CinemaDNG
Encyclopedia
CinemaDNG is the result of an Adobe
-led initiative to define an industry-wide open file format
for digital cinema files. CinemaDNG caters for sets of movie clips, each of which is a sequence of raw video images, accompanied by audio and metadata
. CinemaDNG supports stereoscopic cameras and multiple audio channels. CinemaDNG specifies directory structures containing one or more video clips, and specifies requirements and constraints for the open format files, (DNG
, TIFF
, XMP
, and/or MXF), within those directories, that contain the content of those clips.
CinemaDNG is different from the Adobe DNG (Digital Negative)
format that is primarily used as a raw image format
for still cameras. However, each CinemaDNG image is encoded using that DNG image format. The image stream can then be stored in one of two formats: either as video essence using frame-based wrapping in an MXF file, or as a sequence of DNG image files in a specified file directory. Each clip uses just one of these formats, but the set of clips in a movie may use both.
s and help ensure easy archiving and exchange. There are several advantages from using raw image data for cinema, just as there are for still photography
, but like the latter the presence of proprietary raw formats can inhibit the required integration. Movie development typically involves complicated workflows involving many stages and multiple suppliers of software and hardware components. All of these indicate the desirability of using open format
s.
The ability to store images either within an MXF wrapper or as a DNG-sequence, with the ability to transfer from one to the other, provides extra flexibility. An additional benefit of using DNG is that there can be interchange between a CinemaDNG workflow and a still camera workflow. One use is to extract stills from a movie for publicity or other purposes.
The DNG images that Adobe provided in the short example of how to store a video clip as a sequence of DNG files, (see "Tangible deliverables"), were taken with a Canon EOS 30D dSLR
camera, (and converted to DNG), rather than with a more conventional movie camera. This shows how any boundaries between different types of photography are weak, and illustrates why such open formats are important for the workflows of the future.
:
. However, they have repeatedly emphasized that it will be an open format, and Adobe has stated "CinemaDNG uses fully-documented, vendor-neutral, standard formats for video and imaging – DNG, TIFF/EP, and MXF. The format is unencrypted and free from intellectual property encumbrances or license requirements". It is reasonable to speculate that eventually CinemaDNG will become a formal standard, based on the history of DNG itself which has been submitted to ISO for use in the revision of ISO 12234-2 (TIFF/EP
).
Rather than creating entirely new file formats, the strategy for CinemaDNG is primarily to specify how to package files and other data-sets, of existing open and/or standard formats, in consistent ways, so that not only can individual components of a movie be interchanged and archived, but so can sets of clips with all their associated video, audio, and metadata files. The emphasis is on having a systematic structure that supports the very complicated workflows, involving many stages and suppliers and software and hardware components, of movie development. The CinemaDNG specification is largely about this systematic directory structure and the requirements and constraints that ensure that individual files fit within it.
If CinemaDNG follows the same sort of path to standardization as DNG, (or indeed, PDF), there will first be a period while the specification is tested "in the marketplace" to ensure that it works in practise as well as theory. It will then be revised accordingly, so that whatever is standardized will be credible, well supported by products, and ready for immediate use. This takes years
.
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
-led initiative to define an industry-wide open file format
Open format
An open file format is a published specification for storing digital data, usually maintained by a standards organization, which can therefore be used and implemented by anyone. For example, an open format can be implementable by both proprietary and free and open source software, using the typical...
for digital cinema files. CinemaDNG caters for sets of movie clips, each of which is a sequence of raw video images, accompanied by audio and metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
. CinemaDNG supports stereoscopic cameras and multiple audio channels. CinemaDNG specifies directory structures containing one or more video clips, and specifies requirements and constraints for the open format files, (DNG
Digital Negative (file format)
Digital Negative is an open raw image format owned by Adobe used for digital photography. It was launched on September 27, 2004. The launch was accompanied by the first version of the DNG specification, plus various products including a free of charge DNG Converter utility...
, TIFF
Tagged Image File Format
TIFF is a file format for storing images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and both amateur and professional photographers in general. As of 2009, it is under the control of Adobe Systems...
, XMP
Extensible Metadata Platform
The Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform is a standard, created by Adobe Systems Inc., for processing and storing standardized and proprietary information relating to the contents of a file....
