As the gold standard for image quality, uncompressed ARRIRAW has defined the ARRI ALEXA experience from day one.
CODEX has been at the heart of this journey, trusted by filmmakers worldwide, delivering seamless workflow solutions as ARRI’s chosen partner.
2019 saw the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the first feature film to use *Academy® and Emmy® award-winning High Density Encoding (HDE) technology, developed by James Eggleton and Delwyn Holroyd at CODEX. HDE efficiently re-packs the original ARRIRAW sensor data to reduce file sizes by around 40% without any loss of information.
CODEX Device Manager software transforms ARRIRAW recordings to HDE format when data is first offloaded from camera media. A lossless HDE file will typically have a similar data footprint to a lossy ProRes 4444XQ file recorded in camera. Consequently, ARRIRAW has become the capture format of choice, with HDE being delivered to post-production to provide significant cost-savings and efficiency benefits.
ARRI continues to refine their image processing pipelines, most recently receiving plaudits for REVEAL color science. The most advanced algorithms are reserved for the processing of ARRIRAW and HDE footage in post-production software, with the latest ADA-7 SW demosaicing algorithm providing superior handling of subtle color gradients, and the cleanest green and blue screen matte edges.
HDE retains the original Bayer pattern sensor structure, offering a zero-compromise and future-proofed master file format. Those who capture ARRIRAW and use HDE can always take advantage of the latest and greatest ARRI imaging pipeline, at a quality that exceeds the in-camera processing used when recording lossy codecs such as ProRes.
Device Manager 7.5.1 and above provides the MXF/HDE workflow for ALEXA Mini and AMIRA.
Later in 2025 CODEX will release Device Manager 8.0, providing a unified MXF/HDE workflow for all remaining ALEXA cameras.
ARRI cinema cameras covered
The list of cameras covered by the unified MXF/HDE workflow:
To date, CODEX software on macOS has served over 39 billion HDE images from ARRI cameras, and on any given day might serve in excess of 50 million frames (or around 600 hours @ 24fps).
Anyone who already has experience with MXF/HDE will find the unified workflow delightfully familiar. For those who need more details, we provide a useful guide in the Workflows section of the Help Centre.
For pre-release access to the Device Manager 8.0 unified MXF/HDE workflow, join the Early Adopter program.
“I think you have to be insane to not use HDE. It’s come a long way, very quickly.”
Laura Redpath, DIT on Barbie
“The HDE option for downloads was especially beneficial, as it allowed us to minimise data size and storage requirements without compromising image quality.”
Mark Glenister, DIT on SAS Rogue Heroes 2
“I recently had a small production ask me about shooting with the ALEXA 35 at a lower resolution to save on the data budget. Instead, I pointed out the benefits of HDE, and now there's no pressure from the production for the DP to compromise on their desired imaging format.”
Sam Winzar, DIT on Foe
* Scientific and Technical Achievement Award 2024 ©Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® | * Engineering Emmy Award. 2018 and 2020. ©ATAS/NATAS
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