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DNxHR HQ vs HQX (8 bit vs 12 bit)
Hello,
I am trying to work within a 10bit color space in a UHD project using a native DNxHR codec, but according to the literature I have to either choose the HQ codec which is 8bit or HQX which is 12 bit. Reason being our camera native is in 10-bit.
From my understanding it is discouraged to jump up in bit depth when it is not necessary. my current project is for a run of the mill segment for broadcast, nothing for the big screen, so the plan was to work in the “finishing codec” (just a hardy UHD workflow), from beginning to end to avoid any offline/online workflow as it is not necessary due to many factors (turnaround time, remote limitations).
Am I clear to just go ahead and work in 12bit or is that not advise-able, as I surely would not want to crush down to 8bit? Is there a recommended UHD/10bit workflow using DNxHR codecs? Should we work in ProRes? Are any of these questions stupid?
Many thanks!
-Jon
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2 Replies
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Work at 12 bit. It won’t hurt and is far better than dropping to 8bit.
Your 12 bit files will only contain 10bits of data the remaining 2 bit will just be 0s
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Thanks, Pat – will do!
Academically, is there a reason AVID did not provide a 10bit codec for UHD codecs?
Also while we are working with 4k media we are still cutting in 1080, and will end up creating a mixdown at 175X to transfer to an interlaced project once finished – so I assume our transfer to 10bit there won’t have any color space issues?
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