Prores RAW Converters - Why Not Davinci?

[Zack Birlew]

Hi, everybody, I was just reading about another Prores RAW converter solution, Assimilate Play Pro Studio:

https://www.newsshooter.com/2023/02/08/assimilate-play-pro-studio/

My question is, if it's as simple as just converting to CinemaDNG, what are the odds that Davinci Resolve could just do this right off the bat in an update? I'm asking because I'm a little hesitant to drop $150 (with coupon) on a plugin that could be made irrelevant potentially very quickly if Blackmagic can possibly get their software engineers on the case. Is there anything legal or programming-wise that could prevent them from adding this feature? Losing the advantage of Prores RAW would be a cost but at this point I would just expect it just to be able to have all my media in one Davinci project.

 

[Alex Zeder]

Good question for https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com
There were already some discussions about this topic.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Zack, this is a very complicated situation that involves some past history between BMD, Apple, and Atomos. I've spoke with some of the people involved and it's never really been 100% articulated as one specific reason. I think there's a few things that have prevented this from happening. It's maddening and I have expressed my frustration to those who were willing to listen that this is hurting end users like myself who use Resolve as a professional tool and can't always control what footage arrives to be graded. So when ProRes RAW is the recording codec and that would be the ideal file type to get the most out of the footage, it's frustrating that there has to be an intermediate step of transcoding to another format. Do any of the parties involved care? I can't answer that but their actions seem to indicate a line drawn in the sand.

 

[Zack Birlew]

Good question for https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com
There were already some discussions about this topic.

You may think so but even though REDUser has seen some activity drop, the Blackmagic forums can feel like a wasteland at times. If you've read through them already, what did those discussions about Prores RAW lead to?

I've had to export OpenEXR due to After Effects not liking CinemaDNG and it's not bad, you just lose 90% of the flexibility, but if I set the exposure range to where I want it beforehand, I can adjust it as much as I would have wanted to and I can always export a darker or brighter version in case I need to blend things into a quasi-HDR image. So going from Prores RAW to CinemgaDNG is a decent compromise but again, with already two plugins available, I'd hate to lose $150+ dollars for nothing. I'm also not 100% sure I'll even need it as our next movie is looking like it's going to be either BRAW, R3D, or Sony X-OCN.

So, even though a line may be drawn in the sand, there's clearly a problem with filmmakers in my similar position as I'm debating what camera and format to go with for my next project and I want to use Davinci Resolve to edit it with instead of Premiere Pro but if I have to have Premiere Pro or a plugin to make my camera choice work then that can completely change my camera selection and can actually steer me away from Davinci Resolve in order to stick with Premiere Pro just to support my camera's format.

 

[Phil Holland]

So, even though a line may be drawn in the sand, there's clearly a problem with filmmakers in my similar position

This is called figuring out your workflow. It's not actually a problem if you choose to go through the hoops to do the conversion.

One of the reasons ProRes (not the raw variant) became so popular industrywide is it didn't evoke any new workflow or pipeline changes for big through extremely small houses. More than a few times I had to show literally in person that REDCODE and various other native camera formats were supported through various NLEs and other software as well as going over what works well or sometimes workflows that really should be avoided.

With speed and efficiency as well as ease of workflow being at such a high precedent, much like rivers, they are formed by the path of least resistance. But for some, their direction and focus will inspire them to pave their own way. Even at the cost of time and coin.

 

[Matt W.]

Workflow question of my own. braw with highlight recovery enabled in Nuke output as Log C matches Log C ProRes from the Alexa almost exactly to my eye. How do I get the same result when transcoding in Resolve? My whole workflow is ProRes 444.

 

[Alex Zeder]

If you've read through them already, what did those discussions about Prores RAW lead to?

Have to admit, I didn't pay much attention to these threads because it's not what I'm using. What I remember is that there were several requests for ProRes RAW to be added to Resolve but no reaction from official BM side whether they have plans for implementing it or even consider it.

 

[Phil Holland]

Have to admit, I didn't pay much attention to these threads because it's not what I'm using. What I remember is that there were several requests for ProRes RAW to be added to Resolve but no reaction from official BM side whether they have plans for implementing it or even consider it.

It is a complicated story that goes back years and may still have some "hope". Particularly in the near-ish future. But there's a wild road with zigs and zags on how we got here. Best thing to do is request the support through BMD semi-regularly. And while you're at it, request a license that can be paid for to allow for ProRes encoding on Windows.

 

[Patrick Tresch]

To remember, Assimilate was the company that developped Redcine.