When I’m talking to customers about RED cameras for the first time, something I hear
a lot of, is people concerned over the data rate that would come with 8K recording. Most
people have only just got used to 4K, and how much media and computing power they need
for 4K compared to 1080p. If you then mention recording 8K 16-bit Raw files, people understandably
have visions of completely unmanageable data rates and difficult workflows.
But in reality, RED’s R3D codec actually can make 8K 16-bit raw files more manageable
than some of the other high quality codec options that you might be familiar with. Not
all formats are created equal, and one thing RED’s raw codec redcode is very good at
is compression. RED give you precise control over how compressed you want your data rate
to be with this sliding scale from 2:1 to 22:1, and this is the key element of RED cameras
that made 4K capture possible all those years ago with the RED one, and makes 8K capture
practical now with their current cameras. It means you can choose the compression level
that makes sense for your current project. So if your working on a feature with a decent
budget you can keep it nice and low, got a low budget corporate shoot going straight
to social media? You can save storage space and go much higher. All of this remember still
remains as 16-bit raw, even at those higher compression ratios.
So what difference does this actually make? We’ve put together a whole list of popular
high end recording formats from most of the major camera platforms out there which you
can read over in the blog post on our website with the link in the description. But lets
start with RED’s flagship, the Monstro in 8K Full Format. At 2:1, so the minimium compression
option, the Monstro will record in a huge 5 gigabits per second data rate, which will
mean 25 mins on a 960gb card. This is often what people have in their heads when they
think of 8K recording, but the reality is that very few RED users actually use this
minimum compression ratio, even at the highest level of work, because there really isn’t
much need to. If you go down to 5:1 compression you are at 2gbps and at 8:1 you are at 1.3
gbps which gives you 1 hour 40 mins on that same 960gb card. 8:1 is a very important and
relevant ratio, as this is the maximum compression level that Netflix let people use for their
own commissioned work, as the quality difference between 2:1 and 8:1 is minimal, while you
start seeing some artifacts, especially in noisy areas when you go beyond that. So you
find most Netflix shows are as a result, shot at 8:1 compression, which on the monstro in
8K, is 1.3 gbps.
Now lets look at how that compares to the competition for RED. I won’t go over the
full list of course as that would take forever, but lets pick out some highlights. Arri have
their own raw format, arri raw. This has two variants, the minimal compression one, which
on the Alexa Mini LF in 4.5K mode gives you a massive 4 gbps. And their higher compressed
raw format Arri Raw HDE which will give you 2.4 gbps on the mini LF in 4.5K. So the 8K
raw files from RED are actually smaller than the 4.5K raw files from Arri.
If we now look at Canon, on the C500 II the 5.9K canon raw light comes in at 1.8 gbps,
and on the C200 its 4K at 1gbps. So now we have a raw format that is smaller than the
8K 8:1 compression option on the RED monstro, but it’s 12 bit 4K, not 16 bit 8K.
On the Sony Venice they have XOCN as the most common raw format, this has 3 levels of compression,
but even the heaviest one, XOCN LT comes in at 1.5 gbps for 6K open gate files, once again
higher than the 1.3 gbps 8K RED files at 8:1.
So what if you don’t use raw? Perhaps you use Prores files for the simple workflow?
Well, the workflow might be simple, but the data rates don’t go down. 4.5K prores XQ
on the Alexa Mini LF is 3 gbps, and in prores HQ, its 1.3 gbps. That’s the same datarate
as the 8K 8:1 RED files for 4.5k prores HQ. If you go down to the regular Alexa mini,
2.8K prores XQ is 1.4 gbps, and 2.8K prores HQ comes in 608 mbps. So that’s much smaller
than the 8K raw files from the Monstro. But if we bring the 5K files from the Gemini,
RED’s super35mm sensor, into the mix, at 8:1 that comes in at 498 mbps. So that’s
way smaller than the 2.8K prores HQ files from the Alexa Mini, for 5K 16-bit raw.
There’s more to the picture than data rates of course, but I do think this demonstrates
what to me is the best feature from RED’s redcode format. It is a very flexible system
which means you can use these high resolutions and the advantages of raw recording, no matter
what project you happen to be working on at the time.
To look at that complete list of popular record formats follow the link to our website in
the description of this video, and if you are looking at buying a RED for your own work,
please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team here at ProAV or head over to the
website proav.co.uk. Thanks very much for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one.