidecar files to and from a colorist, like it's nothing.

I was going to say that, but in my experience some people don't like manually placing a couple files in the right folder, even to save a few hundred GB of data over the internet... lol

[sanveer]

5 hours ago, SR said:

12:1 compression

 

The footage looks superb. 

In the comments sector the author of the video says, "Yes you can. 4.6K footage in BRAW 12:1 at 24 fps is only 36 MB/s."

That's like 288mbps. Wow !!!

[Danyyyel]

2 minutes ago, sanveer said:

In the comments sector the author of the video says, "Yes you can. 4.6K footage in BRAW 12:1 at 24 fps is only 36 MB/s."

That's like 288mbps. Wow !!!

Do they have a 1080p version? Shoot 1080p raw for 75 mbs lol.

[sanveer]

2 minutes ago, Danyyyel said:

Do they have a 1080p version? Shoot 1080p raw for 75 mbs lol.

Hahaha. Who is they? Blackmagic or these Vloggers? 

[Danyyyel]

2 minutes ago, sanveer said:

Hahaha. Who is they? Blackmagic or these Vloggers? 

Black magic I meant. If someone told me that someday you could shoot raw for under 100 mbit, I would think he is crazy LOL

[sanveer]

7 minutes ago, Danyyyel said:

Black magic I meant. If someone told me that someday you could shoot raw for under 100 mbit, I would think he is crazy LOL

Oh ok. Yes, soon I guess. 

"Best of all, there are no hidden licenses or ongoing fees. Blackmagic RAW has been designed to provide the industry with an open, elegant and standardized high quality image format that can be used across products and in customer workflows absolutely free!"

 

I want atleast the 12:1 RAW on the Mavic 2 Pro. I think it should be able to handle it. Plus the footage would look INSANE. 

[zerocool22]

3 minutes ago, sanveer said:

Oh ok. Yes, soon I guess. 

 

Its already released, you can update the ursa mini pro and go shooting now

[Danyyyel]

Is it confirmed for the Pocket 4k?