Testing the new ProRes RAW on the FS5 + Shogun Inferno
Intro
ProRes RAW was definitely of the most exciting releases on NAB this year. It appears to give RAW quality and flexibility with a ProRes file-size and workflow. We decided to check out the performance of the new codecs from Apple on the Sony FS5 to see how it works and whether it fulfils its promise.
Reviewing the footage on the Atomos Sumo19 - Jesper Wahlqvist & Minco van der Weide
About ProRes RAW
There are two flavours of ProRes RAW: LT and HQ. They should be comparable to the filesizes of 422HQ and 444. Right now the only way to record these new formats is on the Atomos Shogun Inferno and Sumo19. The following cameras are currently supported:
- Canon C300 Mark II, C500
- Sony FS700, FS5, FS7II, FS7, FS7II
- Panasonic Varicam LT, EVA1
At the time of writing it isn't possible to do any exposure- or white-balance adjustments before the ProRes RAW debayering, it's unclear if this will be possible in the future. Cineform RAW (a discontinued codec similar in size and specifications) didn't have that option either in Davinci Resolve.
The first shoot
We decided to shoot the test footage indoor to ensure exposure consistency. We aimed a small LED spotlight to the wall so we could see the highlight detail and roll-off. We used the following equipment:
- Sony FS5 with RAW upgrade
- Sigma 50mm f1.4 EF with Metabones Speedbooster Ultra
- Atomos Shogun Inferno
- Atomos Sumo19
- X-Rite ColorChecker Classic
We shot the tests with S-LOG3 selected at all the shots, both internal and external recording. Since the ProRes RAW signal can only be processed into S-LOG3 (not S-LOG2) in Final Cut Pro X we thought it would be best to shoot everything in S-LOG3 to make things easily comparable.
A framegrab of the first test shoot - Minco van der Weide
But after talking to filmmaker and Sony-shooter Michael Ruley, I found out we made a crucial mistake. In order to record RAW you have to select the PP7 S-LOG2 profile. Anything else will not give a correct RAW feed.
This was a surprise to us, since we wrongly assumed that the RAW recording would not be altered by in-camera picture profile changes. But with this new knowledge in mind we went ahead and shot a second test the next day.
The second shoot
In our second shoot we decided to shoot against a window in our office's kitchen. This would give a bit more detail and colour in the background compared to a blank studio wall. We added a bit of fill, but decided not to use any lighting to keep the contrast between inside and outside big.
Since the Sony G Master lenses are razor-sharp we decided to add a bit of Black Pro Mist. We used the same gear as the previous shoot, but made a few changes to the setup to make it more comparable to a proper cinema rig and ended up using the following gear:
- Sony FS5 with RAW upgrade
- Sony 24-70mm f2.8 G
- Tiffen Black Pro Mist 1/8
- Atomos Shogun Inferno
- X-Rite ColorChecker Classic
The second test shoot setup - Jesper Wahlqvist & Minco van der Weide
Reviewing the footage
We exposed for skin tone at 47IRE against a bright window, this would be a good test to see how much highlight recovery is possible with ProRes RAW.
Since ProRes RAW is currently only supported by Final Cut Pro X we exported the footage from within Final Cut as a ProRes444 file, to do a precise colour-match using the ColorChecker in Davinci Resolve. We didn't do a creative grade, but aimed at adding contrast, saturation and matched the colours as close as we could.
Colour
An interesting feature within Final Cut is found in the settings tab found within the Info Inspector. Here you're able to change the RAW to LOG conversion. We decided to play around with it for a bit and quite liked the RAW > V-LOG conversion over the standard RAW > S-LOG3 conversion. This could be something to check out when downloading the original footage.
Dynamic range
With the exposure difference between my face and the bright window we had a good opportunity to test out the dynamic range of the RAW footage versus the internal codecs. We didn't look at it in detail, but with the same settings the internal footage seemed to be a bit darker and therefore the highlights didn't clip compared to the RAW output over SDI.
