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If you’ve come to filmmaking from professional photography then it comes as a bit of a shock that the vast majority of video isn’t shot in Raw. Stills shooters predominantly use Raw for ultimate quality and flexibility in processing, and now that experience is increasingly coming to filmmaking. It’s about having the best-quality information that you can push and pull around in post-processing. You can have 10-bit 4:2:2 footage at 400Mbps shot in Log via a relatively lossless codec, but there is nothing like having the actual Raw data itself to play with on your faster computer packed with accurate grading and editing software. And if you think it’s only for high-end productions, you’d be very wrong. A DOP and lighting tech can set up lights on big-budget films so the contrast and white-balance is controlled – all under the watchful eye of a director monitoring everything on a colour-corrected screen. But the typical small crew or run- and-gun operator has to multitask, often in less-than-perfect mixed lighting. So being able to perfect it afterwards is a huge bonus. RED pioneered Raw shooting with its modular cameras shooting RedCode Raw files, but these are the domain of the few well-off filmmakers. Now Raw is becoming much more affordable, with cameras like the URSA Mini Pro and Kinefinity range offering it, Canon’s EOS C200 with its own slimmed-down Raw Light format and Sony’s FS5 and FS7 outputting Sony’s own Raw files – but all these need an intermediate step to make the files useable. And file sizes can be huge, meaning you need a fast computer and shares in hard drive manufacturers. 2. GET READY FOR RAW
Now there’s ProRes Raw which takes the Raw files from cameras like the Sony FS700, FS5 and FS7 Mark I and IIs, Canon EOS C500 and C300 Mark II, Panasonic EVA-1 and VariCams and even DJI cameras, and records them on an Atomos recorder. They offer the flexibility of a Raw file, but in a smaller size and with the benefits of a ready- to-edit format. The new Apple ProRes Raw is a free upgrade to owners of the Atomos Shogun Inferno or Atomos Sumo19 monitor/recorder. As long as your camera can output Raw via SDI then the recorder will translate that Raw data and convert it into the much more efficient ProRes Raw format. The biggest issue in shooting in Raw has always been the vast amounts of data. If you shoot Raw from cameras like Sony’s FS5, you can fill a 500GB hard drive in less than 15 minutes. With ProRes Raw, the Atomos records the Raw from the camera to one of two versions, Apple ProRes Raw or the higher-quality but larger ProRes Raw HQ. Using new compression techniques, ProRes Raw files are sized between conventional 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. There are no additional steps in editing. You just use the footage as you would normal ProRes, except you have much more control. And the workable file sizes mean they can be edited on an iMac with no speed issues at all, and no frames dropped in playback. Of course, as it’s an Apple format you have to edit in Final Cut Pro X but it’s hoped other NLEs will follow suit.
changing rapidly and lights like the Fiilex Matrix II are already hitting the market and making an impact. Al DeMayo, the CEO of LiteGear, said: “The LED revolution that has taken place worldwide, in nearly every market segment, has largely been with the use of non-directional LED chips. Frankly speaking, they are much easier and cheaper to produce and these 120º, wide output LEDs are ideal for soft light fixtures. “Our business grew up using directional light fixtures such as fresnels and PARs with diffusion or bounce boards to create beautiful soft light. Today soft light is easy and uses far less area around camera. Directional light fixtures are coming but are a much greater challenge to make as they require engineered optics. Especially challenging is the use of phosphor-corrected, ultra-high CRI white LEDs. I think we will soon see high-quality directional white light as the technology and design evolves.” Of course it’s the new RGB coloured LEDs that are making an impact now, with lights like the ARRI SkyPanel and Litepanels Gemini allowing you to quickly use a full spectrumof colours to add lots of impact to any scene. No gels needed any more.
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AUTUMN 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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