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nablet ARRI AMA Plug-in

Alexander Bashlykov
  • Updated

Features

The nablet ARRI AMA Plug-in allows you to link, play, edit and transcode ARRIRAW as well as Apple ProRes footage recorded by ARRI cameras via AMA in Avid editing products. It supports the linking of complete volumes as well as single clips. The clips may consist of MXF-wrapped ARRIRAW or ProRes frames and PCM Audio or may be sequences of unwrapped ARRIRAW frames, *.ari files accompanied by PCM audio Wave files. Furthermore, this plugin is able to link and decode sequences of Codex HDE-encoded ARRIRAW frames in *.arx files or MXF-wrapped Codex HDE-encoded ARRIRAW essence.

In addition, the nablet ARRI AMA Plug-in reads and interprets the important metadata that is encapsulated in the ARRI media and is able to automatically apply embedded Look LUTs.

Evaluation

The downloaded copy of the nablet ARRI AMA Plug-in will run in demo mode. A nablet logo will be printed into the decoded images but otherwise, the plugin is fully functional.

To purchase a license key please visit the nablet site.

After the ARRI Plug-in has been unlocked by a license key, you can continue to use the clips that were previously linked in demo mode. You do not need to re-link them. The logo will disappear after the key has been validated by the plugin. However, transcodings, consolidations, and video mixdowns have to be re-done since they have been encoded with the logo in the source image.

Requirements

Supported Avid Products

  • Avid Media Composer from v8.6 up to the latest releases

Supported Operating Systems

Windows

  • Windows 11 64-bit
  • Windows 10 64-bit

Mac

  • macOS 13 (Ventura) (Intel, Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2)
  • macOS 12 (Monterey) (Intel, Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2)
  • macOS 11.00 (Big Sur) (Intel Mac only)
  • macOS 10.15 (Catalina)

System Requirements

Debayering and processing ARRIRAW frames require a lot of resources. For a fluent workflow your
editing system shall meet the requirements below:

  • A powerful CPU with at least 8 logical cores. Preferred is a workstation with dual Intel Xeon processors.
  • On Windows PCs a high-end GPU with support of CUDA or OpenCL (1.2 or above). For CUDA the NVidia driver version must be 397.44 or higher.
  • On Mac PCs a high-end GPU that supports OpenCL (1.2 or above).
  • A fast I/O that is capable of reading 600 MB/s and more. Recommended are SSDs and RAIDs.

Change Log

  • v3.2.0
    • Uses ARRI Image SDK 8.1.0.
    • Adds support for monochrome ARRIRAW.
    • Updated the installed LUT companion XML files used for automatic Color Transformation
      assignment to correct the color range.
  • v3.1.0
    • Fixed slow linking from network storage like Avid NEXIS.
    • Uses ARRI Image SDK 7.1.1.
  • v3.0.0
    • Renamed from former nablet ARRIRAW Plug-in to nablet ARRI Plug-in.
    • Supports MXF-wrapped ProRes footage shot with the ARRI ALEXA cameras.
    • Uses ARRI Image SDK v7.0.4.
    • Approved for macOS 13 (Ventura) (Intel, Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2).
  • v2.5.0
    • Supports footage shot with the new ARRI ALEXA 35.
    • Supports the new RDD-54 MXF format with ARRIRAW or Codex HDE compressed essence.
    • Detects and applies an embedded Look LUT.
    • Uses ARRIRAW SDK v7.0 and Codex HDE decoder SDK v4.0.2.
    • Approved for Windows 11 and macOS 12 (Monterey) (Intel, Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2).
  • v2.0.4
    • Fix: The plugin failed to load under Media Composer version 2018.11 or earlier on Mac systems.
  • v2.0.3
    • ASC_CDL values are set in the bins ASC_SOP and ASC_SAT columns.
    • Mac version approved for macOS 10.15 (Catalina).
  • v2.0.2
    • Fix link failures when there are Mac OS phantom files on the media.
    • Detect audio wave files also in the video root folder of HDE encoded media.
  • v2.0.1
    • Fixed incorrect clip frame rates in metadata.
    • Support proper linking of ARRI clip folders as clips.
  • v2.0.0
    • Support linking and decoding of Codex HDE encoded ARRIRAW frames in *.arx file sequences.
    • Uses ARRIRAW SDK 6.1.1
    • The macOS version is now notarized by Apple.

