Raw Video

What this is about

Raw is not a picture yet. The file holds what the sensor measured, and the developing decisions — white balance, ISO, colour science — happen later at a workstation instead of being burned in on set. For commercials, VFX-heavy work and anything with difficult mixed lighting, that flexibility is worth real money. It also multiplies data volume, forces a development or transcode step before editing, and locks the project into software that reads the camera manufacturer's format. Documentary crews with long shooting days usually decide against it.

A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.

What runs differently here

Where this differs from the general case:

• White balance and ISO stay negotiable after the shoot — the strongest argument for raw
• Plan the data: raw multiplies card, backup and archive volume compared with an intermediate
• Raw always needs a development or transcode step before an edit can run smoothly

With TillyGen

Because TillyGen holds shooting days and formats in one plan, the storage and transfer time a raw workflow demands is visible before the first card fills.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.