Runway's Ruby Now Exports AI Footage Directly Into Pro VFX Pipelines

Runway has added ACES support to Ruby, its HDR conversion tool. Users can now export scene-referred, half-float EXR sequences in ACEScg 1.3 and 2.0, so generated or converted footage arrives in a format that VFX and color pipelines already handle natively.

Ruby launched a few weeks ago as a native color grading model that transforms SDR video into HDR. It works inside Tool Mode, Workflows, and Runway Dev, and accepts output from any model, first or third party, alongside your own existing video files. The ACES export is a new capability layered on top of that foundation.

Why scene-referred EXR matters

Most AI video tools output display-referred 8-bit files with a look already baked in. Once tone-mapped, highlight and shadow information is gone, and colorists cannot push the image far without introducing artifacts. Scene-referred half-float EXR in ACEScg stores linear light values with effectively unbounded range, in the wide gamut that studios standardize on for compositing and grading. A Ruby export can drop straight into Nuke, Resolve, Flame, or After Effects on an ACES project with no conversion steps or guesswork about color transforms. Support for both ACEScg 1.3 and the newer 2.0 covers pipelines that have not yet migrated alongside those running the latest reference.

What this unlocks

Ruby was already positioned as a bridge between generative video and finishing tools, letting users generate or convert footage into 16-bit EXR sequences or 10-bit and 12-bit ProRes and HEVC files from any model inside Runway. The ACES option adds a color-managed export target rather than a new model, which keeps the workflow simple. Specific things this enables:

• Dropping Gen-4.5 or Aleph plates into a VFX comp without a manual color transform
• Grading AI-generated footage alongside live-action ACES dailies in the same timeline
• Delivering half-float linear sequences to a colorist for HDR mastering
• Round-tripping between generation and relighting or compositing without stacking display transforms

Access and pricing

The ACES export is live in Ruby now through the video tools interface. Ruby is available on Max and Enterprise plans. Runway also publishes a Ruby tutorial in its Academy covering bit depth, BT.2020 color, and transfer function fundamentals for anyone who wants the grounding.

Generative video growing up

Generative video has spent most of its life producing throwaway MP4s. ACES export is a small UI change with a real consequence: AI footage becomes a legitimate source in a professional pipeline rather than something that needs retrofitting. For teams already on ACES, pulling a generated shot into a working comp just got considerably less painful.