Camera by camera
URSA Mini Pro 12K export settings.
12K BRAW in, 4K review out.
The URSA Mini Pro 12K records Blackmagic RAW only, and a browser plays none of it. Here is what the camera writes, the HEVC file to send a client, and what 578 MB/s does to your storage.
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By uncompressed.io · Updated September 2026
What the camera records
Blackmagic RAW only,
and no ProRes or H.264 at all.
The URSA Mini Pro 12K records up to 12,288 x 6480 from a 27.03 mm x 14.25 mm Super35 sensor, rated by Blackmagic at 14 stops of dynamic range. Everything it records is Blackmagic RAW. That single fact decides the whole client workflow.
12,288 x 6480
12K DCI
Maximum recording resolution
14 stops
Dynamic range
Blackmagic's rating for the sensor
578 MB/s
12K BRAW 5:1
At 24 fps, the heaviest listed rate
4,624 Mbps
Same rate, player units
578 MB/s x 8 bits per byte
Frame rates from the URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF tech specs; the non-OLPF page was not used for frame rates. Both pages list Blackmagic RAW constant bitrate 5:1, 8:1, 12:1 and 18:1, constant quality Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5, and media on 2 CFast 2.0 slots and 2 SD UHS-II slots; the 12K page also lists a USB-C expansion port. Source: Blackmagic Design, read 19 September 2026.
Data rates from Blackmagic's tech specs for both 12K models, read 19 September 2026. Mbps = MB/s x 8. One hour = MB/s x 3,600 seconds, counting 1 TB as 1,000,000 MB. Constant quality rates vary with the image and are not listed here.
Who plays what
The camera file:
the macOS app might, the browser never.
Nothing this camera writes plays in a web browser. The review file a browser client sees is always an export you make after the grade.
Supported camera originals and Vault playback use the compatible macOS app; they are not universally playable in web browsers. The app plays BRAW natively, but 12K at up to 578 MB/s is a heavy decode, and its decoding capacity at 12K is not guaranteed. Before a client session, upload one short clip and have the client play it on the exact Mac they will review on. If it plays, they can judge the negative itself. If it does not, the 4K review file is the answer, not a faster link.
The BRAW client review guide covers the format in general. This page is about what changes at 12K: the size of the files and how far the review export sits from the source.
The review export
4K HEVC from a 12K source,
sized in clean thirds.
12K is far beyond what a browser review should carry. Export 4K by default, 8K only for a client who will judge detail on an 8K-capable setup.
Frame sizes are the camera resolutions divided by 3 and by 1.5. Bitrates are our recommendation for a review file, not a camera figure. Anamorphic 12K is desqueezed in the timeline for your lens, then exported at the delivery size.
The settings: H.265 Main10 (10-bit), MP4 or MOV, constant frame rate, 2-pass VBR, AAC audio at 320 kbps. For 4K at 24 or 30 fps, 40 to 80 Mbps; 80 Mbps is a sound starting point. Calm interview frames hold up at 40 to 50; snow, rain, water, foliage, heavy grain and fast pans want 100 to 120. For 4K at 60 fps, 50 to 100 Mbps. H.264 at 4K 24/30 needs 50 to 100 Mbps and is not recommended at 4K 60. Free presets for DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, Media Encoder and Compressor are on the NLE page.
Frame rate follows the timeline, not the capture. If you shot 12K 2.4:1 at up to 75 fps for slow motion, the review file plays at the project rate. If the client needs 8K, export at up to about 120 Mbps HEVC and read the 8K hosting guide first: whether a given device decodes 8K HEVC smoothly is not something any host can promise.
Grade before you export. A browser shows the file exactly as encoded, so the grade or a transform to Rec.709 has to be baked in. The camera’s monitoring LUT options (film, extended video, video or a custom 3D LUT) shape what you saw on set, not what the export contains. Browser playback uses your uploaded export without another platform re-encode. Codec, device and connection requirements still apply, and no device is promised identical colour or smooth playback. Each film plays from one file with no lower-quality rendition, so a slow connection buffers rather than dropping resolution.
Storage math
Do the arithmetic
before you pick a plan.
At 5:1 a single hour of 12K BRAW is about 2.08 TB. The review export is a rounding error next to it; the originals are what fill a plan.
Minutes of 12K at 24 fps that fit in the plan's hot storage: hot storage in MB divided by the data rate, divided by 60. Example: 1,000,000 MB / 578 MB/s = 1,730 seconds, about 29 minutes.
