The company says its raw codec is designed to replace other raw and video formats
Blackmagic has released a raw format it says is much higher quality, faster and easier to use than other codecs.
Blackmagic begins processing the Blackmagic Raw file in-camera to speed up working with the raw files in post-production.
Broadcast spoke to Stuart Ashton, director, Blackmagic during IBC 2018, who said: “Raw is typically associated with acquisition and isn’t considered an editing format. Blackmagic developed the Blackmagic Raw codec to enable you to work in raw from acquisition to delivery.”
The compression enabled by Blackmagic Raw ranges from 3:1 to 12:1. At 12:1 the data rate for Ultra HD 4K content is just 32 Mbit/s, compared to 127 Mbit/s at 3:1. The huge reduction in data has very little impact on image quality, says Ashton. “We’ve beta tested it quite extensively and it’s a massive game changer. Even at 12:1 it’s very difficult to notice the difference in image quality.”
The initial rollout of Blackmagic Raw is as a free update for owners of its URSA Mini Pro cameras. The company has also incorporated Blackmagic Raw in the latest release of its editing/grading software DaVinci Resolve. It is also making Blackmagic Raw available for free to software developers via a software developer’s kit (SDK), to enable it to be incorporated into third-party software apps.
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