Guide · Recovery
Recover a Canon Cinema EOS .DAT file
When a Canon Cinema EOS camera recording XF-HEVC loses power, there is no clip on the card, just a large .DAT file that nothing will open. The take is usually all there. Throughline recovers it and writes the result beside the original, never over it.
macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon · every feature runs twice on your own footage
What a .DAT file is
A Cinema EOS camera recording XF-HEVC only makes the finished .MP4 when the recording stops normally. If the battery dies or the card is pulled first, what is left is a .DAT file, often with a small .CPF file beside it. Editors will not open the .DAT, so the take looks lost. It is not: the footage is in that file, in a form no editor reads.
Do this first
- Stop using the card. Do not record to it again and do not format it.
- Copy the card before you try anything. Work from the copy, and keep the original card untouched until you have the recovered file in hand.
- Keep the .DAT and the .CPF together. Do not rename them or try to open them in another app.
What Throughline does with it
Throughline is a Mac app for video work, and recovery is one of its jobs. Point it at the .DAT and it recovers the picture and all four audio channels into a file that plays. The result is written next to the original. Your .DAT is never modified.
What you need
You need the .DAT, and one clip that plays, shot on the same camera in the same mode. Ten seconds is enough. If you shot anything else on that camera that day, in the same recording mode, you probably already have one.
What it cannot do
- The moment the power went is gone. A battery pull always loses the last instant of the recording. You get everything up to that point, not a promise about the final moments.
- This page is about Cinema EOS XF-HEVC. Consumer Canon EOS cameras record a different format; Throughline has recovered it from the EOS 5D Mark IV and EOS 7D, but battery pulls on consumer Canon EOS R-series bodies are not tested yet. For anything else, send a sample clip to [email protected] and we will tell you honestly whether it is supported.
- Nothing without a matching clip. With no playable clip from the same camera in the same mode, there is nothing to recover from.
- Mac only. macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon.
Try it on your own file
The 14-day free trial runs every feature on your own footage, twice, with no card. Exports in the trial cover the first 60 seconds, and video it writes is a 720p proof with an overlay. That is enough to find out whether your file is one it can handle before you decide.
macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon · every feature runs twice on your own footage
Questions
Will Throughline overwrite my .DAT file?
No. The recovered file is written beside the original. The .DAT is left exactly as it was.
Do I need another clip from the same camera?
Yes. You need one clip that plays, shot on the same camera in the same mode. Ten seconds is enough.
Does this work on consumer Canon EOS cameras?
This page is about Cinema EOS cameras recording XF-HEVC. Consumer Canon EOS cameras record a different format: Throughline has recovered it from the EOS 5D Mark IV and EOS 7D, but battery pulls on consumer Canon EOS R-series bodies are not tested yet.
Does this work on other cameras?
Yes. Throughline is proven on real files from cameras by Panasonic, Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm and DJI, on Canon Cinema EOS, and on two consumer Canon EOS bodies (the 5D Mark IV and 7D), and the list keeps growing; the full list is on the homepage. Phones, action cameras and battery pulls on consumer Canon EOS R-series bodies are not tested yet.