How to edit Blackmagic RAW (BRAW) without a powerful PC

Why BRAW still chokes a modest machine, and two ways to edit it smoothly without buying a workstation.

Published on October 20, 2026·7 min read

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You drop a 6K BRAW clip on the timeline and playback already stutters, even though everyone calls BRAW a light format. It is lighter than most raw, but light is relative, and a thin laptop still struggles once you add a grade or a second angle. Here is how editors keep BRAW smooth without a tower workstation.

What makes BRAW lighter, and why it still chokes

BRAW is partly processed in the camera, and it carries its debayer and color science as metadata rather than a baked image. That lets it decode with GPU acceleration and feel lighter than formats like R3D. But it is still raw, so the GPU has to debayer every frame as you play. At 6K or 12K, on integrated graphics or a modest GPU, that real time work is too much, and playback drops frames the moment you stack a grade, a multicam, or heavy effects.

Quality settings change the weight

BRAW records either at constant quality (Q0, Q1, Q3, Q5) or constant bitrate (3:1, 5:1, 8:1, 12:1). A Q0 or 3:1 clip keeps far more sensor data and is heavier to decode than a 12:1 clip. Shooting a lighter ratio helps a little, but it does not turn 12K into something a thin laptop plays in real time. The resolution and the debayer are still the real cost.

Where BRAW opens, and where it needs a plugin

DaVinci Resolve reads BRAW natively, with a full decode and color panel, which is why many BRAW shooters live in Resolve.
Premiere Pro needs the free Blackmagic RAW installer so the format shows up, then it decodes on your GPU like any raw.
Final Cut Pro also relies on the Blackmagic plugin to import BRAW.
Across all of them the bottleneck is the same: your machine decodes every frame, so a heavy clip stays heavy wherever you open it.

The two ways to make BRAW play

There are two proven fixes, the same ones editors use for any heavy format. Generate a light proxy and cut on that, or keep the originals in the cloud and stream them on demand. Both let a modest machine play BRAW smoothly, and both keep the full quality for export. They differ on disk use and on whether you need a connection.

Option 1: proxies

A proxy is a small copy of each BRAW clip, usually 720p or 1080p in H.264 or ProRes. Your editor plays the proxy, which any laptop handles, and keeps a link back to the BRAW for export.

Generate 720p proxies (H.264 for Premiere Pro, ProRes Proxy for DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro).
Cut the whole timeline on the proxies, smooth and quiet even on battery.
At export, relink to the BRAW originals so the master keeps full quality.

Each BRAW still has to be decoded once to make its proxy. If you run that encode on your own machine it ties up the GPU for a while, and the proxies sit on your SSD next to the originals, so disk fills up fast.

Option 2: stream the originals from the cloud

The other approach keeps the BRAW files in cloud storage and streams only the frames you play, with nothing fully downloaded. You cut against the real originals, selectively, with no proxy encode and no second copy eating your SSD. It needs a working connection while you play the originals, so it suits a fast start and a tight disk more than offline work on a train.

Proxy or stream: which for BRAW

Approach	Disk use	Works offline	Best for
Proxies	High (proxies plus originals)	Yes, once generated	Long shoots cut away from a connection
Cloud stream	Low (nothing downloaded)	No, needs a connection	Fast start, tight SSD, selective full quality

Keep full quality for export

Whichever route you take, the master must render from the BRAW originals, not the proxy. In a proxy workflow you relink to the originals before export. In a streaming workflow the originals are already the source. Either way the delivered file carries the full BRAW quality and your color work applies to the real sensor data.

How Sanbila handles BRAW

Sanbila is desktop software that gives you both routes for the same project. Proxies are generated on the Sanbila cloud rather than your own GPU, across 30 codec and resolution presets, so there is no hours long local decode. Or you stream the BRAW originals from Sanbila storage through a local mount, a drive on Windows and a mounted volume on macOS, with nothing downloaded. The choice is per file, so you can proxy the bulk of a shoot and stream the few clips you want to grade in full quality. In Premiere Pro the plugin attaches each proxy to its BRAW original, so export needs no relink; in DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Avid, Smart Relink swaps the clips to the streamed originals for a full quality export.

Cut 6K and 12K BRAW on a modest machine with cloud proxies or streamed originals, and export in full quality.

Try Sanbila free

FAQ

Is Blackmagic RAW really too heavy for a normal laptop?

BRAW is lighter than most raw formats, but at 6K or 12K the GPU still debayers every frame, which a thin laptop cannot sustain once you add a grade or multicam. Proxies or cloud streaming solve it, and both keep the full BRAW for export.

Does a lighter BRAW ratio like 12:1 fix playback?

It helps a little, because a 12:1 clip carries less data than Q0 or 3:1, but the resolution and the real time debayer are the real cost. A lighter ratio alone will not make 12K play smoothly on a modest machine. Proxies or streaming are the reliable fix.

What proxy should I use for BRAW?

A 720p proxy is the usual default and keeps files small, in H.264 for Premiere Pro or ProRes Proxy for DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro. Move to 1080p only if your offline cut needs finer detail or a first color pass, and expect the proxy files to grow.

Do I lose BRAW quality if I edit with proxies?

No. Proxies are preview only. Your editor relinks to the BRAW originals at export, so the delivered master and every color decision apply to the full sensor data, whatever proxy resolution you cut on.