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Apple ProRes 422 “High Quality” preset vs not
Most of the edit projects I do with HD result in standard def deliverables. Canon h.264 files need to be converted to ProRes. Would anyone care to parse what “high-quality” means vs *not* in the Apple Compressor presets? (Some Googling reveals little) One would normally play it safe and go the HQ route but if it’s a standard def deliverable, and HQ results in bigger files* and (I’m guessing) slower turnaround time… I’d like to make an informed choice.
*A Canon clip of 5.5 minutes is 7.53 gigs in HQ and 4.65 in regular ProRes.
Thanks,
Paul
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3 Replies
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I am test driving Media Composer 5 and it seems the “High Quality” proRes stutters considerably but not so the “regular” proRes Qt’s, DVCpro 720p60 or XDcam EX 1080p30 files acquired via Avid’s AMA feature. Given that I’m delivering to SD, I guess HQ is not the way to go. Still curious to hear about any parsing of ProRes “high quality”
I’m running MC5 on a MacBook Pro (2.53ghz) using firewire 800 drives.
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Hi Paul,
You can get a lot of interesting information about ProRes by reading Apple’s White Paper here:
Apple Pro Res Codec White Paper
As I understand it, the difference between the standard and high quality settings for ProRes specifically deals with the data rate used during compression.
At the bottom of that white paper is a chart showing the target data rate at specific resolutions for each of the codecs in the ProRes family.
for example, a 720x480p30 video encoded with the (HQ) setting will use approximately 63 Mb/s, using the standard ProRes setting results in approximately 42 Mb/s.
a 1920x1080p30 video encoded (HQ) will use approximately 220 Mb/s and approximately 147 Mb/s using the standard ProRes codec.
When delivering in a standard def format, using the regular ProRes codec should always be sufficient.
hope that helps!
joel
Corporate and Special Event Staging Services
http://www.pacificstaging.com -
Thanks Joel! I’ll look into that.
Paul
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