R3D (REDCODE RAW)
R3D stores the raw sensor readout rather than a finished image, so decisions about white balance, ISO, and colour space stay open in post. RED applies wavelet compression at selectable ratios, which keeps file sizes manageable while holding far more information than a baked video file. That latitude is why high-end commercials, films, and broadcast productions shoot R3D, but it comes at a cost: decoding raw is heavy on the CPU and GPU.
Editing R3D natively on a laptop is painful, so most workflows generate proxies for the offline cut and return to the R3D originals for grading and finishing. The full sensor data only matters at the colour stage, where a colourist pulls detail from highlights and shadows that a compressed proxy could never hold.
Examples
- •A RED Komodo shoots 6K R3D at a 8:1 compression ratio
- •An 8K V-Raptor R3D file is proxied to 1080p DNxHR for the offline cut
- •A colourist reopens the R3D originals to recover blown highlights
In Sanbila
Sanbila keeps your heavy R3D originals in cloud storage and generates light proxies for editing, then streams the full R3D back at export through Smart Relink, so a laptop never has to store or decode the raw files until grading.
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
- REDCODE RAW and R3D format · RED Digital Cinema
- Working with RED footage in DaVinci Resolve · Blackmagic Design