How to Configure ARRI Camera Settings for HDR Delivery

A sun-blown window that reads as clean white in Rec. 709 shows up on an HDR display as a flat, detail-free panel. Nothing in the grade brings it back. Whatever the sensor clipped on the day is gone. So on an ARRI HDR job, configure the camera to preserve the negative first and make the HDR image visible second. That means recording Log C or ARRIRAW, monitoring through the right HDR display transform, and keeping the creative look out of the recorded image unless the production has a specific reason to bake it in. ARRI’s own guidance is clear on this. ALEXA and AMIRA cameras don't need a special HDR capture mode because the sensor latitude is already there. ALEV3 cameras provide 14+ stops, and ALEXA 35’s ALEV4 sensor provides 17 stops. The camera setup job is to avoid throwing that latitude away before post gets it.

Capture the full camera negative while treating monitoring as a separate preview path.

Before anyone starts picking LUTs, the production needs to know what HDR means for this job. HDR10 PQ, Dolby Vision, and HLG broadcast each imply different monitoring and review choices. So do SDR plus HDR trims, theatrical plus streaming, and SDR-only dailies with later HDR finishing. The camera team doesn't need to solve the whole delivery pipeline on set. It does need a few decisions from post:

The final HDR target, normally Rec. 2100 PQ or Rec. 2100 HLG
The SDR requirement, including whether SDR is a separate grade, a trim, or the primary viewing path during editorial
The monitoring reference, including whether set will judge exposure on SDR, HDR, or both
The camera generation, such as LogC3/AWG or LogC4/AWG4
The recording format, such as ARRIRAW, ARRICORE where applicable, or Log C ProRes
The look-management plan, such as an ARRI Look File, 3D LUT, CDL, show LUT, or color-managed pipeline

The key takeaway is simple. Don't let the on-set monitoring path become the post pipeline. A Rec. 709 monitor LUT isn't the HDR grade. An HDR PQ monitoring transform isn't a delivery master. Treat monitoring as a controlled preview of the recorded Log C image.

Record the latitude you need for HDR

For HDR delivery, record the widest, least-destructive image the production can support. On ARRI cameras that means ARRIRAW when the workflow and storage budget allow it, or Log C encoded ProRes when that's the chosen production format. ARRIRAW is closest to a digital camera negative. It keeps the sensor data available for debayering and processing later, which gives post the most flexibility over exposure and white balance, and over color tint and color rendering. Log C ProRes is already processed into a Log C wide gamut image. It still carries the dynamic range and color information needed for professional HDR grading when exposed well.

Capture choice	Best fit	HDR advantage	Tradeoff to plan for
ARRIRAW	Productions that need maximum post flexibility and can support the storage, offload, debayer, and finishing requirements	Preserves the most camera-negative flexibility for debayering, white balance, tint, exposure interpretation, and color rendering decisions	Larger files, heavier data management, more demanding dailies and conform pipeline
Log C ProRes	Productions that want a robust HDR source with simpler storage and post handling	Records a wide gamut Log C image that can carry ARRI latitude well when exposed correctly	Less flexible than ARRIRAW because some image processing decisions are already committed
Baked SDR or display-referred recording	Only for very specific broadcast or fast-turnaround cases where post has approved the limitation	Simple viewing and turnaround path	Usually the wrong choice for HDR finishing because highlight and color latitude may already be compressed or clipped

For ALEXA 35, LogC4 and AWG4 are the important terms. ARRI introduced REVEAL Color Science with ALEXA 35. It brought a new debayer algorithm and color engine, the AWG4 color space, and the LogC4 tonal curve. LogC4 was designed to encode the increased dynamic range of the ALEV4 sensor. AWG4 is larger than Rec. 2020 while staying constrained enough to avoid the “virtual color” problems that can happen in overly huge working spaces. For older ALEXA and AMIRA cameras, you're dealing with LogC3 and the earlier ARRI Wide Gamut color space. That's still a valid HDR source when your team exposes and transforms it properly. What you should not do is mix LogC3 and LogC4 casually. If a show uses both ALEXA 35 and older ALEXA bodies, the team needs a defined color management plan, often ACES or a show-managed transform pipeline, so editorial and color don't treat every ARRI clip as the same input.

