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ProRes HQ or 2K?
We are very satisfied with ProRes 422 on every project we do, from Standard def to HD. We don’t do any project over 1920 x 1080.
It seems ProRes HQ might be better named ProRes 2k, or ProRes uber multipass. I run into so many shops using ProRes HQ only because it seems to indicate that anything less is not, well, HQ.
It is difficult to explain that it is perfectly ok to use ProRes 422 on 1080 material if you are doing only basic editing and color correct. I suppose it’s not big deal but it still bugs me.
Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media Inc.
Video Production, Post, Studio Sound Stage
Founder/President/Editor/Designer/Animator
https://www.tiltmedia.com -
10 Replies
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No one has monitors good enough to see the difference, so no one really knows if there is truly is a difference. It’s the old “if there’s no one there to hear the tree fall” thing. My philosophy is, if the client is paying by the hour I’ll use whatever codec they want.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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Worse than that, I experience companies using ProRes4444, because it is 4:4:4, and the best! Even though they output to the web, or DVD or BluRay
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Shoot on DV or FlipCam and transcode to ProRes 444, it doesn’t get any better than that.
But wait a second, how about if I transcode DV or FlipCam to 10-bit uncompressed 4K, then down-convert to ProRes Proxy for the offline. Then, upres back to 10-bit unc. 4K for the online, and down-convert that to ProRes 444 for release.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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[Shane Ross] “Worse than that, I experience companies using ProRes4444, because it is 4:4:4, and the best! Even though they output to the web, or DVD or BluRay”
4:4:4 for DVD. Total overkill.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[David Roth Weiss] “But wait a second, how about if I transcode DV or FlipCam to 10-bit uncompressed 4K, then down-convert to ProRes Proxy for the offline. Then, upres back to 10-bit unc. 4K for the online, and down-convert that to ProRes 444 for release.”
On VHS, for the retro look.
Doesn’t get any better than that.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[Scott Sheriff] “On VHS, for the retro look.”
You mean up-convert to unc. 10-bit 4K, then down-convert back to VHS to make it better, right?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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It’s more about where the native bit depth of your footage originates.
If your footage is natively 10bit (AVC-Intra and some digital cinema cameras), HQ is worth it.
4:4:4 10+ bit cameras will obviously use ProRes 4×4
8 bit tape/tapeless ProRes or even LT is cool.
It is less about frame size, more about native bit depth.
For most purposes, standard ProRes is all good.
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[Rich Rubasch] “I run into so many shops using ProRes HQ only because it seems to indicate that anything less is not, well, HQ. It is difficult to explain that it is perfectly ok to use ProRes 422 on 1080 material if you are doing only basic editing and color correct. I suppose it’s not big deal but it still bugs me.”
Agreed — but when I receive an “overkill” ProRes 422HQ or ProRes 4444 deliverable, I try to think about how much better this is than the problem we faced just a few years ago, when this would all come in as DV25.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
David,
“You mean up-convert to unc. 10-bit 4K, then down-convert back to VHS to make it better, right?”
Not quite.
I was thinking your workflow:
“transcode DV or FlipCam to 10-bit uncompressed 4K, then down-convert to ProRes Proxy for the offline. Then, upres back to 10-bit unc. 4K for the online, and down-convert that to ProRes 444 for release.” would be perfect for final deliverable on VHS. That should retain enough quality so I can master in EP and use short cassettes to save money.
Now if we could figure a way to slip some Hi8 into that workflow it would be the bomb!Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[Jeremy Garchow] “It’s more about where the native bit depth of your footage originates.
If your footage is natively 10bit (AVC-Intra and some digital cinema cameras), HQ is worth it.
4:4:4 10+ bit cameras will obviously use ProRes 4×4
8 bit tape/tapeless ProRes or even LT is cool.
It is less about frame size, more about native bit depth.
For most purposes, standard ProRes is all good.”
I agree very much with this.
Something has been pointed here and is important is the number of generations the footage will undergo.
About Prores-444 I use it only some times when sending things from Color to AE or SHAKE.
rafael
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