What Does Raw Footage Mean?
Raw footage is the crude output of a video or still camera recording. It is the unprocessed data from a camera’s image sensor. Most photographers prefer shooting raw footage due to the high quality of images that the camera sensor could possibly produce. Since it is raw or unrefined, the footage remains as it was captured, retaining all details, true colors and lighting, which allows considerable opportunity for modification.
Techopedia Explains Raw Footage
Raw footage can be very large, and only a few applications can decode it owing to the lack of codecs that can handle this format; as a result, only a few cameras can store raw footage. Although these types of still and video cameras are not difficult to find, they are extremely costly. In fact, dealing with raw files is extravagant given that a lot of money is spent not just on the camera but also on good hardware that can support its meticulous post production, enormous need for file storage devices and backup. In addition, raw files use more storage space than processed and compressed videos and images, so a camera storing raw images quickly uses up its storage space.