Noise
Exposure on S-LOG3 with Sony cameras is quite tricky. The usual recommendation is to expose 2 stops over and pull the contrast back down in post. Since the FS5 has a minimal ISO of 2000 in S-LOG3 the shadows can get quite noisy.
We found that all the footage suffers from quite a lot of noise in the shadows and mid-tones. Therefore pulling down the shadows in post in combination with noise-reduction would be a good practice, especially with the external recording since this bypasses the internal noise-reduction.
File sizes
On the first shoot we recorded 10-second clips of each codec and ended up with the following file-sizes. Please keep in mind that they may vary slightly in different usage scenarios, especially with ProRes RAW.
- Internal XAVC HD 50MBPS: 46MB (16,6GB per hour)
- Internal XAVC QFHD 100MBPS: 122MB (43,9GB per hour)
- External ProRes 422HQ: 918MB (330,5GB per hour)
- External ProRes RAW LT: 889MB (320GB per hour)
- External ProRes RAW HQ: 1240MB (446,4GB per hour)
- External Cinema DNG: 3420MB (1231,2GB per hour)
cDNG vs ProRes RAW
We would have preferred to be able to test Cinema DNG and ProRes RAW head to head in Resolve, but unfortunately Final Cut Pro X doesn't support cDNG, and Resolve doesn't support ProRes RAW.
The cDNG files can be edited within Resolve like a RAW photo can be edited within Adobe's Camera RAW. One thing to keep in mind with cDNG is that it bypasses the Picture Profile of the camera (this might be the reason the ISO and white-balance of a ProRes RAW can't be adjusted).
The file-sizes of cDNG are huge, it's basically just an image sequence. But with the help of a neat little program called SlimRaw we were able to keep the file-sizes manageable without any noticeable loss of quality. It is however an extra step in the post-production process that wouldn't be necessary with ProRes RAW.
Verdict
In a lot of ways this test showed the quirkiness of shooting on Sony cameras. While you can get great images out of them, exposing and using a camera like the FS5 correctly is much harder and more technical than the (much more expensive) Arri Alexa.
While you can teach an operator to use a camera like the Alexa correctly in less than half an hour, it takes a lot more technical knowhow to use and expose the FS5, especially with external recording.
We ran into a lot of small problems. We used the Atomos to expose using false colour and scopes. However, when we switched from internal recording to an external RAW feed there was a quite big exposure change.
Of course all of these problems can be prevented with testing and research, but it's really easy to look over small details on a hectic shoot-day. Since exposure for S-LOG is quite tricky being off a bit can have a much bigger effect than Arri's LOG-C, which is much more flexible in practice.
Having a Macbook by hand when using the FS5 can definitely come in handy - Jesper Wahlqvist
Sony's LOG profiles loves light, it excels in high-key shoots but falls short in low-light areas. You need to deliberately overexpose while working with high native ISO's (ISO 2000 instead of the standard native iso of 800). But if you do it all well you end up with a great image that is very kneadable in post.
The biggest limitation of ProRes RAW is that at the moment of writing it's only supported by Final Cut Pro X, so there is no possibility to grade the footage within software like Davinci Resolve without converting the ProRes RAW first. But we hope to see other NLE's and grading software adopting the new ProRes codecs soon. It would also be good to see internal ProRes RAW options on cameras that are currently capable of ProRes recording.
The file size of RAW LT is similar to 422HQ, and you get more bit and full 4:4:4 colour instead of 4:2:2. This should make it close to a no-brainer to record ProRes RAW instead of regular ProRes on supported Atomos recorders once the codec is more widely supported.
A big thanks to Falsett Rental in Stockholm for letting us use their equipment.
Download the test footage
We'd love to hear what you think of ProRes RAW. That's why we uploaded all of the footage so you can test it out for yourself. Click on the link below to download the files on Mediafire.
Since the original 5 second Cinema DNG clip was almost 2 GB in total we decided to compress it 3:1 with SlimRAW to make downloading more manageable. This compression was visually lossless on our reference monitor.
You are free to use, modify and publish it under a Creative Commons Attribution licence, make sure to mention Filmbron and provide a link to our website (www.filmkompaniet.com).
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, happy grading!