ARRI Releases ALEXA 35 Recording Formats Poster – YMCinema – News & Insights on Digital Cinema

The ARRI ALEXA 35 offers 19 recording formats. To explain the logic behind these formats, ARRI has published a poster describing the formats and their possible implementations in the industry. Check it out below.

The ARRI ALEXA 35 offers a total of 19 ARRIRAW and Apple ProRes recording formats with efficient in-camera downsampling and anamorphic de-squeezing, allowing you to optimize data rate, resolution and other parameters based on your individual needs. Senior Product Manager Marc Shipman-Mueller says these 19 recording formats were developed based on extensive industry research. “The interesting thing we found was that different people wanted very different things. Some wanted to maximize the data rate, others wanted to maximize the image circle, and still others wanted the highest frames per second. That’s why we developed these 19 recording formats to ensure that every production finds the exact recording format it needs.” Watch the ARRI Tech Talk video below for a more detailed explanation of recording formats and how they are used in the industry:

For convenience, you can record in the ALEXA 35 in ARRIRAW or Apple ProRes. ARRIRAW is the uncompressed, unencrypted and “uncompressed” sensor data format that gives you the maximum image quality. It gives you the most flexibility in post and really is best for future archiving which is why many streamers are currently pushing for it (The ALEXA 35 is Netflix approved). In addition, the file size can even be reduced by 40 percent with downstream high-density encoding. Apple ProRes, on the other hand, is a compressed image data format. Below you can explore the list of all 19 recording formats of the ALEXA 35. Note that the “sensor mode” defines the area on the sensor that is captured, which is important for figuring out if your lens’s image circle is actually covered.

Open gate: You may have heard this definition before. It all starts at Open Gate. As stated by ARRI: “If you can afford it, Open Gate is the best and easiest recording format. It offers you maximum image quality, maximum image area and maximum resolution. Open Gate works great for spherical and anamorphic lenses, and many shows use Open Gate and then create custom framing lines inside to use the rest as padding, which is great for visual effects, resizing, repositioning, stabilization, or tracking. The open gate has a relatively large sensor area, so make sure your lens image circle covers the open gate.”

From Open Gate you can “cut” the sensor according to your criteria as follows:

• 4K 16:9 – Mimics the traditional Super 35 spherical film format for maximum lens compatibility. Multiple in-camera downsampling options ensure lower data rates.
• 3.3K 6:5 – For projects with two Super 35 anamorphic lenses for a target result of 2.39:1. Eliminates the need to crop 4:3 footage and meets 4K requirements.
• 2.7K 8:9 – For projects shot with 2x anamorphic lenses for a target result of 16:9 and meeting 4K specifications. De-squeeze applied in camera.
• 4.6K 16:9 – Full sensor width recording in 16:9 format suitable for many Super 35 spherical and all large format lenses, with scope for post-processing flexibility. Lower data rate than open gate.
• 4K 2:1 – Designed to shoot with all Super 35 spherical and large format lenses for a 2:1 objective that meets 4K specifications.
• 3K 1:1 – Designed for shooting with 2x anamorphic lenses for 2:1 target delivery that meets 4K specifications.
• 2K 16:9 S16 – Mimics the traditional Super 16 format for use with Super 16 lenses or as an in-camera center crop.

To wrap it up, explore the slide below, which is pretty self-explanatory with all these possibilities. Click on the image for a full resolution view:

The ALEXA 35 Recording Formats poster can be downloaded from this link. Have fun shooting 🙂

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