Dear Friends,

I would like to discuss our upcoming ARRIRAW Option for our Gemini 4:4:4.

Here are a few points:

1. Our ARRIRAW Option is a field installable firmware upgrade.
The Gemini 4:4:4 does not have to be sent back to us to add this firmware upgrade.

2. The ARRIRAW Option may be installed on any Gemini 4:4:4, one does not need a special Gemini 4:4:4 in order to install this firmware update.

3. One does not lose any of the functionality or features of the Gemini 4:4:4 when ARRIRAW is added.

One can enable ARRIRAW and it will operate as an ARRIRAW Recorder, with proper live monitoring capabilities, and playback capabilities.

Or one can turn off ARRIRAW in the menu and it operates as a regular Gemini 4:4:4.
Thus one can record full uncompressed from 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 camera sources.

And later this year (in the Fall), we will be releasing a free firmware upgrade that will enable compressed Avid DNxHD recording capabilities to the Gemini 4:4:4.

4. The existing Convergent Design SSD's will work in ARRIRAW mode.
One does not need to purchase new SSD's in order to record ARRIRAW, including when recording up to 60 frames per second.

Note: While in ARRIRAW mode, 60 frames per second is the speed limit, as this is the highest frame rate that is output from the ARRI ALEXA in ARRIRAW mode.

5. The Gemini 4:4:4 has built in HD-SDI / T-Link 3G support for our inputs, thus one does not have to perform a hardware upgrade in order to support ARRIRAW at 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 frames per second.

6. Our intial firmware upgrade will support ARRIRAW at 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 Frames per second.

Since it takes an extraordinary amount of time to test each frame rate (and manually check each and every frame of ".ARI" data), we are going to offer a Beta release including our 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 frame per second support to a very select group of beta testers.

This will allow other very qualified individuals or companies to test the higher speed recordings simultaneously while our lab is very throughly testing the files.

Then we will release a production level version so that everyone will be able to record in ARRIRAW at the higher frame rates. There will not be a long delay for 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 frames per second.

7. And most importantly, we are still on track to release our ARRIRAW Option by the end of March. In our opinion, the testing at ARRI is going great.

Sounds terrific Dan, will recording to ARRIRAW be possible from any camera's HD-SDI port?

Dear Mark,

Our ARRIRAW Option is designed to record from the ARRI ALEXA, when it is setup in ARRIRAW mode.

We will be adding, later, the ability to record RAW from certain other video cameras that have RAW modes.

But, as I understood your question, if one has an HD-SDI output camera, one that does not have the ability to send the (essentially) raw sensor data output over the HD-SDI in RAW mode, as opposed to the usual HD-SDI output that can feed an HD-SDI monitor, then our ARRIRAW option will not work.

To put it another way, to record RAW, one needs a RAW mode build into the camera.

Examples are:

ARRI ALEXA
Weisscam
Lux Media Partners
IO Industries
IndieCam
and there may be more.

The following cameras do not have RAW Mode (examples only, not an extensive list)

Sony EX1/EX3
Sony F3
Panasonic HDX900
Panasonic AF100
Sony PMW-700
Sony PMS-F800
Sony F900


Please note that we expect more cameras to be introduced that support RAW.

Each new camera will be evaluated to determine if we can support it in RAW.

Some new cameras, may be able to be supported in the Gemini 4:4;4 with our ARRIRAW Option, as we want to include, in this option that is purchased (one time only) to support many cameras.

However, there will be some new cameras, that we will not be able to support in the Gemini 4:4:4 in RAW mode, mainly due to the resolution, and/or if the processing of the RAW requires more horsepower than is available within the Gemini 4:4:4.

We have lots of computing horsepower in the Gemini 4:4:4, but there is, as with everything, limits of what is possible with todays state-of-the-art technology.

So, please note that while we call our option the ARRIRAW Option, one will get the abiliity to record from some other RAW cameras at no extra cost as so as we enable each specific camera.

I hope this helps.

It does, thanks for the clarification.

I am confused because it seems that the Gemini cannot record true ARRIRAW which is 2880x1620 and 12bit and from what I have read, the Gemini can do a max of 1080p at 10bits. Am I missing something?

