The advent of new digital cameras has left DPs and post-production producers juggling an ever-increasing number of unique file formats required for various stages of the filmmaking process. To speed up and simplify this new reality of file conversion, New York-based creative studio Nice Shoes has created R3DForm, a software program that converts Red Cam files (.R3D) to any standard file format, including H264, ProRES, DNX, MXF, XDCAM, iPhone, web media streaming and many others.
Unlike the alternative - an expensive hardware purchase - R3DForm will work on any computer workstation (OSX) and converts files faster than real-time. For example, if a DP shoots 12 hours of footage at 24 frames per second (fps), R3DForm can convert them to any number of file formats as fast as your system can write - saving time and helping the company deliver a higher ROI. Moreover, the software can be used on multiple machines simultaneously, effectively turning them into a high-performance processing engine.
Nice Shoes recently used R3DForm to convert four terabytes of data - or two days-worth of footage - to DPS and QuickTime ProRes formats in a single night.
The software was developed in the company's engineering lab, headed up by Chief Technology Officer Robert Keske, who has been developing software and hardware solutions for the film industry for the past decade. Prior to joining Nice Shoes in 2007, Keske worked for Autodesk, leading their Media and Entertainment division, designing solutions for the majority of motion pictures and commercials produced in the last decade.