Surfing the Sea of Camera Formats with EditReady Server

Like a choppy sea, video technology is always in flux. With each new camera advancement and file format, video editors have to adapt and ride the tide to glide smoothly through the creative process and stay afloat in a sea of innovation.

Discovering that a camera’s file format isn’t compatible with your existing workflow can interrupt creative work, forcing editors to find a fix or workaround. For iconik users, we’ve already shared a solution to support two of the most common types of RAW video used on the platform, which are Blackmagic’s .braw and Canon’s .CRM.

But that really just scratches the surface. This is where Hedge’s EditReady Server comes into play. Now, let us break down how the new integration with iconik works.

The team at Hedge harnessed the iconik API to develop an integration that connects EditReady Server with the iconik Storage Gateway (ISG) – a tool designed for managing on-premise assets. The outcome is a seamless method for iconik users to ingest media, eliminating the need for pre-ingest proxy generation. There are three wins for iconik users who use this integration:

1. RAW codec support for iconik: The integration extends iconik's capabilities to include support for a broad range of RAW codecs.

2. Increased Processing Speed: By leveraging the integration, users experience processing speeds up to 14 times faster than with FFmpeg.

3. Enhanced Features: More options for metadata analysis, thumbnail creation, and proxy generation are now available to users, offering a more comprehensive set of tools.

What does EditReady do?

EditReady helps to remove the common pain points from high-quality transcoding and color science. It's designed to help transcode and re-wrap footage into editable formats without any complicated setup.

The best part?

It has the broadest RAW support ever, with compatibility for just about every MOV, MXF, MP4, and Quicktime file, as well as popular RAW formats like Sony, RED, BRAW, ProRes RAW, ARRI RAW (including Super 35), and Canon RAW.

So what does this integration mean for iconik users?

Iconik users can now easily transcode footage from an ISG for web previews and edit proxies. By simply connecting a camera to an on-premise storage watched by the ISG, files will be transcoded and indexed in iconik.

To use this integration, you will need:

• An iconik account
• On-premise storage with an ISG
• A license for EditReady Server

* Note that this integration is for EditReady Server and currently only supports transcoding on Apple macOS.

EditReady is not only incredibly fast and precise but also optimized for both old and new Macs, taking full advantage of Apple silicon and GPU acceleration. This means getting footage from the camera to into a NLE in record time.

What’s the difference between EditReady and EditReady Server?

EditReady Server is a streamlined version of EditReady that presents the solution in an accessible command-line interface.

So what does this mean for you?

EditReady Server is a transcoder application that supports all major RAW codecs, complete with color management and automation. This translates into a few key wins for its users:

1. Seamless Integration: EditReady Server easily fits into your existing workflows and pipelines, smoothing out the post-production process.

2. Headless Operation: No need to wrestle with setting up workflows through a GUI. Command line tools are at your disposal, simplifying the way you work.

3. Versatility and Speed: With EditReady Server, you'll experience the same adaptability, compatibility, color management, and speed that is available in the original EditReady.

This brings a fresh new approach to the transcoding landscape.

How’s the transcode quality?

EditReady uses each manufacturer's original SDK as part of its True Codec Support, so it guarantees the best quality transcodes—no unofficial frameworks or hacks. Plus, users can view and edit all the metadata associated with files, which is helpful for automatically renaming files or burning data into overlays.

When dealing with RAW, EditReady will do all the heavy lifting. It uses each vendor's specific RAW decoder and the vendor-preferred Log format to ensure high-quality proxies that are easy to edit and maintain the flexibility of non-RAW formats.

EditReady also comes with Color Awareness, its ability to mix and match different types of footage without loss of quality. When mixing camera formats, one will inevitably end up with different color spaces, Log types, HDR formats, and LUTs. EditReady's unique color pipeline simplifies this process, translating everything to what it should be.

Any other things I should know about?

Glad you asked. EditReady lets users screen a camera's original media files before transcoding, check previewed clips in ScopeBox, and set In and Out points to avoid transcoding unwanted parts of clips.

To top it all off, the overlay and burn-in capabilities in EditReady are fantastic. Import images with alpha channels for complex bugs or watermarks, layout custom formatted text, and use the overlay tool to burn in the timecode, reel names, shoot dates, media names, and other metadata.

Feel like giving it a try?

The integration of iconik with EditReady Server by Hedge is just another example of how our solutions make the video experience more smooth and efficient. Together we’re tackling common challenges faced by video editors so they can keep their focus on creating great content.

Learn more about Editready Server