Installation Procedure

Prerequisites

You cannot install the nablet ARRI AMA Plug-in while the editing application background services are running. Make sure you stop the services before installing AMA Plugins. The stop/start background services icon is on the Media Composer menu bar (Macintosh) or taskbar (Windows). Once you installed the new AMA Plug-in, restart the services. See “Starting and Stopping Avid Background Services” in the Media Composer Help.

Install Instructions

Windows

  1. Download the installer package and unpack it.
  2. Double-click the EXE file in the extracted folder to run the installation.
  3. Follow the instructions provided by the installer. Read and accept the End User License. If you already own a license key file pass its path when asked. If you used a temporary key file you received for test purposes, you can update it now with the one you purchased.
  4.  During the installation, any previous version of the nablet ARRI AMA Plug-in as well as the former ARRIRAW AMA Plug-in will be updated.

Mac

  1. Download the installer archive and unpack it.
  2. Double-click the DMG file to mount the image. A folder with the plug-in package opens.
  3. Launch the PKG file to run the installation.
  4. Follow the instructions provided by the Installer application. Read and accept the End User License. If you already own a license key file pass its path when asked. If you used a temporary key file you received for test purposes, you can update it now with the one you purchased.
  5.  During the installation, any previous version of the nablet ARRI AMA Plug-in as well as the former ARRIRAW AMA Plug-in will be updated.

Uninstall Instructions

Windows

  1. Open Windows Control Panel and launch “Programs and Features”.
  2. Select nablet ARRI Plug-In and then select Uninstall.
  3. Next, select Yes to confirm the removal.

Mac

  1. Locate the directory Library/Application Support/Avid/AVX2_Plug-ins/AMA/nablet.
  2. Delete the .avx file.
  3. Delete the license key file .key
  4. Empty the Trash to erase the files from the system completely.
  5. Locate the directory:
    Users/Shared/Library/ApplicationSupport/nablet/nablet_ARRIRAW_AMA_Plugin 
    and delete it with all its contents.

Verifying the Plug-in Version

After installation, the plug-in is available to Avid Editing products. To confirm whether the plug-in was properly installed and verify the version follow the steps below:

  1. In Media Composer's project window hit the Info button
  2. A list starting with version and license information for Media Composer will appear.
  3. Scroll down to find the AMA Plugin Info.
  4. Confirm that the nablet ARRI Plug-in is listed and the version matches the one that you've installed.

Operation Procedure

Folders and Clips on ARRIRAW volumes

ARRIRAW Frames are either wrapped in an MXF container or are stored as a sequence of *.ari files in a folder. An ari file is a single ARRIRAW frame with metadata. Codex HDE compressed ARRIRAW frames as stored in *.arx files or are MXF wrapped. Only MXF-wrapped ProRes shot with the latest ALEXA cameras is supported by this plug-in.

Below is the typical folder structure of a volume with MXF-wrapped ARRI RAW or ProRes clips:

The structure is simple. The folder M002R00H on the left represents the volumes root folder. This folder contains the MXF files. In order to give the plugin the opportunity to detect the folder as an ARRI volume, the folder must also contain the two metadata files *.ale and *.bin, in the sample above they are named M002R00H_AVID.ale and M002R00H_BIN.bin. If these files are missing the folder cannot be linked as a volume as described later and the MXF file must be linked manually. In order to have a quick and convenient workflow where you can link a whole volume with one click do not remove these metadata files from the volume.

