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Archiving codec advice
Hi,
I have a file based archive of all my masters.
I’m aware of the fact that some codec are FCP / Mac only codecs so I’m looking for a long term / cross – platform archiving solution keeping the quality as best as possible.
I’m planning to switch to a different editing software (Avid or Premiere). I guess I will have no compatibility problems editing these codecs on a Mac using both Avid or Premiere since I will install Compressor on my machine.Is that true?
What if I would achieve a cross-platform compatibility for my file based masters?
In detail, I’m thinking of recopressing:
– Apple HDV –> Apple ProRes 422
– Apple DVCProHD –> Apple ProRes 422Is that a good idea or should I keep these files as they actually are as long as possibile?
Is there any way to decode / recompress these files in a future using a PC?
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4 Replies
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Archive the file based masters. No need to archive the converted footage. That is the best way to ensure compatibility with all NLEs.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thanks…
I do not usually archive converted footage since I archive card backups or HDV tapes.Most of my file based masters are encoded as Apple ProRes and I can decode them on PC based editing systems with no problems.
However, some of my older master files are encoded as Apple HDV or Apple DVCPro HD which – to my knowledge – could be decoded only on mac systems with final cut installed.
Since we are planning to buy an Edius editing station and I probably will need to access these file based masters both on Mac and PC can I keep these files as they are or it’s better to re-encode them to ProRes to keep the best cross-platform compatibility?
Can I decode / edit Apple HDV or Apple DvcPro HD on a PC based editing system?
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Again…why archive the IMPORTED/CAPTURED footage? Why not just keep the tapes and tapeless media? Converting HDV to ProRes will take time, and will eat up a lot more space than a tape takes (which is 0MB)…or then a tapeless HDV media would take. Archive the TAPES….the tapeless backups. No need to archive the already captured footage…unless you want to use it as b-roll in future projects.
Then ProRes is your best option.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
@Shane
Probably there’s a misunderstanding. I mean my finished / edited movies, not the footage (I always archive tapes and card backups but I trash all my captured footage when a projects is finished) .
During the last year most of my projects were edited and exported as ProRes. For dvcpro hd projects I edit them natively, then export my finished movie as prores directly from the final cut timeline since most of my clients ask me for ProRes files. However, in the past, when my clients wanted tapes and not files, I exported dvcpro hd and hdv finished movies natively and stored them on a server for archival purposes. Since I still need these old movies as quicktime file in an editing format for many reasons (I often reuse part of them in other projects) and I’m planning to buy a windows based editing system and switching from final cut to premiere or avid on my macs, I’d like to understand if it worth recompressing these old dvcpro hd and apple hdv movies as ProRes for cross platform compatibility…
@Dave: I tried to import an apple dvcpro hd movie file into avid on a pc and I can only hear the sound but my video is completely white… Maybe I’m doing something wrong? I did not try with apple hdv yet… I will try on edius too. No problem with prores.
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