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Animation Transcode…
Hello:
I currently have about 40 backgrounds, transitions, bumpers, intros and extros all provided to us in the Apple Animation Codec at 720 x 480 from an animation house. They are very large and clunky. Being that we’re broadcasting in standard def, my question is this. I need to transcode the files for use by our guys downstairs for their show prep bits. They’ll be working in NTSC DV sequences and I’d like to give them something where the rendering is negligible. So, should I transcode the clips to DVC Pro NTSC or could I give them some flavour of Pro Res? Theyre working with the lastest version of iMacs and the latest FCP suite. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Evan Fitzer
CFJC TV7, Kamloop, BC -
8 Replies
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If they have alpha channels that you need for overlays, you need to leave them as Animation.
If you don’t have or need alpha channels, then you can recompress them to whatever codec you’re using to edit with.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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Thanks, Walter. Much obliged for the info.
Rafael, I happened to take one of my overlays and converted to Pro Res 4444 with Mpeg Streamclip, thnking just as you did, however, I couldn’t get the Alpha channel to work. Even when I changed it to ‘straight’ in the browser. Is it because I used Streamclip to transcode? Should I have used Compressor? I’ve read somewhere that Pro Res 4444 is only for the creation & exporting of clips with an Alpha channel. I’m not sure of the intricies of that codec.
EvanEvan Fitzer
Kamloops, BC -
Hi Evan,
Did you set “Millions +”?[Evan Fitzer] ” I’ve read somewhere that Pro Res 4444 is only for the creation & exporting of clips with an Alpha channel.”
You can use Prores 444 whenever you want to keep the most of a picture on rendering.
The only difference with the other prores flavors (apart of Alpha and data-rate) is that the Chroma is not downsample.
Is the perfect option when your movie has to jump from application to application (FC > Color > AE > FC etc).
Rafael -
If you think the animation codec files are “large and clunky”, the ProRes 4x4s will be even bigger.
Stick with Walter’s suggestion:
If you need alpha, leave the file alone – if no alpha, then transcode to your editing codec.Tech-T Productions
http://www.technical-t.com -
Much obliged to all. Thanks very much, guys.
Evan Fitzer
Kamloops, BC -
[Terry Mikkelsen] “If you think the animation codec files are “large and clunky”, the ProRes 4x4s will be even bigger.”
Hi Terry,
I can see that you have never used Prores 444.
Your statement is completely wrong.
Animation make the files FOUR FOLDS bigger than Proress 444.
and Prores 444 have full RT in FC.
Animation soon will be in the “legacy codecs”.
Perhaps you were talking about something else, don’t you?
rafael -
Sorry to post back so late. I’ve been really busy (that’s a good thing). You had me second guessing myself, so I needed a little time to run some tests and compare. I did confirm though, that my initial response was correct. Taking some graphics that I made in motion, I converted them to both Animation (with alpha) and ProRes 4×4. The original footage is 5min 9sec long, 1440×1080 progressive.
Animation codec = 3.91GB
ProRes 4×4 = 11.22GBI’m really not sure why there is such a large difference though. I know that the animation codec is 8bits per channel whereas the 4×4 is 10bits for the RGB and 12bit for the alpha. Also animation is 4:2:2 color space and 4×4 is 4:4:4. Do these two key differences makeup for that much of a data size difference?
Tech-T Productions
http://www.technical-t.com
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