The structure of a volume with clips that consist of *.ari or *.arx file sequences looks a bit more complex

Here the folder S002R6ZJ on the left again represents the volumes root folder, but instead of MXF files, you find other folders which each represent a clip. You will notice that the naming style of those 'clip' folders is similar to that of the MXF files.

Inside such a 'clip' folder it looks like the below:

On the right, you see the *.ari files which each represent one single ARRIRAW frame. Audio is stored in the folder 'wav' on the left. The folder 'xml' contains some metadata.

Sometimes HDE encoded ARRIRAW in *.arx files appears in a simple flat folder structure without audio and metadata files. Here the parent folder of the *.arx files is the 'clip' folder.
But now forget about these internals again. You will not have to deal with the single assets directly but with the 'clip' folder only when you use the plugin to link a clip that consists of *.ari or *.arx files.

Linking the footage

You can either link single or multiple clips out of an ARRI volume or link the complete volume, which is the preferred method for a fluent workflow.

Note: You cannot link *ari or *arx files directly. Instead, link the clip's folder as explained on the previous page. It is not possible to just link only one or a specific number of frames out of sequence.

Linking to an ARRI Volume

  1. From the menu bar, select File->Input->Source Browser.
  2. When in the Source Browser dialog, make sure that Link is selected, not Import.mceclip7.png
  3. Specify the desired destination bin or request to create a new bin.
  4. Navigate to the desired volume.
  5. Select the volume root which must be the volumes parent folder, e.g. M002R00H or S002R6ZJ from the examples on the previous page.
  6. Hit the Link button on the bottom right. Media Composer will choose the nablet ARRI plugin automatically and all clips contained in this volume will be linked into the specified bin.

Linking to ARRIRAW or ProRes files

  1. Select the desired destination bin in the project.
  2. From the menu bar, select File->Input->Source Browser.
  3. In the Source Browser dialog, make sure that Link is selected, not Import
    mceclip7.png
  4. Navigate to the desired ARRIRAW or ProRes MXF file(s) or the ari/arx clip folder(s).
  5. Media Composer will not assign the plugin for MXF files automatically! Select and Right-click the desired MXF clips and select “Link with -> nablet ARRI”.
    For *.ari or *.arx sequences just select the clip folders as described earlier.
  6. Hit the Link button on the bottom right.

Note: Due to a bug in some Avid Media Composer versions, linked ARRI ProRes clips will be marked as In-Process, which usually means that an MXF file is not completed and is possibly still growing. However, in the case of linked ARRI recorded ProRes files you can be sure that they are completed and you can ignore that wrong In-Process state.

Transcoding

Do not attempt to transcode a linked clip from within Media Composer's Source Browser as offered when you accidentally tried to Import instead to Link. Always link the footage as described above.

When done, navigate to the bin with the linked clips, then select the desired clips, right-click and select “Consolidate/Transcode”. In the Consolidate/Transcode dialog select Transcode on the top left. For details about the further settings please refer to the Media Composer manual. Once the transcoding is completed the transcoded file(s) will appear next to the linked source clip(s) in the bin.

Note that you cannot Consolidate ARRIRAW footage. Consolidation is only possible for footage with a codec that Avid supports native, which is not the case for ARRIRAW.

Source Settings

The Source Settings allow you to modify how the linked footage is treated.

In order to view the Source Settings window, you should right-click a clip or a selection of multiple clips
in a bin and select Source Settings… There are three tabs in this window, Linked Plug-in, Color Encoding, and FrameFlex that affect how the image appears. If multiple clips were selected the first one is shown on that dialog, but changed settings can be applied to all of the selected clips, except those on the Linked Plug-in tab, which require to be set individually for each clip.

The Frameflex tab allows you to change the dimension and framing of the image.

On the Playback Rates tab, you can modify the frame rate.

The Color Encoding tab allows you to add and remove Color Transformation LUTs and Look LUTs.

If the global Color Management Settings are configured to insert a color transformation automatically upon linking, for most project color spaces a matching LogC3 or LogC4 LUT will be applied already when you link the footage.

