Compressing Mov File using Apple ProRes 422 (in Compressor 4) resulting in huge file size! Is it normal?

[Craig Seeman]

[Ali Hoolash] “I’m trying to compress a MOV file (around 430MB)using Apple Pro Res 422 through Compressor 4 for final editing in Final Cut Pro X. “

Why? Depending on the codec, FCPX may handle natively or encode internally.
BTW MOV is a container, not a codec. ProRes is MOV as well.

Without knowing details like duration there’s no way to know what “normal” is. ProRes files are going to be much larger than GOP based source codecs.

BTW, nothing personal but a pet peeve of mine is people starting with questions that make wrong assumptions. The better question would be “I have ‘file x’ as a source file, can I import into FCPX directly or should I transcode first?”

One of the very important features of FCPX is that it can handle many codecs natively or transcode to proxy and/or optimized ProRes files in the background. With few exceptions, one generally doesn’t need to transcode first.

[Ali Hoolash]

Hi Craig,

Thanks for your response. I was in the process of editing my original post when you replied. I’ve included the codec and other relevant details in my edited post. Can you please have a look again and report back.

regards,
Ali

[Craig Seeman]

You can edit that natively in FCPX. Some older Macs might struggle and some Macs might struggle if you’re doing multicam work. If the Mac is struggling such as dropping frames or sluggish skimming, you can optimize (convert to ProRes) in the background. That can be done on import or otherwise done anytime after import by selecting the click and the optimize option (not exact menu wording).

[Ali Hoolash]

Thank you Craig! I’ll try that!