Apr
Firefly Cinema has released FirePlay, a player capable of reading virtually any digital format with resolutions up to 4K.
Aimed at all digital cinema professionals, this software is launched to complement FireDay (for dailies management), FireCloud (for color correction and finishing) and FireVision (for dailies management on the iPad).
Reproduction
The variety of supported formats and cameras is very wide, including RED, ARRIRAW, QuickTime, ProRes, Canon and Sony, as well as OpenEXR, DPX and TIFF. 4K and UHD (3840×2160) resolution files can now be played back.
Together with the new Mac Pro, and taking advantage of its processing power, it can instantly read Sony RAW 4K files.
Although the company advertises the ability to read 4K in real time, I have to say that I have tested it at home with a Mac Pro (it is not cylindrical in shape, it is an older one) and a 4K R3D file, and real time is still a utopia.
Color correction
FirePlay also includes color correction tools that allow you to adjust the overall look of the image or even apply a secondary correction with a shape or key.
In addition, it allows you to load one of the included ACES LUTs or import your own.
There are several tabs to make decoding adjustments to RAW files or files from a RED camera. It also has a Pan and Scan tool and a tab called “Shot Info” where you can find all the clip metadata, such as frame rate, resolution, codec or audio information.
Once we have our image as we want, we have two export possibilities, as a reference image in JPEG or as a CDL (Color Decision List), to be able to take this correction to other systems.
All these qualities make FirePlay a powerful visualization software that will simplify the work of DITs, camera assistants or cinematographers. In addition, it is totally FREE, so it will come in handy for those who think that other systems like DaVinci Resolve are too complicated (although learning it is easy 🙂).
One drawback? It is only available for Mac OS X (10.7 or higher). Here is the download link.
