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ProRes to HQ or Not?
I have about 20 hours of footage that was shot in both XDCam EX (35 VBR) and AVCIntra100 – I transcoded everything to prores (thinking that I had set everything to prores HQ) and am wondering if I need to retranscode to HQ from the source.
The show is going to be extensively color graded and mastered to HDCam SR – obviously the XDCam EX footage started out as 4:2:0 and the AVCIntra100 is 4:2:2 10 bit – do I gain a lot by going HQ? or is it cool to go ahead and use the non-HQ I’ve already made…
Disk space isn’t an issue and I can set the transcode to happen once the edit is locked…
But the real question is do I gain alot going HQ?
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17 Replies
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[Shaun Gish] “But the real question is do I gain alot going HQ?”
No. Unless you have 2k or higher you do not need HQ. This has been covered numerous times on this very forum.
Both ProRes and HQ are 10bit codecs
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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How do you export using Final Cut Pro 6.0 to get 24 bit depth sound?
I’m exporting an animation for HD broadcast, and need the Apple Pro Res 422(HQ) 1920×1080 (1080i)48 Khz with 24 bit sound.
Anyone?
Thanks much!
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I appreciate the prompt reply – I actually read a bunch of the posts on this forum and had not seen a definitive answer – I’ve seen a bunch of debates about how going HQ is a benefit for grading and keying and a lot of people saying that it wasn’t necessary unless the output was meant to be 2k or better.
Is your response based on opinion or is there some sort of definitive example out there? (I don’t mean to question your opinion – I’m just trying to make qualify the answer)
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Shaun – Walter’s comment is based purely on the numbers and is entirely accurate. Based on where you’re coming from, nothing is gained by going HQ.
Cheers,
StaceApple Certified Trainer, Final Cut Pro Level I
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I appreciate the answers and I’m glad to know that I don’t need to retranscode. So does HQ just give you 4:4:4 color space?
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I don’t believe so but I am not an authority. Here’s the whitepaper:
https://images.apple.com/finalcutstudio/resources/white_papers/L342568A_ProRes_WP.pdf
Apple Certified Trainer, Final Cut Pro Level I
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[Shaun Gish] “I appreciate the answers and I’m glad to know that I don’t need to retranscode. So does HQ just give you 4:4:4 color space?”
No, it just presents the potential for errors with smaller material. anything up to 1080i should be done in ProRes. Anything higher than that can take advantage of ProRes HQ.
Simply do a search on ProRes HQ and Gary Adcock in this forum. He has some of the definitive answers on this issue.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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Thanks Walter and Stace – I’ll look at Gary’s posts – when you say errors do you mean potential operator errors or do you mean encoding errors?
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Nina…please post a NEW topic for this…don’t hang off the coat tails of another thread.
Thanks,
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Shaun Gish] “or do you mean encoding errors?”
encoding and render errors. We used to see them all the time when we were trying out HQ. We only run ProRes here since all our material is 720p or 1080i HD.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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