, and/or MXF), within those directories, that contain the content of those clips.
CinemaDNG is different from the Adobe DNG (Digital Negative)
Digital Negative (file format)
Digital Negative is an open raw image format owned by Adobe used for digital photography. It was launched on September 27, 2004. The launch was accompanied by the first version of the DNG specification, plus various products including a free of charge DNG Converter utility...
format that is primarily used as a raw image format
RAW image format
A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
for still cameras. However, each CinemaDNG image is encoded using that DNG image format. The image stream can then be stored in one of two formats: either as video essence using frame-based wrapping in an MXF file, or as a sequence of DNG image files in a specified file directory. Each clip uses just one of these formats, but the set of clips in a movie may use both.
Rationale
The purpose of CinemaDNG is to streamline workflowWorkflow
A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, a group of persons, an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work...
s and help ensure easy archiving and exchange. There are several advantages from using raw image data for cinema, just as there are for still photography
RAW image format
A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
, but like the latter the presence of proprietary raw formats can inhibit the required integration. Movie development typically involves complicated workflows involving many stages and multiple suppliers of software and hardware components. All of these indicate the desirability of using open format
Open format
An open file format is a published specification for storing digital data, usually maintained by a standards organization, which can therefore be used and implemented by anyone. For example, an open format can be implementable by both proprietary and free and open source software, using the typical...
s.
The ability to store images either within an MXF wrapper or as a DNG-sequence, with the ability to transfer from one to the other, provides extra flexibility. An additional benefit of using DNG is that there can be interchange between a CinemaDNG workflow and a still camera workflow. One use is to extract stills from a movie for publicity or other purposes.
The DNG images that Adobe provided in the short example of how to store a video clip as a sequence of DNG files, (see "Tangible deliverables"), were taken with a Canon EOS 30D dSLR
Canon EOS 30D
The Canon EOS 30D is an 8.2-megapixel semi-professional digital single-lens reflex camera, initially announced on February 21, 2006. It is the successor of the Canon EOS 20D, and is succeeded by the EOS 40D...
camera, (and converted to DNG), rather than with a more conventional movie camera. This shows how any boundaries between different types of photography are weak, and illustrates why such open formats are important for the workflows of the future.
Timeline
- 7 March 2008: The domain nameDomain nameA domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
cinemadng.org was registered by Adobe.
- 14 April 2008: Adobe issued the press release that announced CinemaDNG.
- April 2009 onwards: various companies began to announce plans or even products to support CinemaDNG (see "Signs of progress").
- 10 September 2009: Adobe Labs made available pre-release versions of specifications and products for handling CinemaDNG (see "Tangible deliverables").
- 20 November 2009: Adobe Labs provided a "CinemaDNG Refresh" - primarily extra (longer) samples.
Signs of progress
These are evidence that CinemaDNG is more than vaporwareVaporware
Vaporware is a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially canceled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted,...
:
- IRIDAS (April 2009): (IRIDAS Supports CinemaDNG RAW Standard): "IRIDAS ... today announced universal support for the emerging CinemaDNG standard in all of the 2009 versions of its products."
- Silicon Imaging (April 2009): (Silicon Imaging Oscar Filmmaking Digital Cinema Cameras go 3D): "The files can also be exported as a CinemaDNG sequences ... at a later time."
- Vision Research (May 2009): (in a forum): "Is a cinemaDNG support planned for the next Software release?" - "Phantom software already has support for save/convert a cine to DNG format. This is a good start to get a cinemaDNG."
- RadiantGrid (September 2009): (RadiantGrid Technologies Launches v5.0 of the RadiantGrid Platform at IBC 2009): "Important new features .... Native decoding of CinemaDNG ... from MXF Op-Atom and Op1a sources .... TrueGrid transcoding from ... CinemaDNG ... image sequences".
- Gamma & Density (September 2009): (3cP - Cinematographer's Color Correction Program): "Technical Highlights of 3cP: Support for the ... CinemaDNG image data format".
- Adobe (September 2009 and November 2009): Specification and prerelease products and other resources from Adobe Labs (see "Tangible deliverables").