Dear Steve,

1920 x 1080 pixels, 10-Bits for each color, is the HD-SDI specification. Each Pixel has 10 bits for Red, 10-Bits for Blue, 10-Bits for Green.

When the Gemini 4:4;4 is in ARRIRAW Mode, it records individual photosites.

For the ARRI Alexa, in ARRIRAW Mode:

2880 is the number of photosites on one line,

one line has 1440 Red and 1440 Green
one line has 1440 Blue and 1440 Green

and there are a total of 1620 lines.

And each photosite is recorded in log mode, with no white balance applied in 12 bits.

So, to directly answer your question.

With our ARRIRAW mode we can do both.

That is awesome!

I have a new client who is getting together funding for some shorts and features and my partner and I are assembling a list of equipment for production and post. They originally wanted a couple Epics but we want 2 Alexas and I want to use something fast and east for recording but not too costly like Codex. My client keeps on drinking the R3D kool-aid; thus, he wants more than 1080p and ARRIRAW's 2880x1620 is enough to satisfy him.

Two quick questions:
1) what is the data rate for ARRIRAW and how many minutes can your 512GB drives record?

2) Can 2880x1620 be encoded to Pro Res 444, DNx444 and/or Cineform 444? I ask because its not a standard frame size so I don't know if these codecs support odd frame sizes.

Thanks.

Dear Steve,

I am sorry for my delay in responding.

1. For ARRIRAW, at 24 frames per second, the data rate is 168 MBps (Megabytes per second).

With one 512 GB SSD, one can record for 50 minutes, or 100 minutes with two.

For 60 frames per second, the data rate is 420 MBps, with 20 minutes of recording time with one 512 GB SSD, and 40 minutes with two.

Please note that our Gemini 4:4:4 ARRIRAW Option will support up to 60 Frames per Second, which is the maximum frame rate that the ALEXA supports in ARRIRAW Mode. (Internally, to ProRes, it can support 120 fps, but this exceeds the capability of HD-SDI Dual 3G.)

2. One typically uses the ARRIRAW Converter to process the ".ARI" files.
I do not know all of the options available at this time, but one can obtain standard resultions through the debayer process.


I hope this helps.

ARRIRAW files must be transformed into a standard file format for conforming and color correction. The most commonly used format is SMPTE DPX (Digital Picture eXchange). With ARRIRAW Converter (ARC), ARRI provides a free software tool to view and convert ARRIRAW data into DPX files for postproduction.

Yes, but Premiere Pro CS6 supports ARRIRAW which is awesome and the only NLE slated to support it natively. I think SpeedGrade CS6 and After Effects also support it natively which makes the entire workflow perfect from edit & vfx to grading - NO wasted time converting and NO wasted drive space. With our planned feature, the 18TB raid array I will build is just enough for the ARRIRAW footage and all associated files like Media Cache, not to mention the integration between Premiere, AE and SG will save me several TB's of drive space (and time converting).

So, generally speaking, if I understand Arri Raw recording with the Gemini 4:4:4:, a day on the set of a feature film shoot might go like this:
I shoot four, 1 minute scenes using four shots per scene at an average of 5 takes per shot. That’s 4x4x5 = 80min. Raw Footage for the day.
At a max of 50min. of 24fps Raw Footage per 512GB SSD drive, there would be more than enough space on two 512GB drives for the day’s shooting.
The Gemini 4:4:4: can be monitored on the camera by one of the ACs and the Raw footage dumped off that night and the SSD drives made ready for the next day.
At the same time, the Arri Alexa can also simultaneously record internally Pro Res to SXS cards which are swapped out during shooting and that footage is used for editing and dailies.
There’s no need for on-set transcoding as with the Red Camera. The Alexa doesn’t over heat like the Red, and isn’t noisy like the Red Epic, and is generally less of a pain to use.
Sounds like a dream come true!
Tell me if I'm wrong

