Adobe Adds Canon Cinema RAW Light Hardware Acceleration in Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Media Encoder

Software News

by Jeff LochToday

Adobe has recently added Canon Cinema RAW Light hardware acceleration to several of their software products, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Media Encoder. While this addition is currently only available in the beta versions, Adobe promises it will improve export performance by up to 10x. So, let’s take a closer look at it!

Canon’s Cinema RAW Light format was first introduced in 2017 with the EOS C200 cinema camera. This lightweight version of the original Canon Cinema RAW codec then appeared in multiple other cameras, including the EOS C500 Mark II, EOS C300 Mark III, EOS R5 C, EOS C70, and, more recently, the EOS C80 and EOS C400.

As someone who has often shot in Cinema RAW Light since the EOS C200 days, I find it a nice compromise between file size, quality, and versatility. Indeed, the Cinema RAW Light codec gives you the most dynamic range, and you can easily change your ISO, White Balance, picture profile, and so on. Multiple editing software already allow you to adjust your .CRM files metadata directly, including Adobe Premiere Pro/After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.

Otherwise, most RAW video codecs require a lot of computing/processing power, and the software must be optimized for them. In a recent beta update, Adobe optimized their video software to support Canon Cinema RAW Light codecs better and increase performance.

Adobe Canon Cinema RAW Light hardware acceleration

Adobe’s latest Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Media Encoder beta versions add Cinema RAW Light acceleration for Apple silicon computers. According to the company, future beta version updates will add hardware support for Windows computers. Unfortunately, this update will most likely not be available for Intel-based Apple computer users.

In terms of performance increases, Adobe claims that you should “expect to see significantly improved editing & transcoding performance when using Cinema RAW Light files in the beta: smooth playback on the timeline and export performance improved by up to 10x.”

Please note that the beta installs entirely independently from the release version. This means you can install both versions simultaneously to run some testing, although using beta versions for important production or client projects is not recommended.

For more information, please visit Adobe’s website here.

What do you think about this software update? Do you often edit and work with Canon Cinema RAW Light files? What is your favorite software for processing Canon Cinema RAW Light footage? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!