GEAR APPLE PRORES RAW/ATOMOS SHOGUN INFERNO
SHOOT RAW CAMERA FREE! UPGRADE YOUR If you have one of a select group of cameras and an Atomos Shogun Inferno, you can now shoot ProRes Raw at no extra cost
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH H ere’s a warning to anyone considering trying Raw: once you’ve started shooting Raw footage, there is no looking back. The experience of having the best-quality information right off your camera’s sensor, that you can push and pull around in post- processing to your heart’s content, is a real joy. No baked-in looks that are virtually impossible to change, no struggling to set an accurate white- balance, and lots of highlight and shadow detail for you to recover. If you’re coming from stills photography, where just about every serious working pro uses Rawfiles, it’s tough to get used to the idea that the camera has already compressed the files that are hard to tweak – like a highly-compressed JPEG still. And whilemany would think that Rawwas a format exclusively for high-end professional filmers, the reality is quite different. If you are on amovie set, with carefully- controlled andmatched lighting to ensure the contrast isn’t too great for your camera, then a compressed in-camera codec can work perfectly. If you’re a run-and-gun shooter or end up filming where you have little control of light – like the vast majority of productions – then the flexibility of a Rawfile is actually far more important. Especially when working as a single shooter and trying to get everything sorted – fromaudio to lighting andmore – it canmake a huge difference to your final filmas you can get it all nailed in the edit. Over the past few years there have been various attempts at creating a Rawfile format that actually works for lots of users. CinemaDNGwas one format that many hoped would become a
pressure then surely they’ll invest and follow suit.
universal format, but it didn’t really get a foothold. RED has Redcode Raw, its own format. And Kinefinity has its own, too. Sony’s camcorders can output Sony Raw and there is little that can read that successfully, adding complexity to your workflow. And Canon’s Raw Light is another format, said to have the flexibility and quality of Raw but at smaller file sizes. Apple’s ProRes Raw is the latest attempt at a new standard, and works on a range of cameras like the Sony FS700, both FS5 and FS7Mark I and IIs, Canon C500 and C300Mark II, Panasonic EVA-1 and Varicams. Of course, it’s hoped the format will take off and customers will demand it fromother cameramanufacturers in future. DJI is already on board. That might seem like a bold plan, but Apple ProRes totally dominates the professional industry. Filmmakers, editors and colourists know it and love it, somoving
BELOW The Sony FS5 with the Raw upgrade paired with the Atomos Shogun Inferno.
The data size issue One of the biggest issues of shooting in Raw has always been the vast amounts of data it uses. Plenty of huge and fast SSD hard drives are essential, which can be hideously expensive if you are forced to buy proprietary drives like RED’s own RedMags.
to ProRes Raw is hardly a big leap. Especially if you edit in Final Cut Pro X. There’s no support yet from other NLEs, but if there is enough
104 PRO MOVIEMAKER SUMMER 2018
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