MXF and ARI previews in Windows Explorer

Why MXF is awkward

An MXF container can hold very different things depending on the camera and recording settings. A simple preview mechanism is not enough, you have to actually understand the content. Windows does not even try.

What the preloader does differently

JB Thumbnail Preloader reads uncompressed 12 bit ARRIRAW in ARI or MXF with its own decoder and generates a monochrome preview. For compressed HDE and ARRICORE, the x64 edition uses an existing ARRI Image SDK runtime.

Where it shows immediately

When handing footage over. Anyone who has to verify that a delivery is complete and correct sees it in Explorer instead of in a screening session.

Requirement for compressed ARRI footage

JB Thumbnail Preloader does not include the ARRI Image SDK runtime. For HDE and ARRICORE, it must already be installed when using the x64 edition. The ARM64 edition cannot decode these compressed variants through the ARRI SDK. If the required decoder is missing and no other preview path can read the file, Explorer shows the file type icon. Other content in an MXF container depends on a suitable Windows codec being available on the computer.