Exposure for HDR is mostly about highlight intent

HDR makes bad highlight decisions visible. A bright window, a chrome reflection, or a practical bulb can look acceptable compressed into SDR, then read as distracting or obviously clipped in HDR. Sun hits and LED walls do the same, and so do neon signs and speculars. Decide which highlights are meant to carry detail, which are meant to bloom or clip, and which are simply outside the story.

Different highlights can be protected, allowed to bloom, or allowed to clip.

ARRI cameras give you enough latitude to make that decision creatively. The camera still cannot recover information that was clipped at capture. If HDR is a required delivery, expose with more respect for the top end than you would on an SDR-only job. Useful exposure habits for HDR include:

Protect important highlight detail, especially faces near windows, reflective wardrobe, practical lamps, screens, and product surfaces.
Avoid using the SDR monitor image as the only judge of highlight safety.
Use false color, waveform, or a calibrated HDR monitor to separate controlled brightness from sensor clipping.
Test show LUTs against real lighting conditions, not only charts or prebuilt looks.
Be careful with underexposure as a highlight-protection strategy, because HDR grades can reveal noisy shadows quickly.

The balance is scene-dependent. A candle flame or bare bulb doesn't need texture in every shot. A white wedding dress, car paint, and glassware do. So do snow and clouds, signage, and skin sheen. HDR gives the colorist more room to place highlights, but only if the recorded image still contains usable separation.

EI choices change the tradeoff

ARRI’s base sensitivity is commonly treated as EI 800, and that's a strong starting point because it preserves the expected balance of highlight and shadow latitude. Changing EI isn't the same as changing sensor sensitivity in the simple still-photo sense. It changes how exposure is rated and how the available latitude is distributed around middle gray. For HDR, that tradeoff matters. Rating the camera lower encourages more exposure and cleaner shadows, and it can reduce highlight headroom if the lighting isn't controlled. Rating it higher protects highlights by encouraging less exposure, and it puts more pressure on shadows and darker midtones. Make EI part of the HDR exposure conversation. A controlled interior with deep blacks, dark wardrobe, and subtle skin tones needs a different approach than a day exterior with clouds, glass, and hard sun. On ALEXA 35, Enhanced Sensitivity and texture settings can also be part of a low-light strategy. Test those for the show rather than discovering them during the first night shoot.

Configure HDR monitoring without changing the recorded negative

The cleanest HDR setup records Log C while sending a processed image to the monitor. On ALEXA 35 and ALEXA 35 Xtreme, the camera can output natively to Rec. 2100 in PQ or HLG. That makes on-set HDR monitoring much simpler than older workflows, which need an external LUT box or a monitor that can apply the correct 3D LUT. For ALEXA 35-style workflows, the monitoring choices sit in these settings:

SDI processing: LogC4, LogC4 Wireless Video Optimized, or Look
SDI color space: Rec. 709 SDR, Rec. 2020 SDR, Rec. 2100 PQ HDR, or Rec. 2100 HLG HDR
EVF and monitor processing: LogC4, SDR look, or HDR/SDR split depending on configuration
Look file: default look, show look, or custom ALF4
Look intensity: adjust only when the workflow expects that behavior

That gives the production a useful split. One SDI output can feed an SDR village or wireless system while another feeds an HDR reference monitor. With ALF4 on ALEXA 35 and ALEXA 265, the creative part of the look is separated from the output color space transform. The look can operate in LogC4/AWG4, and the camera can then display it through different official DRTs for SDR or HDR.

One camera feed can support separate SDR and HDR monitoring views.

That separation is valuable. It lets the DP and DIT evaluate the same creative intent in Rec. 709 SDR and Rec. 2100 PQ, without maintaining two unrelated show LUTs that drift apart over time.