If no color transformation was inserted automatically or you wish to change the transformation e.g. because you had changed the project color space after linking the footage you can choose from the ARRI LogC3 or LogC4 LUTs which were installed with the plugin.

Automated insertion can also take effect after the color transformation is deleted or if automated insertion upon linking is not enabled. Hit the Auto button in the Color Adapter section and in most cases, an ARRI LUT that matches the project color space gets inserted. If not apply it manually.

Note that with version 3.2.0 of this plugin, the companion files for the automated color transformation application have been updated to properly match the color range. If you are working on a project where the footage had been linked with an earlier version of the plugin before upgrading to version 3.2.0, it is recommended to update the applied color transformation. Select one or more of the desired clips in the bin, right click and select Source Settings to raise the dialog. On the Color Encoding tab hit the Auto button and the current color transformation will be replaced with the new one.

In order to use ASC CDL values which may be embedded in the source clip, make sure the Color Management Settings are configured accordingly. Check the option “Use CDL values from ASC_SOP and ASC_SAT bin columns when available”.

mceclip5.png

If the “Uses CDL Values...” option was active before the clips were linked, the values will be automatically applied for the color transformation instead of the built-in LUT. Otherwise, hit the Auto button to update the color transformation.

mceclip6.png

Note that ASC CDL values are not applied if they are at the default values (1,1,1)(0,0,0)(1,1,1) (1).

For ARRIRAW footage on the Linked Plug-in tab, you will find controls to change the Sensor Type and adjust the White Balance, Exposure, and Sharpness of the clip. Initially, the values for Color Temperature and Tint and Exposure which were found in the clip metadata are used.

For ProRes footage, the metadata values are shown, but cannot be modified.

The Sensor Type selector shows the footage's detected sensor type, either Bayer or Monochrome. In most cases, there is no need to change the type and with it the processing of the images. Color images are recorded by a camera with a Bayer sensor. Black and White images get recorded by a camera with a Monochrome sensor which gives more detail and richer contrast rather than converting color recordings to monochrome in the post-processing.

However, some monochrome footage's metadata does not properly indicate the monochrome sensor and the images will appear in a reddish tone. This control allows you to overwrite the Sensor Type by setting it to Monochrome and force monochrome processing in the decoder for such clips of which you know that they've been recorded by one of the ARRI Monochrome cameras.

The Color Temperature can be adjusted on the appropriate slider in a range of 2000 to 11000 Kelvin, and Tint in a Range of -16.0 to +16.0. Color Temperature and Tint controls are disabled for monochrome footage.

The Exposure can be adjusted in the range from ISO 160 to ISO 6400 for LogC4 encoded footage and ISO 160 to ISO 3200 for LogC3 encoded footage in steps of 1/3 of a stop.

Sharpness can be adjusted in a range from -5.0 to + 35.0. The default is a value of 0. Sharpness can only be modified on certain ARRIRAW clips. Note that the Sharpness setting takes effect only when full-resolution frames are requested. So make sure the Avid Video Quality menu is set to Full Quality (see below) when you monitor the settings adjustment. How the sharpness changes can best be viewed at full-screen display on a secondary monitor after you hit the Apply button.

To reset the custom settings to the values at recording time choose Clip Meta Data settings above. To reset them to generic defaults choose the Default settings above. Once changes are made, for comparisons you can toggle between Clip Meta Data and Custom Settings.

If an ARRIRAW or ProRes clip has an embedded Look LUT, a checkbox Apply Look will appear on the Linked Plug-in tab which allows you to enable or disable the application of the Look. By default, it is enabled and the look is applied after decoding.

Hover with the mouse over this control to get more information about the Look. Uncheck the box if you do not want the Look to be applied or wish to apply a different Look manually as described later.

Note: On some versions of Media Composer the first attempt to change a value on the Linked Plug-in tab does not take effect. To overcome this, toggle a setting one time, for example, switch between Clip Meta Data and Default and back. After that, any further changes will take effect.