- ViewPLUS (December 2009): "ViewPLUS introduced the Lumiere 4K x 2K digital camera system at the International Technical Exhibition on Imaging Technology and Equipment in Yokohama, Japan. The Lumiere camera system also includes Lumiere-REC, a software development kitSoftware development kitA software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
(SDK) that allows users to record image data and output to movie industry-standard CinemaDNG RAW file format." - INDIECAM (March 2010): (Indiecam announce to show their latest prototype indieSHUTTLE at the NAB Show 2010.) All Indiecam products offer CinemaDNG capabilities.
- Blackmagic Design (April 2011): Blackmagic Design announces support for CinemaDNG in DaVinci Resolve 8 and DaVinci Resolve Lite. Released in July 2011, DaVinci Resolve Lite is available for download at the BMD web site at no charge and offers the industry a standardized playback application for CinemaDNG files from all camera sources that can be used for camera development, on set or in the post production process.
Tangible deliverables
All of these are free and freely available; however, at November 2009 the products are prerelease versions:- Adobe CinemaDNG Importer prerelease1 adds support to Adobe After EffectsAdobe After EffectsAdobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems, used in the post-production process of filmmaking and television production. Its main uses are the origination of 2D and 2.5D animation, visual effects compositing and finishing...
CS4, Adobe Premiere ProAdobe Premiere ProAdobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based video editing software application. It is part of the Adobe Creative Suite, a suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications developed by Adobe Systems, though it can also be purchased separately. When purchased separately, it comes...
CS4, and Adobe SoundboothAdobe SoundboothAdobe Soundbooth was a digital audio editor by Adobe Systems Incorporated for Mac OS X, Windows Vista and 7. Adobe has described it as being "in the spirit of SoundEdit 16 and Cool Edit 2000". Adobe also has a more powerful program called Adobe Audition, which replaced Soundbooth as of Adobe...
CS4 for reading CinemaDNG video streams in the form of MXF files and DNG file sequences. (Mac OSMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
).
- "CinemaDNG - Image Data Format Specification (Version 1.0.0.0)" (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
)
- "CinemaDNG Workflow - Using the CinemaDNG File Format in Cinema Workflows" (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
)
- "CinemaDNG sample files" (directory structures in ZIPZIP (file format)Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
containing clips, icons, and images in both MXF and DNG-sequence forms). These are available as short samples (8 frames) and long samples (100 frames)
- A new Adobe Labs forum specifically for CinemaDNG.
Standardization
There does not appear to be any commitment from Adobe (or any other company) to submit CinemaDNG to a standards body such as ISOInternational Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
. However, they have repeatedly emphasized that it will be an open format, and Adobe has stated "CinemaDNG uses fully-documented, vendor-neutral, standard formats for video and imaging – DNG, TIFF/EP, and MXF. The format is unencrypted and free from intellectual property encumbrances or license requirements". It is reasonable to speculate that eventually CinemaDNG will become a formal standard, based on the history of DNG itself which has been submitted to ISO for use in the revision of ISO 12234-2 (TIFF/EP
Tag Image File Format / Electronic Photography
"Tag Image File Format / Electronic Photography" is a digital image file format standard – ISO 12234-2, titled "Electronic still-picture imaging – Removable memory – Part 2: TIFF/EP image data format"...
).
Rather than creating entirely new file formats, the strategy for CinemaDNG is primarily to specify how to package files and other data-sets, of existing open and/or standard formats, in consistent ways, so that not only can individual components of a movie be interchanged and archived, but so can sets of clips with all their associated video, audio, and metadata files. The emphasis is on having a systematic structure that supports the very complicated workflows, involving many stages and suppliers and software and hardware components, of movie development. The CinemaDNG specification is largely about this systematic directory structure and the requirements and constraints that ensure that individual files fit within it.
If CinemaDNG follows the same sort of path to standardization as DNG, (or indeed, PDF), there will first be a period while the specification is tested "in the marketplace" to ensure that it works in practise as well as theory. It will then be revised accordingly, so that whatever is standardized will be credible, well supported by products, and ready for immediate use. This takes years
Digital Negative (file format)
Digital Negative is an open raw image format owned by Adobe used for digital photography. It was launched on September 27, 2004. The launch was accompanied by the first version of the DNG specification, plus various products including a free of charge DNG Converter utility...
.