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best codec for canon .h264 footage? pro res lt?
I normally transcode any footage I get to Apple pro res 422, but ive been researching prores lt and proxy codecs and was wondering something. if the bit rate of the footage im recieving (say the canon h264 footage which has a data rate of around 45 mbps) do i still need to use pro res 422 which is around 145 mbps. it seems lt (100 mbps) or even proxy (45 mbps) would give me the best size for quality results. or os there a better reason to use pro res 422?
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4 Replies
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Proxy is a low data rate “offline” editing codec. Not all that good quality. Your best bets are ProRes 422 or ProRes LT.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Stephen Franciosa] “canon h264 footage which has a data rate of around 45 mbps) do i still need to use pro res 422 which is around 145 mbps.”
You’re comparing apples and oranges. h.264 is a long GOP codec and ProRes is not. You get better quality at lower data rates with an long GOP codec but they are very hard to edit.
Which Canon records h.264 at 45Mbs? That’s very high. 21Mb is typically the highest. Once you get that high you might as well use MPEG2 like Sony’s XDCAM 422 which is 50Mb and hold’s it’s own against ProRes 140 all be it in 8bit.
John
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[John Heagy] “Which Canon records h.264 at 45Mbs? “
I believe that most (all?) Canon DSLR’s shoot @ 45Mbps. Both of my 7D’s shoot that when recording video. The 5DMarkIII I just rented shot around there as well.
Stephen – I generally transcode to ProRes422 as it holds up well through multiple recompressions – vfx, color grading, final export, etc. LT is pretty good, but it can break down quicker if you end up going through multiple generations of a file. However, if you’re just strictly cutting it and are done after that then LT might just be all you need to use.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
Thanks for the responses guys!
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