The image preview on the Linked Plug-in tab shows the image in the format before any Color Transformation LUTs and Look LUTs have been applied. Switch to the Color Encoding tab to view the final effect of your custom settings after the LUTs have been applied and thus how the willing image will appear in further processing, or use the full-screen display on a secondary monitor to view the final image after hitting the Apply button.

Applying a Look LUT manually

If you wish to apply a specific Look LUT make sure that on the Linked Plug-in tab, the Apply Look option is disabled in case the clip came with an embedded Look. You can choose from Look LUTs when you switch the Color Adapter Type to User Installed LUTs.

mceclip9.png

Look LUTs shall be placed before a Color Space Transformation LUT. You can easily drag them around in the Color transformations list to achieve the correct order.

The Look LUTs must have been installed previously. This can be LogC3 or LogC4 3D-LUTs downloaded from the ARRI site or custom Looks. Note that LogC3 Looks shall not be applied on LogC4 encoded footage and vice versa.

In order to use those Look LUTs in your editing projects it is required to install them in Media Composer.

To do so proceed as follows:

  • Open a project and on the project page hit the Settings tab.
  • Scroll down and double-click Color Management. The Color Management Settings dialog appears.
  • In the Install LUT section specify whether the LUTs shall be embedded in the current project or be installed to be shared or both. However, since the ARRI LogC3 and LogC4 look LUT files have the same names, it is recommended to install them for the current project only to avoid a mismatch when you later need to edit a different ARRI LogC footage in another project.
  • Navigate to the folder containing the LUTs and select all LUTs or the ones you intend to use.
  • Hit Open and be patient. After a few seconds of silent processing, you'll be informed that the
    LUTs were successfully installed.

mceclip10.png

Color Transformation LUTs

The plugin installs two folders with ARRI LogC3 and LogC4 color reference LUTs. On Windows OS their parent folder is C:\ProgramData\nablet\nablet_ARRIRAW_AMA_Plugin\, on macOS they can be found at /Users/Shared/Library/Application Support/nablet/ nablet_ARRIRAW_AMA_Plugin/.

But normally you won't need to install these. Only if your version of Media Composer does not recognize and provide the Installed ARRI LogC LUTs under the Generic color adaptors, you should install them in the same way as described above for the Look LUTs. To apply such a color transformation LUT select it from the Color Adapters of type User Installed LUTs.

Avid Playback Settings

The playback quality in the Avid applications can be configured using the Video Quality Menu in the Timeline window. When the Avid Video Quality menu is set to Full Quality the full 8K, 6K, 4K or 2K image is being decoded. In a Draft Quality setting an image of 1/2 resolution is being decoded and in the Best Performance option, an image of 1/4 resolution is decoded.

mceclip11.png

For a fluent playback, it is recommended to choose Draft or Best Performance mode. To view images in
the best Quality, choose Full Quality mode.

Known Issues and Limitations

  • For real-time playback of ARRIRAW and ProRes footage set Avid’s NLE Video Playback Quality setting to Draft or Best Performance.
  • After transcoding a clip or after performing a video mix down, which always requests the plugin to provide frames in the highest quality, some versions of Media Composer will not reset to the desired lower Video Playback Quality when playing back the source file or timeline. Toggle the Video Quality setting once when you encounter a performance loss during playback.
  • On some versions of Media Composer, the first attempt to change a value on the Source Settings Linked Plug-in tab does not take effect. To overcome this, toggle a setting one time, e.g. switch between Clip Meta Data and Default and back. After that, any further changes will take effect.
  • Due to a bug in some Avid Media Composer versions, linked ARRI ProRes clips will be marked s In-Process, which usually means that an MXF file is not completed and is possibly still growing. However, in the case of linked ARRI recorded ProRes files you can be sure that they are completed and you can ignore that wrong In-Process state.
  • Intel Arc discrete GPUs are currently not supported. If no other GPU is available image processing will fall back to GPU.

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