Cutsio Blog

Cloud Dailies for ALEXA 35 and RED V-RAPTOR Shoots

Learn how cloud dailies work for ALEXA 35 and RED V-RAPTOR shoots. Upload native raw files, get streamable review assets with Visual Intelligence, and keep originals attached for conform.

How do cloud dailies work for ALEXA 35 and RED V-RAPTOR shoots?

Cloud dailies for ALEXA 35 and RED V-RAPTOR shoots work by uploading the native raw camera files — .ari, .mxf, .arx for ARRI; .r3d for RED — to Cutsio, which transcodes them into streamable review assets in the cloud, indexes every frame with Visual Intelligence, and retains the original camera files as downloadable attachments for conform and finishing. The director, DP, and producers open a share link and watch the day's footage on any device, anywhere.

Traditional dailies workflows require a DIT to manually render each day's footage to ProRes or DNxHR proxies on a local workstation, then upload those proxies to a review platform. For ALEXA 35 ARRIRAW or RED V-RAPTOR 8K R3D footage, that manual render queue can take four to eight hours per shoot day. On a 40-day feature, that is 160 to 320 hours of DIT labor spent on rendering instead of verifying cards, managing metadata, or supporting the set.

Cloud dailies eliminate the local render queue. The DIT offloads the camera cards, verifies the checksums, and uploads the native raw files to Cutsio through the enterprise raw ingestion add-on. The cloud handles the transcode. The review assets are ready within minutes of the upload completing, and the original raw files remain untouched and attached for the final conform.

What is the cloud dailies workflow for ALEXA 35 ARRIRAW?

The cloud dailies workflow for ALEXA 35 ARRIRAW starts the moment the SXR Capture Drive or CFexpress card comes off the camera and ends when the director opens a review link on their phone from the hotel.

| Stage | What Happens | Time |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Card offload | DIT offloads .ari/.mxf/.arx files to RAID, verifies checksums | 30–60 min per card |

| Upload to Cutsio | Native ARRI RAW files uploaded via enterprise add-on | 30–120 min per card (resumable) |

| Cloud transcode | Cutsio transcodes RAW into streamable review assets | Background — no DIT time |

| Visual indexing | Computer vision indexes every frame for Visual Search | Background |

| Share link sent | DIT or AC creates share link with password and expiration | 2 minutes |

| Director reviews | Director watches review stream, leaves comments, marks takes | Real-time |

The critical difference from traditional dailies: the DIT's laptop is never tied up rendering. Once the upload starts, the DIT can close the laptop, pack the cart, and move to the next setup. The cloud handles the rest.

What camera settings affect the ALEXA 35 cloud dailies pipeline?

The ALEXA 35 records ARRIRAW in two primary codec flavors — ARRIRAW (uncompressed) and ARRIRAW Xpress (.arx) — plus MXF-wrapped ARRIRAW for certain workflows. All three formats are supported through the Cutsio enterprise add-on. The key settings that affect the pipeline:

• Resolution: ALEXA 35 records up to 4.6K Open Gate. Higher resolution means larger file sizes and longer upload times, but the review asset quality is independent of the source resolution.
• Color space: ARRI LogC4 is the default for ALEXA 35. The review stream is generated with LogC4 color metadata preserved where possible.
• Frame rate: Standard 23.976 fps and 24 fps dailies are processed normally. High-frame-rate material (48 fps, 60 fps, 120 fps) requires proportionally more processing time but is fully supported.
• Look metadata: Any CDL or look file embedded in the ARRI RAW metadata is applied during the review asset generation.

What is the cloud dailies workflow for RED V-RAPTOR 8K R3D?

The cloud dailies workflow for RED V-RAPTOR 8K R3D follows the same structure but accounts for the significantly larger file sizes and higher resolutions of RED's 8K VV sensor.

| Stage | What Happens | Time |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Card offload | DIT offloads .r3d files to RAID, verifies with RED's offload tools | 30–60 min per 1TB card |

| Upload to Cutsio | Native R3D files uploaded via enterprise add-on | 60–180 min per card (resumable) |

| Cloud transcode | Cutsio transcodes R3D into streamable review assets | Background |

| Visual indexing | Computer vision indexes every frame | Background |

| Share link sent | DIT creates share link with password, expiration, view tracking | 2 minutes |

| Director reviews | Director watches review stream, leaves timecoded comments | Real-time |

RED V-RAPTOR 8K footage at 8:1 REDCODE compression generates approximately 6 GB per minute. A full 1TB CFexpress card holds roughly 160 minutes of 8K footage. Upload time is the primary variable, and Cutsio's resumable uploads ensure that a dropped connection on set does not waste the DIT's time.

What RED camera settings affect the cloud dailies pipeline?

• Resolution: V-RAPTOR records up to 8K VV (40.96mm x 21.60mm) and 8K S35 modes. Higher resolution increases file size but does not affect review asset quality.
• REDCODE compression: Ratios from 3:1 (highest quality) to 22:1 (longest record time) are all supported. Lower compression ratios (3:1, 5:1) produce larger files and longer upload times.
• Frame rate: Standard and high-frame-rate R3D material is fully supported. 120 fps clips at 8K produce proportionally larger files.
• Color space: REDWideGamutRGB and Log3G10 are preserved in the review stream metadata where possible.

How does Visual Search improve the cloud dailies review experience?

Visual Search transforms the dailies review from a passive watching session into an active search experience — the director finds specific frames instantly by describing what the camera saw, without scrubbing through hours of footage.

A director reviewing a day's worth of ALEXA 35 or V-RAPTOR dailies traditionally watches every take in sequence. With 60 to 90 minutes of raw footage per shoot day, that is a significant time investment just to find the handful of usable takes.

