The flexibility that RAW images provide filmmakers in the post-production process is absolutely astounding. However, in the words of Bret Michaels, "Every rose has its thorn." The thorn, in this case, is the fact that RAW files can make your workflow quite a bit more cumbersome than it ever would be with compressed codecs. Despite Premiere Pro's recent addition of native support for Cinema DNG files, more often than not it still makes more sense to create proxies and use an online/offline workflow. Even though there are solutions for processing RAW files, many people still feel that RAW is more trouble than it's worth because of the post-production headaches. Well not any more, because Pomfort's highly anticipated RAW processing software, simply called ClipHouse, has now hit the market.
To find the origins of ClipHouse, we have to look back to the fine folks at Digital Bolex. Earlier in the year we covered the inception of the so-called "Digital Bolex Software," the software solution that Joe and Elle were developing with German software company, Pomfort, to accompany the release of their D16 RAW camera. At that point in time, the foundations for ClipHouse were laid out in these early drawings by Joe:
Just yesterday, Pomfort's ClipHouse was released to the public. It's a piece of software that claims to be a one-stop solution for all of your RAW processing needs. It takes an approach similar to Red Giant's BulletProof, where the software is built into separate sections, with each section being used for a separate process (or set of processes) within your post-production workflow. In ClipHouse, these sections are called rooms. Here's what you can accomplish in the four rooms in the software:
- Copy: Checksum-verified Backup
- Manage: Native playback and easy clip organization
- Color: Exposure settings and creative grading on RAW images
- Export: Creation of ProRes and H.264 movies for editorial
What sets ClipHouse apart from competing products is the fact that the software contains everything you need to work with RAW files. In the past, a good portion of the RAW workflows depended on several different pieces of software, many of which were primitive and uncommunicative with other programs. Beyond the functionality, the interface is about as clean and intuitive as it gets, which stands in stark contrast to the RAW solutions of yesteryear.
Here are just a few of the best uses for ClipHouse:
Playback after shooting
- Directly play back footage from camera media
- Inspect your footage for focus and exposure
Color correction and grading
- Color correct your RAW footage
- Adjust exposure, white balance and tint
- Refine your image with sharpness and contrast
- Apply a creative look with soft contrast and shadows and highlights tint
Preparation for editoral
- Create QuickTime files (ProRes, H.264)
- Transcode including all grading information
Backups on set
- Copy your footage to multiple destinations simultaneously
- Constantly keep an eye on what you already copied
- Manage your clips in a central library
Here's a screenshot of the software. Sadly, I didn't have any C-DNG's stored on my computer, so some options are grayed out, but this should give you an idea of how intuitive the software is.
ClipHouse is available for download now from the Pomfort website. There are two options for purchase, a $49 license for one year, or a permanent license for $129. Of course, you can always download a 14-day free trial of the software as well.
What do you guys think of ClipHouse? Will this program help you to consolidate your RAW workflows? If you've been on the fence about RAW, does ClipHouse alleviate some of your concerns about the post-production process? Let us know in the comments!
Link: ClipHouse -- Pomfort