Craig -
My impression on your post...
You may want to look closely at your projections. I did a bunch of estimates before shooting a feature with the Gemini and an F3 last spring, and soon found that my three 512GB SSD's were nowhere near enough for the amount the director had us shooting, (the estimates had been based on features I had shot for him in the past in 35mm), even with a DIT downloading on set, so we ended up renting a bunch of extra SSDs. There is a definite tendency to 'keep rolling and reset to 1' -- eating up a lot of data when scenes have lengthy takes.
You may also need to examine your workflow in terms of whether you want to assign a 'look' to your dailies before they are edited. I believe with the Alexa you have the choice of recording to the SxS cards with a 709LUT or in Log-C. If you want to do a 'color corrected' version of dailies, you might record to Log-C on the cards, and then do a color correction pass on them pre-edit. That can be a lengthy render...
If you are happy with the 709 color out of the camera for editing then you won't need the intermediate color correction step.
Obviously the Gemini is a wonderful because not only does it record the uncompressed ArriRaw files, but also because its size and weight do not turn the Alexa into an even heavier beast.
My suggestion would be that you should have someone downloading and verifying data as you shoot -- don't wait for overnight to have the transfers done!
Also remember that you need to make at least TWO copies of the data, since you can't use the 709 recording as a backup (since you are losing much of the dynamic range of the camera when the LUT is applied.)

Dave – Thanks for your very detailed and informative post. What I’m doing at this point is developing a 90min. feature, with me as the director (no DP yet) and there’s lots of “what ifs” in regards to equipment, crew, etc. Quite a ways down the road.

Your suggestion about downloading and verifying data makes perfect sense. I was sold on the less expensive RED until I heard all the complaints about it and the Epic. Everything I’ve heard about the Alexa sounds simpler and more stable.

And assigning a 'look' to the SxS cards with a 709LUT or in Log-C also sounds like good advice and the extra SSD drives are also a good idea. Although my intention would be to keep my shooting ratio low, that of course, is often not what happens.

There’s also the question of a DIT, which I’m willing to hire, but after reading some posts by David Mullen A.S.C. on Red User.net, I’m wondering if someone else on the crew couldn’t download and verify data. He said that he always did extensive camera tests in pre-production establishing the “look” of the project and although he’d needed a DIT when he shot “Big Sur”, because they were doing on-set dailies, on other productions the DIT, didn’t have much to do. The TV series “Smash” that he’s working on now, which uses the Alexa, told him a DIT hadn’t been budgeted in. Of course I haven’t asked him who he’s using to offload and verify footage.

I’d appreciate your opinion on this and I was wondering if you or anyone you know has used Light Iron’s ToDailies App? TODAILIES | Light Iron (http://lightirondigital.com/products/todailies) It looks like dailies made simple, but I haven’t talked to anyone who’s used it.

Thanks again, I appreciate your input -
Craig

Craig -
You may not need a 'full-blown DIT' -- especially if you're not trying to do color correction on set. But you do need someone who can be fairly dedicated to the task at hand! On one low budget film I had an assistant editor do all the data downloading, which worked out great because he was able to organize it and get it ready for the editor, and even occasionally rough some scenes together for the director. Whoever you have doing the transfers, they've got to be organized!!!
In terms of multi-tasking, my feeling is that it's ok as long as the data responsibility takes precedence over any other tasks they may be assigned. If you have a full camera crew, the downloading can of course be done by the loader.
It might also be possible to combine the task with video assist (assuming you aren't stressing that position too much.)
Remember, you do want to have a setup that doesn't need to be constantly moving (because of the length of time it takes to transfer a 512SSD) and has a first rate UPS supply as part of the transfer cart. You don't want to be doing this in the back of a moving vehicle!

Dave -
I was thinking that having the same guy do the transfer everyday would be best. If that can be an editor's assistant that would be great. Either way, this feature has few locations, so maybe a van parked just off set would be best. He could have his own little space to work in. It's amazing how many things you don't think of until you talk to someone who's done it, like the UPS power supply. It was not in my mind until you mentioned it. Like duhhh... of course you'd need that! Sometimes I think the human mind is naturally short-sighted. It's amazing movies get made at all.

Anyway, thanks a bunch for your advice, really helpful.
- Craig

Craig-
One other bit of add-on advice:
Budget a little bit of extra OT for the transfer guy -- since he may still be transferring when the rest of the crew has already wrapped and the trucks are ready to leave for the day. Particularly if you have a multicam day. So that also means that he should be the one driving the van, or you'll need the driver to stay late as well.

