Blackmagic Design admits that Blackmagic RAW is one of their biggest announcement yet. Indeed they are very proud with this new (and dramatic) technology. Read below to explore more about this codec and what is unique comparing to other similar codecs like CinemaDNG and ProRes RAW.

The guys at Blackmagic Design don’t sleep. Just after the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has decided to reward DaVinci Resolve 15 as one the recipients of their 2018 Engineering Excellence Awards, due to Resolve’s outstanding technical and creative ingenuity in media, content production and finishing, they announced the new codec named Blackmagic RAW. It’s not just a codec but a whole new technology.

According to the company, the new codec has been developed for 2.5 years, maybe even before the idea of the newly announced ProRes RAW codec was born.

CinemaDNG wasn’t good enough

The new codec was developed as a results of the cumbersome and complicated based still frames – CinemaDNG which is just a container of pixels. Working with CinemaDNG was a pain since this codec is far from being production friendly. That is why Blackmagic wanted something more usable but RAW-able.

AS stated by Blackmagic: “Blackmagic RAW has been in development for years and is a next generation hybrid codec that features multiple new technologies such as an advanced de-mosaic algorithm, extensive metadata support, highly optimized GPU and CPU accelerated processing and more. It can be used from acquisition throughout post production for editing and color grading, all from a single file”

Blackmagic RAW has been in development for years and is a next generation hybrid codec that features multiple new technologies such as an advanced de-mosaic algorithm, extensive metadata support, highly optimized GPU and CPU accelerated processing

12 bit RAW in a ProRes HQ bitrate

The Blackmagic RAW comes in compression rates: 3:1, 5:1, 8:1, 12:1.

For reference, the 3:1 is around 120 Mb/sec (equivalent to 10 bit codec), which means a very small file size comparing to the high quality of the image. The file size can be comparable to ProRes HQ. That’s a real achievement; 12 bit RAW in a ProRes HQ bitrate.

In-camera de-mosaic: faster playback and rendering

One of the main strengths of the Blackmagic RAW is the ability to process all the de-mosaic (the process which turns the sensor data into image) calculations inside the camera instead of using the computer’s CPU, which leads to higher data management efficiency, faster playback and rendering.

As stated by Blackmagic: “RAW codec that moves part of the de-mosaic processing from the computer’s CPU into the camera itself, resulting in incredibly efficient encoding for an entirely new high performance RAW experience. With Blackmagic RAW, you get the same quality, bit depth, dynamic range and controls as RAW, with better performance and even smaller file sizes than traditional video codecs!”

RAW codec that moves part of the de-mosaic processing from the computer’s CPU into the camera itself, resulting in incredibly efficient encoding for an entirely new high performance RAW experience. With Blackmagic RAW, you get the same quality, bit depth, dynamic range and controls as RAW, with better performance and even smaller file sizes than traditional video codecs!

Watch Balckmagic’s detailed video below for more info and demonstration:

Editable metadata files

There are sidecar metadata files stitched to every Blackmagic RAW file that can be editable by a text edit application in order to change the RAW setting of the file. The user can separate the sidecar files from the RAW file and vice versa. Nice demo of this action can be explored in the video Blackmagic has released. The privilege to change metadata by edit the sidecar file is pretty cool and straightforward.

Click on the screenshots below to explore images with (saturated) and without (flat) RAW settings

Two separated Encoding Methods

Blackmagic RAW grants us 2 different methods of encoding: Constant bitrate encoding and contents quality encoding. The switching between those 2 options are very easy using the user friendly GUI (Graphical User Interface) inside the camera. In constant bitrate you may reduce the quality of the image, but the bitrate stays the same. In constant quality the bitrate is changed (for example goes up) in order to preserve the quality of the image. The action is pretty uncomplicated and depends on production needs. When you’d like highest quality image, use the constant quality encoding.

For example, complex frames will be encoded at higher data rates to preserve detail and maintain quality. Blackmagic RAW Q0 has minimum quantization and yields the highest possible quality, while Blackmagic RAW Q5 uses moderate quantization for more efficient encoding and a smaller file size.

When you’d like to preserve disk space, use the constant bitrate so you will have more control on your bitrate. Easy!

Blackmagic RAW vs CinemaDNG

Blackmagic RAW is much more preferable than CinemaDNG. Filmmakers that have worked with CinemaDNG know exactly how much this codec is complex from post production point of view. CinemaDNG makes post production more complicated. Furthermore, in CinemaDNG every single frame is actually separate file (image sequence), which means that before the exporting to NLE, a transcoding process must be performed. You get the RAW, but with a lot of hassle. Balckmagic RAW is much more post production friendly, since you treat it as a regular file (like ProRes).

Blackmagic RAW vs ProRes RAW

Blackmagic RAW grants you control on metadata in post. With ProRes Raw you can’t do that. Think REDCODE RAW vs ProRes.

Another significant advantage of the Blackmagic RAW is the compatibility to multiple OS platforms (Mac, Windows and Linux) contrary to ProRes RAW which is relevant only for Mac platform.

Limited to 12 bit

It’s important to note that BlackMagic RAW is limited to 12 bit. This is a major drawback since other RAW codecs have the ability to get the data in 14 bit and beyond. It’s probably because of the de-mosaic in-camera process.

The guys at LumaForge have made a cool video which dives more on Blackmagic RAW from a technical point of view. Take a look at their video below:

Open-source (=free) RAW

Blackmagic has bundled up all the downstream software processing into a single software library that’s free for developers (SDK- Software Developing Kit). This library is available on Mac, Windows and Linux which means all the complexity of using Blackmagic RAW has been handled, and reading sidecar files, setting RAW parameters and all the color science is included.

This ensures you get consistent images between different software applications and across operating system platforms. The .braw SDK is fully documented and publicly available for all developers on Mac OS, Windows and Linux, for FREE.

Blackmagic says that the reason it’s free is to help to spread this codec to other platforms, and even to other cameras beyond Blackmagic cameras.

Will ARRI/ RED use the open source SDK in order to implement Blackmagic RAW in their cameras? probably not, but the other manufactures are welcomed.

With the SDK it’s a matter of a very short time till we can edit Blackmagic RAW on FCPX and Premiere.

Cost and Availability

The good news that this update is free of charge. If you own a Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro camera then you can download a public beta for your camera that adds Blackmagic RAW and it also upgrades your camera to Generation 4 Color Science.

So you can start shooting in Blackmagic RAW immediately. Furthermore, DaVinci Resolve 15.1 release includes support for Blackmagic RAW.

This codec is indeed revolutionary since it upgrades the camera to a whole new level..like a whole new camera.

Image quality!

This is the crucial factor. Can Blackmagic RAW compete with other beautiful RAW codecs like ARRIRAW and RED? We just have to wait for movies shot on Blackmagic RAW in order to see if this codec really as good as it sounds. Meanwhile you can download some Blackmagic RAW footage from the Blackmagic Design website.

What do you think about this new codec? Let us know your thoughts!