Plans in USD: the Pro plan is $39 a month with 500 GB hot plus 500 GB cold; Max is $99 with 1 TB hot plus 2 TB cold and 2 seats; Studio is $199 with 1 TB hot plus 7 TB cold and 5 seats. Extra hot storage is $40 per TB a month and cold is $20 per TB a month. Cold files must be restored to hot before playback or review, so park wrapped jobs there, not the selects your client is watching. Yearly billing is ten months for twelve.
Each upload can be up to 5 TB per file, within the plan’s free hot storage. At 578 MB/s that ceiling is about 8,650 seconds, roughly 2.4 hours of continuous 12K 5:1 at 24 fps (our arithmetic), so a single clip rarely reaches it; your plan’s hot storage is the real limit. Uploads are resumable, and downloads of the original stay off until you switch them on for that video.
Card to client
From the CFast card
to notes in the timeline.
Offload the cards
Copy the BRAW clips from the CFast or SD cards, or the USB-C drive, into your project. Keep the camera originals as they came off the media.
Grade, then export
Grade in DaVinci Resolve or apply a Rec.709 transform. Export 4K HEVC 10-bit, constant frame rate, 2-pass VBR, around 80 Mbps.
Upload and share
Upload the review file, plus a short BRAW test clip if the client will use the macOS app. The link is the access; clients need no account. A password is optional per video.
Pull notes into the NLE
Comments carry author and timecode with red or green status, and drawings sit on the picture. They come back as markers through a Resolve script, a Premiere Pro panel or a Final Cut Pro bundle.
When the next cut is ready, replace the file: the link, views, settings, notes and approvals stay. Approvals are red or green per version, so sign-off lands on a specific cut. Siblings from the same family: Cinema Camera 6K, Pocket 6K Pro and Pocket 4K.
When this is the wrong tool
Questions
Frequently asked
Can a client play URSA Mini Pro 12K BRAW files in a web browser?
No. The camera records Blackmagic RAW only, and no RAW format plays in a web browser through us. For a browser review, grade or transform to Rec.709 and export an HEVC 10-bit file, usually 4K. The BRAW originals can play in the compatible macOS app.
Will the macOS app play 12K BRAW smoothly on my client's Mac?
Not guaranteed. The app plays BRAW natively on compatible Macs, but playback is hardware-dependent and its decoding capacity is not guaranteed at 12K. Upload a short clip first and have the client play it on the Mac they will review on. If it stutters, send the 4K HEVC review file instead.
Which BRAW setting makes the best grading master on the 12K?
The one with the least compression you can afford to store. Blackmagic lists constant bitrate 5:1, 8:1, 12:1 and 18:1 and constant quality Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5. At 12K and 24 fps, 5:1 is 578 MB/s and 18:1 is 160 MB/s, so the choice is mostly a storage decision. The grade happens in DaVinci Resolve, which Blackmagic says supports Blackmagic RAW.
How much storage does an hour of 12K BRAW take?
At 12K and 24 fps, 578 MB/s times 3,600 seconds is 2,080,800 MB, about 2.08 TB per hour at 5:1. The same arithmetic gives about 1.30 TB at 8:1, 868 GB at 12:1 and 576 GB at 18:1, counting 1 TB as 1,000,000 MB. Higher frame rates take more.
Should I send the client an 8K file instead of 4K?
Only if they will judge detail on an 8K-capable setup. An 8K HEVC export at up to about 120 Mbps works where the viewer's device decodes it, and many devices do not. For most reviews a 4K HEVC 10-bit file is the safer default.
Send the grade, keep the negative
Upload a 4K HEVC review file for the browser and the BRAW originals for the macOS app, share one link, and pull timecoded notes back into your timeline. Plans differ by storage and seats; streaming has no per-view or bandwidth charge.
Sources
- 1.Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF, Tech Specs (Blackmagic Design) (sensor, resolution, dynamic range, BRAW settings, 12K frame rates, 12K data rates at 24 fps, media, bit depth, monitoring LUTs; read 19 September 2026)
- 2.Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, Tech Specs (Blackmagic Design) (sensor, resolution, BRAW settings, 12K data rates at 24 fps, media, bit depth; read 19 September 2026)
- 3.Blackmagic RAW (Blackmagic Design) (DaVinci Resolve support for Blackmagic RAW; read 19 September 2026)