I've been shooting a lot of projects with the Alexa in the past year and it is my first camera of choice.

I have ONLY shot to SXS cards. We use ProRes422HQ for most jobs, including my series (Key & Peele, for Comedy Central) to keep storage size manageable. On a $3 million feature that is screening this weekend at Sundance, I was able to bump up to 4444 since ARRIRAW with the Codex was not approved due to file size.

The bottom line is that I have seen the results projected and I am more than satisfied. As always, people get hungry for specs and want the best and that's not a terrible goal, but somehow that makes the alternative "bad" in comparison. Yes, ProRes has a lot of compression in comparison but in real-life application, it still looks great. I've pushed it a lot of ways in color and it has held up nicely.

I can't see why a low budget film NEEDS to go RAW. You'll spend more money on drives and transfer time and ultimately, the difference on screen is probably not going to be noticeable by anyone but the smallest percentage of viewers if the results were projected split-screen (which of course they will never be).

Not to be disparaging of the Gemini as I am a fan of Convergent Design products and that's what I would use when shooting RAW, when and if it comes up. I'm just pointing out that if you are struggling to afford the right gear or personnel elsewhere in the budget, run the numbers and make sure it is really worth it to make the decision to record externally.

By the way--Craig--you are planning on 16 setups a day on your feature? Luxurious schedule! Where do I sign up?!

Dear Charles,

I highly respect you opinion and experience.

There is, I feel, another part of the equation, in the decision to shoot Raw or not.

I attended Geoff Boyle's Raw Workships.

It was certainly nice to shoot in Raw and then later extract the dynamic range that was needed, and be able to have a wide dynamic range.

We shot a model, coming out of the dark into very bright sunlight, with modern cameras and various Raw recorders, and were able to extract very useable footage from when the model is very under-exposed to very over-exposed, all in one shot.

All of this was shot in Raw, thus we did not also record to a compressed recorder, so I do not have a one-to-one comparison.

Hi Dan:

I hadn't hear claims of ARRIRAW achieving higher DR but yes, that would be noteworthy, particularly for low budget shows where there isnt the same likelihood of wielding the size of grip and electric packages required for taming high contrast (what, doesn't everyone hang a 20x20 flyswatter off a condor for their exteriors?!)

I don't know the gent that wrote this but it does address this issue from a subjective level. As expected, the most noticeable gain was in resolution. I have long held that Alexa footage doesn't look soft when projected, it's just that higher resolution footage may look sharper in comparison--and that is not always a desirable thing (aging actresses...)

Alexa shooting Arri RAW Vs Pro Res | johnbrawley (http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/alexa-shooting-arri-raw-vs-pro-res/)

Craig-
One other bit of add-on advice:
Budget a little bit of extra OT for the transfer guy -- since he may still be transferring when the rest of the crew has already wrapped and the trucks are ready to leave for the day. Particularly if you have a multicam day. So that also means that he should be the one driving the van, or you'll need the driver to stay late as well.

Actually, an editor's assistant is a really good idea. Set him up in his own van outside and have the PAs run SSDs back and forth. But I don't do mult-cam. No, never.

I've been shooting a lot of projects with the Alexa in the past year and it is my first camera of choice.

I have ONLY shot to SXS cards. We use ProRes422HQ for most jobs, including my series (Key & Peele, for Comedy Central) to keep storage size manageable. On a $3 million feature that is screening this weekend at Sundance, I was able to bump up to 4444 since ARRIRAW with the Codex was not approved due to file size.

The bottom line is that I have seen the results projected and I am more than satisfied. As always, people get hungry for specs and want the best and that's not a terrible goal, but somehow that makes the alternative "bad" in comparison. Yes, ProRes has a lot of compression in comparison but in real-life application, it still looks great. I've pushed it a lot of ways in color and it has held up nicely.

I can't see why a low budget film NEEDS to go RAW. You'll spend more money on drives and transfer time and ultimately, the difference on screen is probably not going to be noticeable by anyone but the smallest percentage of viewers if the results were projected split-screen (which of course they will never be).

