BERNARD REVIEW · REVIEW PLAYER · FILM, SERIES, ANIMATION · OPEN SOURCE MIT
Play. Compare. Decide. Without waiting for a frame.
The player, the synchronised session and web review, in a single tool. Built for heavy shots, it puts all of the workstation's hardware to work.
A|B
A · RAW
B · GRADED
A005 · RED · R3D
GPU DEBAYER · REC.709 · 24 FPS
00:00:02:00
IMAGES COURTESY OF RED DIGITAL CINEMA
FRAME 1049
WHY NOW
Memory costs almost nine times more than in January 2025.
The answer is no longer to buy more. It is to make every byte count.
64 GB of DDR5: $144 in January 2025, $1,272 in August 2026¹
$5,000for 256 GB in a workstation, against under $600 in January 2025¹
+485%on 64 GB DDR5-5600 kits in one year: $191 in August 2025, $1,118 in August 2026²
¹ 64 GB DDR5-6000 kit: $143.99, lowest price recorded on 15 January 2025 (Pangoly); $1,272, category average price in August 2026 (BuySellRAM). ² Category average prices, BuySellRAM, August 2025 and August 2026.
THE INTERFACEDARK MODE BY DEFAULT · ALSO LIGHT, NEON AND SYSTEM
01 · ALL THE HARDWARE AT WORK
Every tier of memory, in its proper place.
Where a typical player fills RAM and then waits for the disk, Bernard Review spreads frames across the graphics card, system memory and the SSD; coming soon, an automatic cache of NOVA copies.
VRAM · GPU
The frame ring in the graphics card
Frames already decoded stay on the GPU, ready for instant scrubbing.
RAM
Smart RAM-Fit
The shot you watch, always at screen resolution; the next one loads during playback. A ceiling that protects the machine.
With several layers or in an A/B comparison, a paused shot fills its cache again after a layer change, and frames the cache refuses are no longer decoded over and over.
PRECISION
Precision, your choice
Auto (half-float for EXR and DPX, 8-bit otherwise), 16-bit half-float or 32-bit float. A tick box keeps the cache in 8-bit to save RAM when you are not grading.
SSD NVMe
A second cache on the fast disk
Frames that are slower to decode than to read back are kept on the local SSD and read from there.
COMPRESSION · COMING SOON
The compression cache
Coming soon: a plate read once over the network will be kept as a NOVA copy on its own, at about a third of the size, with no export to run.
ALL OF THE VIDEO, FROM THE FIRST SECONDScrub through a whole shot before it has loaded.
Free scrubbing. The playhead never stops to wait: if a frame is missing, the player shows the nearest one already loaded and replaces it the moment it arrives.Coarse to fine. The first and last frames, then a gap halved at each pass, down to every frame. In a few seconds the shot is covered end to end.Look-ahead. When paused, the 48 frames after the playhead are decoded in order, so playback restarts without waiting. Adjustable from 0 to 600.
IMAGE SEQUENCES AND INTRA CODECS (EXR, DPX, PRORES, DNX)LOADING PASSES■ new pass · ■ look-ahead
Every core, in the backgroundParallel decoding and bounded preloading: playback always comes first. H.264 and HEVC movies decode on several cores: 4K H.264 at full size plays without dropped frames, and seeking in it is about 5 times faster. In beta, off by default: H.264, HEVC and MJPEG movies decoded on the graphics card.
Large reviews, in seconds1,000 annotated shots open in about 2 s instead of minutes; closing is faster too.
Camera RAW accelerated by the GPURED R3D and ARRIRAW, no transcoding first; compatible with Blackmagic Design Blackmagic RAW. On Windows; Linux and macOS coming soon.
Pen tablets, on WindowsWith Windows Ink (Wacom, for example), pressure sets the brush width, the pen's eraser end erases, and its lower button opens size, opacity and colour under the tip.
A one-line timelineThe timeline shrinks to a single line, in full screen too, with a brush button and, in Essential, the shot's status at hand.
Measured, not promisedA public benchmark against the players on the market, with an open method, will be published with the beta.
02 · FORMATS
Every format in the pipeline. Both ways.
Cameras' proprietary RAW formats play directly, with no transcoding, on Windows; Linux and macOS coming soon. And anything that opens can be converted, on the workstation or on the farm.
REDON WINDOWS
ARRION WINDOWS
Blackmagic RAWON WINDOWS
SWFFLASH · VECTOR RENDERING
PLAYBACK
Camera RAWRED R3D with GPU debayering, ARRIRAW (.ari, .mxf); compatible with Blackmagic Design Blackmagic RAW. On Windows; Linux and macOS coming soon.
ImagesMultichannel EXR and AOVs, DPX, TIFF, PNG, JPEG, HDR
VideoProRes, DNxHR, H.264, H.265, MXF, with audio
AnimationVector Flash SWF, rendered frame by frame by Ruffle at its stage size
ReviewNOVA (.nvfx), the player's review copies, with every layer of the EXR
CONVERSION
PlatesHalf or float EXR (zip, piz, dwaa), 10- and 12-bit DPX, 16-bit TIFF
DailiesProRes or DNxHR, with burn-ins: shot, version, frame, timecode, status
ReviewJPEG, and NOVA, lossy at about a third of the EXR size, or lossless
Colouras decoded, as graded on screen, or to the delivery space
On the farmthe same conversion without a window, on the command line
03 · PIPELINE
From render to decision, without leaving the player.
1 · THE FARMThe render arrives as it isMultichannel EXR and AOVs; camera RAW on Windows, Linux and macOS coming soon. No transcoding.
2 · THE VERSIONSThe Version BoardEvery version of a shot gathered together, ready to step through on B.
