Camera giants Red and Fujifilm are partnering with Adobe and Frame.io to connect cameras directly to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Announced today at Adobe Max 2022, specific models of Red and Fujifilm cameras will be able to natively upload images or footage directly into the Adobe Creative Cloud without requiring users to first transfer files onto a computer.
Red video cameras have previously supported camera-to-cloud functionality via the use of an external video encoder, but this new collaboration will allow both the Red V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL to directly upload up to 8K RAW files into Adobe cloud from the camera, without the need for additional hardware.
You’ll be able to shoot up to 8K RAW and then upload the footage as fast as your internet allows
This means that a team can speed through work, such as swiftly uploading and editing footage from a concert or sporting event, without needing to manually move the images from the camera storage into the cloud. Instead, the content will be available in the cloud for editors to play with shortly after you’ve finished filming. The feature is expected to be available in “late 2022.”
If videography isn’t your thing but your interest is piqued by the feature, then good news: it’s also available for still image photography, too. The Fujifilm X-H2S will be the first digital stills camera to offer native integration with Frame.io’s Camera to Cloud feature. The system needs to be paired with a dedicated camera attachment with wireless capabilities (available for $999) in order to connect to the internet. The Frame.io cloud feature supports high-resolution RAW files with loupe, navigation, and annotation tools in this format. The required firmware for both the X-H2S & FT-XH is expected to be released by Spring 2023.
Adobe hopes that this native support for direct cloud uploads will one day become the industry standard, and while the innovation is exciting, the company doesn’t shy away from recognizing its current limitations. Access to high-bandwidth networking is an absolute necessity to make this a more practical workflow over simply moving content over manually, and large amounts of Cloud storage will be required for larger projects — especially those using high-resolution film formats.
Adobe’s own Creative Cloud is the only compatible cloud system for the feature, which means you’re stuck purchasing additional cloud storage (at a rate of $9.99 per additional 1TB for standard plans) from Adobe over any preferred third-party providers, which is sure to add up if you have a sizable team working on multiple projects.