Not to be disparaging of the Gemini as I am a fan of Convergent Design products and that's what I would use when shooting RAW, when and if it comes up. I'm just pointing out that if you are struggling to afford the right gear or personnel elsewhere in the budget, run the numbers and make sure it is really worth it to make the decision to record externally.

By the way--Craig--you are planning on 16 setups a day on your feature? Luxurious schedule! Where do I sign up?!

Well, the 16 set-ups were just for the sake of simplified math. Very much "what if". This project's very much in the "what if" state at this point, so I feel I can take some liberties.

Hi Dan:

I hadn't hear claims of ARRIRAW achieving higher DR but yes, that would be noteworthy, particularly for low budget shows where there isnt the same likelihood of wielding the size of grip and electric packages required for taming high contrast (what, doesn't everyone hang a 20x20 flyswatter off a condor for their exteriors?!)

I don't know the gent that wrote this but it does address this issue from a subjective level. As expected, the most noticeable gain was in resolution. I have long held that Alexa footage doesn't look soft when projected, it's just that higher resolution footage may look sharper in comparison--and that is not always a desirable thing (aging actresses...)

Alexa shooting Arri RAW Vs Pro Res | johnbrawley (http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/alexa-shooting-arri-raw-vs-pro-res/)

Charles, so you would say then, that for theatrical projection, the resolution of Pro Res is plenty sharp? I've never had the chance of a side by side comparison with RAW or seen Pro Res projected on a theater screen (that I know of).
Thanks for your opinion - Craig

On the Arri, the DR is almost the same for RAW and ProRes.

What you get with RAW is slightly more resolution, the ability to more finely tune your WB in post (it's baked in with ProRes) and a lot more room to swing the grade around if youre wanting to push the post side of things. In other words, a more extreme grade is less likely to fall apart when you shoot RAW.

I found the differences small and decided not to shoot RAW on the small feature I was doing (less than 2 million budget) For me, it was a much greater expense for not much of an imaging upside and a whole lot more work for the data wrangler.

I put the money into lenses instead.

jb

That sounds about right, John.

Your point about the resources being used elsewhere echoes the one I was making. There are certain battles worth fighting (such as being able to afford Alexa in the first place) and others, like this, that I think are better let go sometimes. The lower the budget of the job, the more significant the cost differential between shooting compressed and RAW become. Overtime on the data wrangler is no joke with that much more footage to grind; drives for the outboard recorder, drives for the downloaded footage, the ultimate size of the project storage, man hours to manage it, layback to the RAW footage at the end of the project...it adds up.

What I love about the Alexa is that it is a self-contained beast. It's simple and reliable and that counts for a lot on set. With other cameras like the F3, I have suffered a lot of stress due to outboard recorders and data loss. On a multi-camera shoot we had three different manufacturer's external recorders making proxy files for fast turnaround, and each and every one lost files at some point (we were shooting to XDCAM disc so editorial always had that, but they wanted to cut ProRes to avoid transcoding). Data loss is the rarely-spoken of horror that plagues external recorders--sometimes it's due to operator error, sometimes it's a who-knows--but I do know this: I have yet to experience any issues with the internal recording on the Alexa and that piece of mind counts for a lot. Again: this is a thread about the Gemini and I have a ton of respect for the product, Convergent Design and Dan's customer support which has been top notch for me and others (I own a Nanoflash), and if I were shooting a RAW job it's the box I'd be using. I'm just trying to offer the perspective that just because there's a higher spec available, it shouldn't necessarily disqualify the other ones at the cost of compromise elsewhere in the production.

Regarding the "falling apart" possibilities...I've pushed the grade quite far with 422HQ and not had issues. Once again, everything is relative and certainly RAW will offer more headroom, but I've yet to break the codec even with quite aggressive work in the Davinci. Examples here: https://vimeo.com/channels/keypeele

Okay, I realize this is a dead-serious technical discussion about ARRIRAW, however...

...but I've yet to break the codec even with quite aggressive work in the Davinci. Examples here: https://vimeo.com/channels/keypeele

...when you mention Key & Peele, a simple link to the Vimeo channel will not suffice! Specific examples should be embedded directly within this thread. And thank you Chas, three times over: for mentioning the K&P sketches in the first place, thereby giving me the excuse to do this; for making them on-topic (as examples of how you've yet to break the codec); and for shooting them in the first place.