3 · THE SEQUENCEThe contact sheetThe whole sequence at a glance, colours matched across shots.
4 · THE REVIEWTogether, liveIn the studio or remotely, annotations and notes on the picture.
5 · TRACKINGThe notes go backNotes and annotated frames go back to Bernard Engine (coming soon), Flow Production Tracking, ftrack or Kitsu, shot by shot.
SCRIPTABLE END TO ENDEverything the interface does, a command does too.The player answers a local API in JSON lines: open, play, compare, grade, export, collect notes. On the command line, in Python, or without a window on the farm.
# the farm on Linux (BernardReview.exe on Windows): an export without a window $ bernard-review --export --preset dailies_prores_lt \ --source A005.R3D --output dailies/A005.mov # the pipeline: the player driven from Python c = BernardClient(port=5556); c.connect() c.request({"cmd": "open", "path": "A005.R3D"}) c.request({"cmd": "set-ab-view", "mode": "wipe"}) c.request({"cmd": "export-notes", "output_dir": "notes/"})
Open source, MIT licenceSource code on GitHub soon. Complete documentation, an API described command by command.
MIT · © AARTS LABWindows and LinuxThe systems of farms and workstations. macOS coming soon.
WIN · ROCKY · UBUNTU
04 · SESSIONS
One tool for the whole review.
The player, the synchronised session and review in the browser, together. What used to take three tools fits in one, open to every artist, every supervisor, every client.
IN THE STUDIO · LOCAL NETWORK
The whole team on the same frame, each at their own workstation
The supervisor drives, the artists follow playback in real time on their own files, at full quality. Everyone points, annotates, and can take control. No internet needed.
BETWEEN STUDIOS · ENCRYPTED RELAY
Two studios, one screening room
Each studio plays its own files at full quality. Only the playback commands cross the relay, hosted in the EU by Hetzner.
GUESTS · BROWSER
The director joins with a simple link
They see the pilot's picture live, point with the laser, annotate, talk and write. No account, nothing to install, and a session watermark burnt into the picture.
GM
LA
SV
+9
● LIVE · PILOT: GM · 12 PARTICIPANTS
D004 · RED · frame 1017 · following playback in real time
Session notes
4 / 11 SHOTS REVIEWED
A005 · v006APPROVED
OK for delivery.
D004 · v004 · frame 1017TO REDO
Towers: too dense, lift the shadows. Keep the warmth of the sunset.
PAINT-OVER · FRAME 1017D005 · v002IN PROGRESS
Being reviewed right now by the whole team.
To production tracking
BERNARD ENGINE (COMING SOON) · FLOW PRODUCTION TRACKING · FTRACK · KITSU
Reading and publishing notes are free in the player, with Bernard Engine (coming soon), Flow Production Tracking, ftrack and Kitsu.
Bernard Engine, our production tracker, is a separate product, sold separately, and is coming soon as open source.
Playback followed liveThe pilot's frame, clip, layer, grade and A/B comparison, on every workstation.
Notes taken while watchingStatus, comment and paint-over, attached to the clip, the version and the frame.
Coming soon: reviewed shots, trackedThe session will keep what was seen, approved or sent back.
The baton is passedAny participant can drive, with one click from the host.
Review together, from anywhere.
The host opens a session in the player and sends a link. Guests join from a browser, with nothing to install, and see the pilot's picture live.
The pilot and the guestsThe pilot plays, compares and annotates. Guests see the picture live, draw on it and point with the laser, under their own name.
The DeciderKeeps the right to decide for the next review of the same saved playlist. Decisions go to Kitsu, ftrack or Flow Production Tracking.
A coordinator who takes the notesShe writes from a browser while the supervisor reviews. Her notes arrive live, signed, in the host's player.
COMING SOONAI-dictated notes: you speak, and a draft note lands on the right shot and frame. Local and private.
05 · NOVA
The original grain, at a third of the size.
Our review format keeps the grain, the blacks and the negatives, and reads at reduced resolution in linear light. The player exports lossy or lossless NOVA copies, from its Export window or the command line, and plays them back; EXR stays the interchange format. Fewer bytes to store, transfer and keep in memory: the direct answer to the price of memory. Nuke plug-in coming soon.
EXR · SOURCE · 800%
NOVA · q97 · 800%
The size of a shot, by chosen qualityMEASURED ON REAL PLATES · q97: DARK PLATE, 24 FRAMES · q92: ALEXA 4.6K PLATE
Original EXR100%NOVA q97 · faithful37%NOVA q92 · review29%NOVA q85 · lightto be measured
q97: no visible difference from the EXR, tracking precision preserved. q92: everyday review quality. q85: for remote review and working archives.Designed for TPN requirements.
Request the security fileThe studio accountOn Studio, sign-in with Google Workspace or Microsoft, with two-factor authentication.
A session watermarkSession name and time burnt into the streamed video. The guest's name also shows on their page.
An audit logWho came in, when, from where. Never the content of the exchanges.
Hosted in the EUHetzner (Germany), GDPR. Or on your premises, with no internet access.
BETA PROGRAMME · 10 STUDIOS
Try Bernard Review before anyone else.
We are opening 10 places for animation and VFX studios, and for independent supervisors, to prepare the release with us.
What you getPlayer builds before their release.Free online sessions throughout the beta.A direct line to the team, and a say in the priorities.A founder's price at release: 20% off for life on an annual plan taken within 60 days, for as long as it stays active.
What we ask of youRegular feedback: a short session every two weeks.The bugs you run into, as soon as you see them.Never your images: you test on your own workstations, nothing leaves your studio.
How to applyWrite to us with the studio's name, its size, your tools (tracker, formats) and your systems.The player is free and open source (MIT), and downloads without an account.