Dreamforce is the annual conference for Salesforce, the customer relationship management (CRM) software service, held in San Francisco. Established in 2003, Dreamforce is a yearly event designed to unite the global developer community and share success stories. Due to the health and travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the September 2021 Dreamforce was reconceived as a hybrid event with some in-person attendees and a massive streaming audience.

ARRI's recent release of Software Update Package 5.3 for AMIRA enables some significant new functionality for the camera. The most exciting of these new features is support for ARRIRAW, the RAW format used in the ALEXA and ALEXA Mini cameras. This is significant since the company line for many years was that AMIRA would never shoot RAW (not that we're complaining, mind you).

The Arri AMIRA is known to be a great looking camera right out of the box but we often get requests to create matching look files for the camera. As you probably know, we make scene files for various cameras including the Sony F5 & F55 to the Canon C100 & C300 cameras. I've created some matching profiles that you can load into the Arri AMIRA or apply in post.

I have some exciting updates to share from Arri on the AMIRA and ALEXA SXT. First, the AMIRA Software Update Packet (SUP) 2.0 is now available for download.

Canon's Cine-Servo 17-120, with its versatile zoom range and 31.7mm image circle, has proven to be popular with our clients. However, depending on what camera you are shooting with, there are extra items to take into consideration, such as adapters, power options, support, and more.

Arri just announced the latest addition to the ALEXA family, the all new ALEXA Mini. Coming in at a svelte 7.3" x 4.9" x 5.5" (LxWxH) and weighing only 5 pounds, the Mini compliments the series with the same S35 ALEV III CMOS sensor found in the ALEXA and AMIRA. Utilizing a carbon body with titanium lens mount attached directly to the titanium sensor mount, the Mini shares the same PL, EF and B4 bayonet lens mounts, as well as the same MVF-1 viewfinder as the AMIRA.

Today Arri announced that they will offer a new software upgrade for the AMIRA, which will allow it to record ProRes Ultra HD files (at a resolution of 3840x2160). The upgrade is expected to be available for purchase at the online Arri License Shop by the end of 2014.

Our scene file blogs have always been some of our most popular posts, and our specialists get many questions regarding how to create matching scene files for different cameras. Last year I actually wrote an article for HDVideoPro called "Making the Match," where I discussed step-by-step how I go about doing this. In that article, I used a Sony F3 and an FS700 as examples, but recently we received an interesting inquiry on how to match a Sony F55 with a Canon C500.

Arri's new AMIRA is designed specifically with documentary, run'n'gun type shooters in mind and this past May, the camera was put to the test by award-winning DP Buddy Squires, ASC.