Blackmagic RAW (BRAW)
BRAW splits the debayer between the camera and the decoder. The camera does a portion of the heavy lifting before writing the file, which makes BRAW noticeably smaller and faster to handle than fully RAW formats like RED R3D. Files run from 250 GB per hour at 12K constant quality 12:1 to 600 GB per hour at lower compression ratios. Blackmagic Color Science Generation 5 metadata is embedded, so ISO, white balance and tint stay live in DaVinci Resolve, Premiere, Avid and Final Cut Pro through the BRAW SDK plug-in.
Examples
- •A Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K writes BRAW at constant quality 8:1, around 350 GB per hour
- •A Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro outputs BRAW at constant bitrate 5:1 for a documentary shoot
- •A Pyxis 6K body delivers BRAW for a music video shoot with Color Science Gen 5 metadata
In Sanbila
Sanbila stores BRAW originals on R2 and serves a 1080p ProRes Proxy on the editor machine. At grading, Smart Relink streams the BRAW back through WebDAV and the Resolve debayer node operates on the raw sensor data.
Frequently asked questions
How is Sanbila different from the proxy generator built into my NLE?+
Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Avid all generate proxies locally, but they keep the original full-resolution files on the same SSD — so the disk fills up twice. Sanbila stores the originals in the cloud (Cloudflare R2) and keeps only the lightweight proxies on your machine. At export, Smart Relink streams the originals back via a local WebDAV mount, so you finish at full quality without ever downloading the source files.
Does Sanbila work offline?+
Yes for editing — once a proxy is cached on your SSD, you can cut, trim, color and arrange your timeline without an internet connection. You only need network access for the initial import (uploading originals to the cloud) and for the final export (streaming originals back via WebDAV).
How much cloud storage does the free plan include?+
The free plan includes 5 GB of cloud storage and one project, with no credit card required. Paid plans start at $49 per month for 2 TB and 50 projects, going up to 25 TB on the Enterprise plan with overage billing for teams that need more.
What upload speed do I need to use Sanbila?+
Any broadband connection works for the initial upload — Sanbila chunks files into 50 MB parts and uploads in parallel, so a typical 100 Mbps fiber line uploads 1 hour of 4K H.264 footage in about 6 minutes. After upload, day-to-day editing happens on local proxies, so your connection speed only matters again at export time when originals are streamed.
Which video formats does Sanbila support?+
Sanbila handles 22+ formats out of the box: MP4, MOV, MXF, R3D (RED RAW), BRAW (Blackmagic RAW), ARRI proxies, ProRes, DNxHR, DNxHD, H.264, H.265, plus WAV and AAC for audio. Both 4K and 8K sources are supported up to 200 GB per single file (URL imports have no size limit).
Related terms
Sources
- Blackmagic RAW SDK · Blackmagic Design