With Cutsio's Visual Search, the director opens the share link and types:

• "Close-up of actor delivering the line about the letter"
• "Wide master of the restaurant argument"
• "Sunset shot with car driving toward camera"
• "Take where the stunt double performs the fall"

The system returns the exact frames matching those visual descriptions, ranked by relevance. The director can jump straight to the important moments, mark favorites, and leave comments — all within the same review session.

Why Visual Search matters for ALEXA 35 and V-RAPTOR dailies

ALEXA 35 and RED V-RAPTOR are frequently used for MOS shooting — action sequences, B-roll, establishing shots, and atmospheric material recorded without synchronized audio. When footage has no scratch track, transcript-based search returns nothing. Visual Search fills this gap because it understands what the camera saw, not just what was said. Every frame of MOS dailies is as searchable as a fully transcribed interview.

How do Collections organize cloud dailies across a multi-camera shoot?

Collections in Cutsio group dailies from multiple cameras, shoot days, and scenes into visual hubs that the entire production team can access and search — without folder drilling or file renaming.

A typical multi-camera shoot might include:

• ALEXA 35 as A-cam (main coverage)
• RED V-RAPTOR as B-cam (B-cam coverage, slow motion)
• Additional V-RAPTOR for specialized rigs (car mounts, drone, gimbal)

Collections can be organized by:

• Shoot day: "Day 01 — All Cameras"
• Camera: "A-Cam ALEXA 35 Selects"
• Scene: "Scene 24 — Restaurant Argument"
• Shot type: "VFX Plates — Clean Passes"
• Status: "Director's Favorites / Pending Approval"

Each Collection contains the review assets for instant streaming and search, with the original raw files attached as downloadable source. The DIT creates Collections during the upload process, and the editorial team accesses them immediately.

How does Share deliver secure cloud dailies to the production team?

Cutsio's Share feature generates secure review links from the cloud dailies with password protection, expiration dates, view tracking, and frame-accurate commenting — so the director, DP, and producers can review footage from any device without VPNs or downloads.

Share link settings for production dailies:

| Setting | Recommended Configuration |

| :--- | :--- |

| Password | Required — unique per production |

| Expiration | 7 days after each shoot day |

| View tracking | Enabled — who watched, when, how much |

| Download permission | Restricted to key team members only |

| Commenting | Enabled — frame-accurate, timecoded |

The director opens the link from their laptop at the hotel, their iPad on set, or their phone during lunch. The review stream plays in the browser. They click directly on any frame to leave a comment. "At 00:14:23:12 — this take is the one. Mark as favorite." The DIT and editor see the comment instantly, linked to the exact frame.

How does Agentic Chat make cloud dailies searchable for the entire crew?

Agentic Chat in Cutsio lets any crew member search the cloud dailies library using natural language — no search syntax, no folder navigation, no training required.

Crew members simply ask:

• "Show me all the V-RAPTOR slow-motion shots from Day 3."
• "Which ALEXA 35 takes from Scene 24 have both actors in frame?"
• "Find the clip where the drone shot reveals the location."
• "Are there any takes with a visible crew shadow in the frame?"

Agentic Chat combines Visual Search, metadata search, and Collection context to return precise results. For RED footage, it can query R3D header metadata alongside visual content.

How does cloud dailies pricing work for ALEXA 35 and RED V-RAPTOR shoots?

Cutsio's pay-per-minute pricing model is designed for high-volume raw footage workflows where traditional per-gigabyte cloud storage would be prohibitively expensive.

An ALEXA 35 shoot generating 2–4 TB of ARRIRAW per day would cost hundreds of dollars per month in Google Drive or Dropbox storage. A RED V-RAPTOR shoot generating 4–8 TB of R3D per day would cost even more.

With Cutsio, the same footage costs based on the total minutes of duration. The review assets remain streamable and searchable. The original raw files are retained as attachments without per-gigabyte charges. The production team pays for what they actually use — the review and search capabilities — not for the raw file size.

How do you export cloud dailies selects for the NLE conform?

Once the cloud dailies review is complete and selects are marked, Cutsio exports a selects EDL or FCPXML that references the original ARRI RAW or RED R3D file names and timecodes — so the assistant editor can import it directly into DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, or Avid Media Composer.

The export workflow:

1. Search and curate selects using Visual Search and Collections.
2. Mark preferred takes with approval flags.
3. Export a selects EDL or FCPXML.
4. Open your NLE, import the EDL, and link to the original raw files on your local RAID.

The original raw files were never modified. The EDL references them by their original file names and timecodes. The conform happens against the exact same sensor data that came off the ALEXA or RED cards.

FAQ

Is cloud dailies processing available for all Cutsio accounts?

Cloud dailies for ARRI RAW and RED R3D is available as an enterprise add-on for qualified production accounts. Contact the Cutsio sales team to enable raw format support for your production.

How fast can the director start watching dailies after the card comes off the camera?

The director can start watching the first review stream clips as soon as the upload completes and the cloud transcode finishes. For a typical 30-minute clip on a fiber connection, this is usually 30–60 minutes after the upload begins.

Can the team review dailies while the rest of the card is still uploading?

Yes. Cutsio processes clips as they arrive. The first clips become available while the rest of the card is still ingesting.

What internet speed is recommended for the DIT cart?

A minimum of 100 Mbps upload speed is recommended for cloud dailies workflows. Fiber connections (500 Mbps to 1 Gbps) provide the best experience for ARRI RAW and RED R3D file sizes.

Are the original raw files modified during the cloud dailies process?

No. The original .ari, .mxf, .arx, and .r3d files are stored as downloadable attachments, unmodified and byte-for-byte identical to what came off the camera card.

For more ARRI RAW and RED workflow guides, see the ARRIRAW container guide, the mixed ARRI and RED dailies workflow, and the ARRICORE cloud dailies guide.