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Question 1: H.264 vs Apple ProRes 422 Question – Urgent for Film

Hello,

I’ve completed editing a film in FCP 7 with Apple ProRes 422 clips at 1920×1080. I sent a cut clip from the timeline to a SFX person via dropbox. He sent the polished clip (with the new SFX) back in H.264; he’s not working on a Mac because he doesn’t own one. I imported the new H.264 clip into my timeline and everything looks great. Question: Does this matter? Does it matter that a clip in the timeline is H.264, while all the others are in Apple ProRes 422 clips (the ones that didn’t need effects)? My guess is that it’s not because H.264 is a finishing format but I want to be sure. Thank you in advance for helping out. Much appreciated.

One of the most common questions that I get from people regarding the new breed of DLSR cameras is “What’s your post-workflow?”

Source: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?269920-H-264-vs-Apple-ProRes-422-Question-Urgent-for-Film

Question 2: H.264 vs ProRes 422

Hey, i was reading this post the other day where you guys were talking about apple’s ProRes 422.

i want to know if there is a high difference working with them, i have done a few projects with final cut pro using the raw h.264 footage from my 60D without knowing about the pro res. Then i red the post and i wanted to test it out so i converted a few clips with compressor too see the difference while editing or rendering and i couldnt find much.

What do you think?

Source: http://forum.planet5d.com/index.php/topic/1027-h264-vs-ProRes-422/

Question 3: Apple ProRes vs H.264

What’s the difference between the Apple ProRess codec, the Apple ProRess HQ codec and the H.264 codec. I know the filesize of the ProRess is much more then the H.264, but what’s the real difference??

Source: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=473438

Question 4: Apple ProRes 422 vs. H.264 Editing w/ FCP X

I am editing a project on Final Cut Pro X and was curious what format my video files should be for editing. I know ProRes 422 is a codec that pros use to edit and it has a much bigger file size, but I don’t get the difference and which format I should be using to edit my project. Can someone please explain to me which format I should be editing on for my project! Thanks!

Source: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3818621?start=0&tstart=0

Solution:

No matter you are a filmmaker, multimedia professional or still photographer, Canon or Nikon camera will be a choice due to its highly mobile, lightweight features including Canon 5D Mark, Canon EOS 650D, Canon PowrShot G1 X, Canon SX40, Canon ESO-1DX, Canon EOS 7D/5D, Canon EOS 60D, Canon EOS 550D, Canon EOS 500D, Nikon D5100, Nikon D3100 Nikon D800, and more. What these cameras have in common is that they can record 1080p H.264 codec MOV footages.

H.264 (an MPEG-4 variation) is an aquistion (camera) and distribution (web streaming) codec. It’s highly compressed, which means that the files are small, and Final Cut has to do extra work each time you play your timeline, make an edit, etc.

Apple ProRes 422 is an editing codec. It uses much less compression, which means that the files are big, but Final Cut can play it more easily.

Best practice is to edit in ProRes 422, especially if you have lots of layers and effects. That means you spend a little extra time optimizing your files to ProRes 422 before you start, but you save time in the long run.

As you got into more complicated editing such as adding multiple clips and transitions and effects you would start to see a more pronounced difference, i.e. FCP would need to render more often and editing wouldn’t be a smooth. H.264 is really optimized to be a delivery codec while ProRes is optimized to be an editing codec. That said, if you just need to do a simple edit and your Mac has the power to edit H.264 you can get away with it no problem, but if you plan to do a heavy edit with lots of transitions and effects and color grading you will be best served by ProRes.

Just an alternative solution: Pavtube H.264 to ProRes Codec Converter which is able to convert H.264 videos to Apple ProRes 422 HQ (*.mov), Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov), Apple ProRes 422 (LT) (*.mov), Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) (*.mov) and ProRes 4444 (*.mov).

a. ProRes 422 (HQ): offers the utmost possible quality for 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 sources and provides target data rate of approximately 220 Mbps and higher quality than Apple ProRes 422;

b. ProRes 422: provides target data rate of approximately 145 Mbps and higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (LT);

c. ProRes 422 (LT): provides roughly 70 percent of the data rate of Apple ProRes 422 (thus, smaller file sizes than Apple ProRes 422) and higher quality than ProRes 422 (Proxy);

d. ProRes 422 (Proxy): provides roughly 30 percent of the data rate of Apple ProRes 422 and high-quality offline editing at the original frame size, frame rate, and aspect ratio;

e. ProRes 4444: offers the utmost possible quality for 4:4:4 sources and roughly 50 percent higher than the data rate of Apple ProRes 422 (HQ).