PQ and HLG aren't interchangeable previews

If the delivery is HDR10 or Dolby Vision, the on-set HDR reference is usually PQ. If the delivery is broadcast HDR, HLG may be part of the conversation. ARRI provides transforms for both, and the monitor must match the signal. Sending a PQ transform into a monitor configured for the wrong EOTF is a fast way to make exposure decisions on a lie. For LogC4, ARRI’s standard transform names map clearly to common targets:

LogC4 to Gamma 2.4 Rec. 709 D65: Rec. 709 SDR
LogC4 to Gamma 2.4 Rec. 2020 D65: Rec. 2020 SDR
LogC4 to ST 2084 1000 nit Rec. 2100 D65: Rec. 2100 PQ HDR
LogC4 to HLG 1000 nit Rec. 2100 D65: Rec. 2100 HLG HDR

The labels matter because “HDR” alone isn't enough information. The monitor, the LUT box, and the camera SDI output all need to agree on the target transform. So do the dailies render and the finishing timeline. If one device says Rec. 2100 PQ and another says Rec. 709, the picture might still appear, and it won't be trustworthy.

Older ALEXA and AMIRA cameras need a slightly different monitoring plan

ALEXA 35 and newer REVEAL-based cameras are cleaner for HDR monitoring because they include native Rec. 2100 PQ and HLG output options. Other ALEXA models can still shoot HDR-quality material, and the display transform then happens outside the camera. A common older-camera setup is:

Record LogC3 or ARRIRAW.
Send Log C over SDI.
Use a LUT box or HDR monitor with the correct ARRI LogC3-to-PQ or LogC3-to-HLG 3D LUT.
Set the monitor itself to the matching HDR mode.
Keep an SDR monitoring path available if editorial or client review depends on SDR dailies.

AMIRA and older ALEXA menus also support look handling and recording processing, plus EVF/monitor processing and SDI color space settings such as Rec. 709 and Rec. 2020. The limitation isn't capture latitude. The limitation is whether the camera can directly output the exact HDR display-referred signal you want, or whether another device has to do that conversion.

Keep the show look useful, not destructive

A good show look is a communication tool. It helps the DP light with intent. It gives the director and producers something closer to the final image to react to, and it saves dailies from the flat gray look of Log C. For HDR work, build and test the show look in the viewing conditions that matter. The common mistake is building a LUT in a grading room, using it on set under different lighting and monitor conditions, then discovering that it pushes highlights, saturation, or skin in a way that complicates HDR finishing. Test the look with the actual camera model and lenses, using the show's exposure method and key lighting styles. Include real skin tones, wardrobe, and art department colors, and judge all of it on the HDR monitor. A strong HDR show look has these qualities:

It doesn't clip or crush useful image detail before the display transform.
It behaves predictably across SDR and HDR outputs.
It preserves skin tone separation under different exposure levels.
It handles saturated lights, signage, LEDs, and neon without ugly channel clipping.
It can travel to dailies and post as metadata, a LUT, or a documented transform.

The look should be close enough that the DP can light from it, without being so aggressive that the colorist has to fight it later. If your team intends it only for monitoring, label it that way and keep it out of the recorded image.

Dailies should reflect the monitoring decision

Dailies are where a lot of HDR workflows get accidentally downgraded. Your dailies team needs to transform Log C images for viewing. If the dailies pipeline applies a Rec. 709 LUT and nobody tracks the HDR viewing transform, editorial cuts against an image that doesn't represent the HDR intent. That can be fine when SDR editorial is the plan. Make it a conscious choice. For HDR-aware dailies, your team should define whether dailies are:

SDR only, normally Rec. 709 Gamma 2.4
HDR only, normally Rec. 2100 PQ or HLG
Both SDR and HDR versions
SDR editorial files with HDR reference stills or selected HDR review exports

There's no single right answer. HDR dailies require appropriate displays and review conditions, which many productions don't have for every stakeholder. SDR dailies are simpler, and they can hide highlight placement issues that matter later. If the DP is lighting to an HDR monitor while producers approve SDR dailies on laptops, expect some creative translation problems.

Camera reports and metadata matter more in HDR trims

HDR finishing often includes an SDR trim, and SDR finishing may include an HDR pass later. Either way, early camera decisions affect how easy those trims are. The grade isn't starting from scratch every time. It inherits exposure choices, white balance choices, and look decisions, plus color space assumptions and any inconsistencies introduced during dailies. Make sure the following travel with the media where post can see them:

Technical settings and look information should stay attached to the media through post.

