The CRM file (.crm)

A CRM file is a clip in Cinema RAW Light, Canon's compressed raw video format. Canon introduced it with the EOS C200, announced in May 2017, which records it internally, on its own cards. Canon's earlier Cinema RAW was recorded on external recorders; Cinema RAW Light files are roughly a third to a fifth of the size of standard Cinema RAW.

Canon has since put Cinema RAW Light across its Cinema EOS range. Cameras that record it include the EOS C200, EOS C300 Mark III, EOS C500 Mark II, EOS C70, EOS R5 C, EOS C400 and EOS C80. Canon's raw video software also handles clips from EOS R mirrorless cameras with raw video, such as the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II, where the compressed mode is called RAW Light.

Raw means each frame holds the sensor's values before demosaicing, white balance and the picture's look are applied. Those decisions move to the edit, where they can be changed without loss. A CRM clip opened without a colour transform looks flat and grey: it's meant to be graded.

Newer cameras offer three levels of compression, all 12-bit. They trade file size against how much of the sensor's detail survives compression:

The EOS R5 C and EOS C70 had these modes first; the EOS C500 Mark II gained them in a free firmware update in March 2024. The EOS C200 recorded Cinema RAW Light at 10 or 12 bits.

Many Cinema EOS cameras can also record conventional video, such as XF-AVC in MXF or MP4, which every editor can play without raw processing. Choose raw when you want maximum grading latitude, and accept larger files and heavier computing.

• DaVinci Resolve decodes Canon raw .crm clips on Windows, macOS and Linux, with Canon raw settings in its Camera Raw panel.
• Adobe Premiere Pro imports Cinema RAW Light natively; Adobe lists it among supported formats, citing files from cameras such as the EOS C200. Brand-new cameras may need a Premiere update first.
• Final Cut Pro needs Canon's free RAW plug-in for Final Cut Pro.
• Avid Media Composer needs Canon's RAW plug-in for Avid Media Access.
• Canon Cinema RAW Development is Canon's free app for developing, playing back and exporting raw clips from its cinema cameras, for Windows and macOS. It can convert CRM to formats any editor reads, with full control of the raw settings.

Ordinary players such as VLC, QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player can't decode the CRX frames, and browsers can't play CRM at all. To share a clip, export it from your editor or Cinema RAW Development as MP4, MOV or another delivery format.

• The image looks grey and flat. Expected for raw: apply the right colour transform (Canon Log with a matching LUT, or a colour-managed workflow such as ACES or DaVinci Wide Gamut) in your editor.
• It won't import. The editor or plug-in may be older than the camera. Update Resolve or Premiere, update Canon's plug-in, or convert with the latest Cinema RAW Development.
• Playback stutters. Raw decoding is heavy, especially 8K. Lower the decode quality in Resolve, use proxies or optimised media, or work from a converted intermediate.
• Opening a CRM as a photo. Photo raw editors such as Lightroom handle CR3 stills, not CRM clips, even though the two share a container.

Besides the frames, a CRM carries the camera model, recording settings, timecode and per-frame lens and exposure data. These are useful in post-production and mostly harmless, but camera serial numbers and clip names can identify a production, so check what you send outside your team. exiftool -a -G1 clip.CRM lists what it can read.