Once your CF(CompactFlash) card or SD memory card is placed into a reader connected to your Mac, follow the instructure below to convert H.264 to ProRes by using Pavtube H.264 HD Video Converter for Mac.

Step 1. Free download the trial version of Pavtube Mac H.264 to ProRes Converter, install it on your Mac and import the H.264 files from HD camcorders to the Mac H.264 Video Converter, or drag recorded H.264 videos to the software.

Tip: If you have multiple recorded H.264 files, you can select the “Merge into one file” box to merge your files into one single file.

Step 2. Hit the “Format” box and select one of the Apple ProRes codecs on the dropdown list. You are advised to choose “Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)” or “Apple ProRes 422 HQ (*.mov)” format. Due to the difference in the compresstion standard of AVCHD and ProRes 422, the converted files are significantly larger than the original ones. If you prefer smaller file size, please choose “Apple ProRes 422 (LT) (*.mov)” instead.

Step 3. Start converting recorded H.264 videos to ProRes 422 HQ by clicking on the “Convert” icon. Based on its multi-threading and transcoding technology, the whole conversion will be done within a short time. Batch converting is also supported by the Mac H.264 to ProRes Converter tool.

Tip: If you wanna shut down the computer after the conversion automatically, just click Option and tick the box “Shut down the computer after conversion” before conversion starts.

After the recorded H.264 video to ProRes conversion is 100% completed, please run the FCP and click “File > Import > Files” for editing H.264 video in FCP without any rendersing and quality loss. Besides the ability to transfer the recorded H.264 files to Final Cut Pro, the versatile Pavtube H.264 HD Video Converter for Mac users can help you copy/edit H.264 files into FCP X, iMovie, FCE, Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, Adobe Premiere Elements, Adobe After Effects, Avid Media Composer, etc.

Continue reading »]]> The Apple ProRes format comes in five versions: Apple ProRes 4444, Apple ProRes 422 (HQ), Apple ProRes 422, Apple ProRes 422 (LT), and Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy). The following list describes the features of each version. For a complete comparison of the relative data rates of the Apple ProRes codecs, see Apple ProRes Format Specifications.

Apple ProRes 4444

The Apple ProRes 4444 codec offers the utmost possible quality for 4:4:4 sources and for workflows involving alpha channels. It includes the following features:

– Full-resolution, mastering-quality 4:4:4:4 RGBA color (an online-quality codec for editing and finishing 4:4:4 material, such as that originating from Sony HDCAM SR or digital cinema cameras such as RED ONE, Thomson Viper FilmStream, and Panavision Genesis cameras). The R, G, and B channels are lightly compressed, with an emphasis on being perceptually indistinguishable from the original material.

– Lossless alpha channel with real-time playback

– High-quality solution for storing and exchanging motion graphics and composites

– For 4:4:4 sources, a data rate that is roughly 50 percent higher than the data rate of Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)

– Direct encoding of, and decoding to, RGB pixel formats

– Support for any resolution, including SD, HD, 2K, 4K, and other resolutions

– A Gamma Correction setting in the codec’s advanced compression settings pane, which allows you to disable the 1.8 to 2.2 gamma adjustment that can occur if RGB material at 2.2 gamma is misinterpreted as 1.8. This setting is also available with the Apple ProRes 422 codec.

– Recording at 1080/25p, 1 minute of media will take 2.3GB, or alternatively a 32GB card will record 13.9 mins

Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)

The Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) codec offers the utmost possible quality for 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 sources (without an alpha channel) and provides the following:

– Target data rate of approximately 220 Mbps (1920 x 1080 at 60i)

– Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422

– Recording at 1080/25p, 1 minute of media will take 1.6GB, or alternatively a 32GB card will record 20 mins

Apple ProRes 422

The Apple ProRes 422 codec provides the following:

– Target data rate of approximately 145 Mbps (1920 x 1080 at 60i)

– Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (LT)

– Recording at 1080/25p, 1 minute of media will take 1GB, or alternatively a 32GB card will record 32 mins

Apple ProRes 422 (LT)

The Apple ProRes 422 (LT) codec provides the following:

– Roughly 70 percent of the data rate of Apple ProRes 422 (thus, smaller file sizes than Apple ProRes 422)

– Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy)

– Recording at 1080/25p, 1 minute of media will take 734.7MB, or alternatively a 32GB card will record 43 mins

Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy)

The Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) codec is intended for use in offline workflows and provides the following:

– Roughly 30 percent of the data rate of Apple ProRes 422

– High-quality offline editing at the original frame size, frame rate, and aspect ratio

– High-quality edit proxy for Final Cut Server

– Recording at 1080/25p, 1 minute of media will take 337.3MB, or alternatively a 32GB card will record 94 mins