Camera model and sensor mode
Recording format and codec
Log curve and gamut, especially LogC3 versus LogC4
EI, white balance, tint, shutter, and ND choices
Look file name and version
LUT or DRT used for SDR monitoring
LUT or DRT used for HDR monitoring
Whether anyone baked a look into a file
Dailies color transform and output color space

If an HDR trim pass suddenly reveals that one day’s footage was monitored through a different LUT, or that B-camera was LogC3 while A-camera was LogC4, post solves it much faster when the information is explicit.

The failure modes are predictable

Most HDR problems from camera setup come from mismatched assumptions. The ones that show up most are:

Recording a baked Rec. 709 image when post expected Log C.
Monitoring SDR only, then being surprised by HDR highlight behavior.
Using a LogC3 LUT on LogC4 footage, or the reverse.
Mixing ALEXA 35 and older ALEXA cameras without a color management plan.
Failing to preserve checksum-verified original camera media before making transcodes.

That last point isn't color science, and it's part of the same workflow. ARRI recommends checksum-verified backups instead of simple Finder, Explorer, or basic command-line copies. HDR delivery doesn't matter if the original camera negative is corrupted, incomplete, or overwritten before verification.

A solid default ARRI HDR setup

If you need a sane starting point for an ARRI HDR production, start here and adjust:

Record ARRIRAW or Log C ProRes, depending on the show’s storage, budget, and post requirements.
Keep the captured image in LogC4/AWG4 on ALEXA 35, and in LogC3/AWG on older cameras. Don't bake an SDR transform into the camera originals.
Put an HDR reference monitor on set whenever the team makes HDR decisions.
On ALEXA 35, feed that monitor through a Rec. 2100 PQ or HLG SDI output. On older models, use a LUT box or monitor LUT to convert Log C to the correct HDR target.
Confirm the monitor is set to the same EOTF and color space as the camera or LUT output.

Keep an SDR path available if the production needs normal video village, wireless monitoring, or SDR dailies. If your team uses ALF4, take advantage of the separation between the creative Log-to-Log look and the output DRT so SDR and HDR previews stay related. Then expose for the important highlights rather than for generic waveform neatness. Test the show look under real conditions. Track the exact transforms your team uses for monitoring and dailies. Preserve the original media with verified copies. That setup gives editorial and color the best chance of a clean HDR grade without forcing the DP to work blind on set. It also makes the SDR trim less painful, because the SDR and HDR versions start from the same captured latitude and the same documented creative intent.

FAQ

ARRIRAW gives post the most flexibility, because it preserves more sensor-level information for later debayering and color decisions. Log C ProRes is also a valid HDR production format when exposed well and managed correctly. The choice depends on storage, budget, turnaround, and finishing requirements.

LogC3 is used with older ARRI ALEXA and AMIRA workflows. LogC4 is used with ALEXA 35 and ARRI’s newer REVEAL Color Science. LogC4 and AWG4 were designed for the wider dynamic range and color handling of the ALEXA 35 sensor. Mixed LogC3 and LogC4 productions need a defined color management plan so post doesn't treat every ARRI clip as the same input.

PQ is the usual monitoring choice for HDR10 and Dolby Vision style finishing. HLG is more common for broadcast HDR workflows. Either way, the camera output, LUT box, monitor mode, dailies transform, and finishing pipeline must all agree on the same HDR target.

An SDR LUT shouldn't be treated as the HDR grade or the HDR monitoring transform. A Rec. 709 LUT is useful for SDR viewing, video village, or dailies, but HDR monitoring needs a proper Rec. 2100 PQ or HLG transform. If a show look is used, design it to behave predictably across both SDR and HDR outputs.

HDR trims inherit the exposure, white balance, EI, look, and monitoring decisions made on set. Clipped highlights can't be recovered, and underexposed shadows can become noisy when lifted in HDR. Documenting camera settings, Log curve, gamut, LUTs, and dailies transforms helps colorists match shots and build cleaner HDR and SDR versions.

Those details should live somewhere searchable beside the media, not only in a PDF camera report. Aspect lets teams add structured fields for things like LogC3 versus LogC4, monitoring LUT, HDR target, EI, and dailies transform using custom metadata.