APPLE PRORES RAW/ATOMOS SHOGUN INFERNO
constant quality and the best image quality for all frames, so images with greater detail or sensor noise are encoded at higher data rates and produce larger file sizes. So it’s hard to give exact sizes for ProRes Raw files but they generally fall between those of ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ, while ProRes RAWHQ generally fall between those of Apple ProRes 422 HQ and Apple ProRes 4444. So essentially, file sizes that are reasonable to record and store. In tests on a Sony FS5 with the Rawfirmware option outputting files to an Atomos Shogun Inferno, these file sizes seempretty accurate andmean Raw quality can finally be useable for a typical workflow. They were edited on an iMac with no speed issues at all, and no frames dropped in playback. Of course, any newworkflow takes time to get used to and camera settings vary. It’s not just as simple as plug-and-play. On the Sony, for example, you have to record in 4K, unless you are going for super slow- motion, high-frame rates when you can record in 2K. The Shogun seems to believe it’s getting an S-Log2 signal from the camera, although it’s actually getting Raw data. This is because S-Log2 is the usual way to output froma Sony FS5 when outputting Raw. If you are outputting in S-Log3, then if you put an S-Log3 LUT on the footage it looks wrong – far too contrasty. Editing your footage Import your clips to Final Cut Pro X then go to the ‘Info Inspector’ and change the view fromBasic to General which then reveals the ProRes Raw controls. There is no
Even if you shoot Raw from cameras like Sony’s FS5, you can fill a 500GB hard drive in less than 15 minutes. That’s amassive drain on hard drive space both in the field and storage afterwards, not tomention the speed of the computer you need to edit the footage afterwards. Rawmay be the holy grail, but it has been at too high a cost for the vast majority of users until now. The newApple ProRes Raw is a free upgrade to anyone who has an Atomos Shogun Inferno recorder/ monitor or Atomos Sumo19 field monitor/recorder. Atomos says it worked closely with Apple directly to offer this new super-format. As long as your camera can output Raw via SDI – like the list of Sony, Canon and Panasonics mentioned earlier – then the recorder will translate that Raw data and convert it into themuchmore efficient ProRes Raw format. Once the Atomos recorder has the new Firmware updated, you can select the function that converts the Raw from the camera to one of the to two versions, Apple ProRes Raw and ProRes Raw HQ. The latter is the higher-quality version that takes upmore space but is less likely to show compression- related artifacts. The trick to keeping the quality high is that ProRes Raw uses a different compression technique. The current ProRes family uses a technique known as rate control to dynamically adjust compression tomeet a target data rate. So the amount of compression – and therefore ultimate quality – varies from frame to frame depending on the image content. In contrast, ProRes Raw is designed tomaintain
THE VERDICT
If you have one of the supported cameras, an Atomos Shogun Inferno and use Final Cut Pro X to edit, then Apple ProRes Raw is like giving your kit a boost in quality. Raw files offer flexibility and quality that nothing else comes close to, and Apple’s ProRes Raw version gives you that but at manageable file sizes and virtually no changes to your workflow. It’s a huge, free upgrade.
S-Log2 option in FCPX, you can choose S-Gamma3 or S-Gamma3. cine. But you can play around with various LUTs tofind a look that works for you, or create a customone. Hopefully FCPX and Atomos will quickly iron out some of these small issues and offer more options. Or you can just set the footage to its pure Raw form in FCPX, so you can see the true output from the camera and then apply all your own colour corrections. With LUT there is no rendering time. Doing your own colour correction introduces some rendering time, but you’re getting exactly what you want. Once you’ve done it a few times, you can save various looks as Presets to speed things up in future. Working with these Rawfiles is a real joy as just using the standard FCPX controls, you can recover highlight details, get some details into shadows and change the gain like never before. It’s an eye-opener and highly addictive. The noise is well controlled but as there is no in- camera noise suppression, youmay need to add a de-noising plug-in.
ABOVE To access the raw controls you need to select general on the metadata views.
“It canmake a huge difference to your final filmas you can get it all nailed in the edit”
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SUMMER 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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