The Boss on Vimeo

One Hundred Thousand Dollars on Vimeo

Dueling Hats on Vimeo

Okay, hope y'all enjoyed that diversion as much as I did...

Hey listen, when the guy that runs the site lays down the law, you just have to go along with it!

I'm not sure those are the most "stretchy" examples of color correction we've done but I'll let the curious browse the rest of the channel.

I'll let you guys get back to it. And I look forward to posting after I've had the chance to use the Gemini in ARRIRAW soon, I hope (waiting for the next feature).

What I love about the Alexa is that it is a self-contained beast. It's simple and reliable and that counts for a lot on set. With other cameras like the F3, I have suffered a lot of stress due to outboard recorders and data loss. On a multi-camera shoot we had three different manufacturer's external recorders making proxy files for fast turnaround, and each and every one lost files at some point (we were shooting to XDCAM disc so editorial always had that, but they wanted to cut ProRes to avoid transcoding).



It's a great point you make, but I'd add that at the moment, the self contained beast is only self contained when shooting to ProRes. And it does do a VERY fine job to be sure, but you're still "limited" to ProRes (or DNx)

That was another reasons we didn't go for the ArriRAW option on this feature. It's another BOX that has to be powered and cabled.


Data loss is the rarely-spoken of horror that plagues external recorders--sometimes it's due to operator error, sometimes it's a who-knows--but I do know this: I have yet to experience any issues with the internal recording on the Alexa and that piece of mind counts for a lot.



I have ;-)

I've had faults with the camera....dropped frames...

I think any camera can fail. I expect them to now. External recorders just complicate the possibility. I've had internal camera record faults with EPIC, RED, ALEXA and BMCC. Mostly it's ended up being media related.



Regarding the "falling apart" possibilities...I've pushed the grade quite far with 422HQ and not had issues. Once again, everything is relative and certainly RAW will offer more headroom, but I've yet to break the codec even with quite aggressive work in the Davinci. Examples here: https://vimeo.com/channels/keypeele

I think ProRes is very very robust. But it does have limitations. I've been spoilt though a bit lately. I think the Alexa LOGc is excellent, but you wouldn't put any really important information in the extremes of the highlights for example. So you can have something up near clipping, not overexposed, it will look fine, but trying to pull it back down more than a little and you run into the bit depth limitations of the codec. It's not something you need to do often, but it's one of the advantages of higher bit depth recording when shooting RAW.

The Gemini by the way, seems like the most elegant off-board recorder for the Alexa I've seen.

The problem is, no one here in Australia anyway, can justify the need to record RAW in the first place. Most features made here as local shoots are sub 5 million, and the budget just doesn't allow for RAW, as desirable as that is for the many reasons you touched on already above. I know of only one feature shot here in the last 2 years that shot RAW. In that case they were given the CODEX recorder for free. Even then, it was still a stretch for them to cover it.

jb

John, I think we are in complete agreement.

I really should have knocked on wood regarding not having data issues with the Alexa. I'm sure something will happen someday and actually, I wouldn't necessarily know if there was a dropped frame here and there unless editorial made a point to tell me. Much has changed since film days where the lab report would detail every last thing, to a fault!

I think that I have been extraordinarily unlucky because if everyone had the experiences I've had with outboard recorders, there would be a few bankrupt manufacturers out there. I seem to carry a curse on this issue.

There is an interesting paradigm here and that is that an independently financed micro-budget production might just have more of a chance to shoot RAW than a more "legit" one that actually has something of a budget, comparatively speaking. When you get into a situation where time (as in an individual's wage) is not as much of a factor, you don't have the same pressure on the bottom line. For a long time it seemed like RED made the most sense if you were either a high budget show that could outsource the workflow to one of the boutiques that specialized in it, or if you were essentially a hobbyist who could handle it yourself as non-billable hours. It's the inbetween that made it tough to manage. I've constantly been asked "you aren't planning to shoot this on RED, are you?" in job interviews and they are quite relieved when I say no.