• Adobe Premiere Pro

  EXPORTING ALPHA FILES – GoProCineform alpha vs Apple Prores 4444 alpha ???

  Posted by Karen Yarosky on November 4, 2022 at 6:25 pm

  I am trying to export 2 alpha sequences for my final film (one is graphics the other subtitles). I have found 2 ways to export alpha sequences and was hoping someone can explain to me what the difference is between them. Here are my two export options to create alpha files:

  Option 1:

  Format: Quicktime
  Video Codec: Apple Prores 4444
  Depth: 8-bpc + alpha (also have the option of 16-bpc + alpha)

  Option 2:

  Format: Quicktime
  Preset: GoProCineform RGB 12-bit with alpha at maximum bit depth
  Video Codec: GoProCineform

  After export the Apple Prores gives me a final file size of 4GB (for 1 hour of subtitles) and the GoProCineform gives me a final file size of 30 GB for the same subtitles. Can someone explain what the differences are between these two files? Ultimately I want the best quality as these elements need to be shown on a big screen but I would like to understand what makes them different (and 30 GB seems like a massive file). Any insight greatly appreciated!

  Karen Yarosky replied 3 years, 8 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Tod Hopkins

  November 6, 2022 at 2:21 pm

  Both are perfectly good choices. Both use different forms of lossless compression. It may be hard to get an explanation for file size difference, though a 12-bit file should be larger than an 8-bit file. Premiere has historically had some issues with Prores 4444. Conversely, the current “silicon native” version of the Adobe suite has issues with Cineform codecs, as in it does not include them. I’d go with Prores 4444 8-bit with subtitles. Unless you have complex shading in your subtitles, you don’t need more than 8-bit encoding.
• 

  Karen Yarosky

  November 6, 2022 at 3:58 pm

  Many Many (MANY) thanks for taking the time to reply Tod! Much appreciated!

Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up