What Codec should I use in Motion

[Ryan Atkins]

Well, kinda.

If you have footage that’s DVD quality at 6mb/s and you export it from Motion at XDCAM EX 35mb/s…it’s not going to magically look like high definition. An even better explanation is working with VHS quality footage at the same codec…it’s not going to magically look better. It all comes down to what it was originally shot at – any video producer should know this.

However, exporting at a higher bitrate will guarantee that it will not go below the preset values

[Bret Williams]

Nope. Motion presets are like AE. You’re just setting up a frame size and aspect ratio, but not a codec. It’s takes some understanding of your job at hand, but if your FCP project is DVCProHD, there would be no point in working in a square pixel sequence. However if you’re making graphics for a client to overlay in an unknown size, and you’ve been provided some DVCProHD footage, you would mist definitely work on a square pixel seq, and export ProRes 444 with alpha.

[Ryan Atkins]

Well, ok. I guess I was referring to importing footage into Motion, not creating a new project.

[Steve Poirier]

Yeah, I had the same question. I couldn’t find the Prores codec from the project preset window.
Would you guys use XD cam over all other codecs when setting up a 720 or 1080p Motion project?
Then just export using the appropriate Prores codec?

Thx!

Steve

[Steve Poirier]

I have checked out your website. Nice work! What player, format or codec do you use for your video player?

Thx!

[Ryan Atkins]

Steve, that’s exactly right. Just set up your project with XDCAM and export as ProRes 422.