[Craig Seeman]

Telestream Episode Engine as well but not the standard or Pro version.

[Craig Seeman]

[Oliver Peters] “ProRes can also live in an MXF container.”

Have you tested and found it viable at least on Windows in Avid and PProCC?
The issue I think is still the decoder rather than the container.

[Oliver Peters] “FWIW – this issue also affects H.264 wrapped as MP4.”

Which shouldn’t require Quicktime frameworks to decode though.

[Oliver Peters] “They are also looking into what they have to build themselves to fill in the gaps in the absence of QT. For example, which codecs are essential to support. That’s not a quick fix.”

ProRes should be a given. I think Animation may be a concern because some still use it. I’m not sure what other Apple specific codecs are in wide use for post production.

[Craig Seeman]

[Eric Santiago] “DNxHD/HR is also in my workflow to date but can that ultimately replace QT on the Windows side?”

That’s a codec and can certainly exist in a .mov (Quicktime) container (as well as .mxf of course). Whereas ProRes only exists in .mov container. Just making sure people understand the difference between codecs and containers. BTW .mov container is not limited to use in Quicktime. H.264 .mov files play just fine in Windows Media Player.

I’d also add that Quicktime Frameworks is deprecated on Mac as well. You can’t sell anything in the Mac App store that depends on it. Apps have to use AVFoundation (Core Media). Regarding codecs, try opening an Animation .mov in Quicktime X and it’ll convert it to ProRes 4444 (to preserve alpha channel) for playback.

For whatever reason there’s no news about Quicktime 7 vulnerabilities on Mac OS though.

It’s really about building decoders in the programs rather than external dependancies.

[Craig Seeman]

Developers can build in their own decode for playback in the apps.
Telestream Switch, Episode, Wirecast for Windows all handle ProRes playback within the respective app.

BTW if you need a professional cross platform player with Quicktime Pro like features and more, you may want to look at Switch.

I don’t doubt Adobe will build in internal decoding for certain Quicktime codecs in short order.

[Craig Seeman]

I shoot with a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera quit a bit. I avoid cDNG for the most part. I can see it’s value in broadcast or film work where you may have to push things very hard. You can push things very hard with ProRes though so unless you’re doing extreme grading or FX work, ProRes works fine

Key things to know is that shooting ProRes “burns in” the white balance and ISO setting which would only be meta data in cDNG. I haven’t that a disadvantage though since I get it close to where I want it when I shoot and post adjustments aren’t an issue.

[David Mathis] “If recording in film will I need to apply a LUT?”

I find I do better without that. It depends on why you’re applying the LUT. If it’s just for rough editing and you’ll later toss or tweak, that could work.

Keep in mind LUTs are not always the panacea they seem to be. If you tend to Expose To The Right or otherwise shot to preserve highlights, blacks, you have to first adjust exposure before applying the LUT. For me, if I have to do that, I then simply to a quick grade and apply it across similar clips in a scene. I use Color Finale. Usually I fix exposure with the “wheels” then add curves and I get my base grade. Of course if you want the look of a specific LUT I can see adding that after adjusting exposure so you have a quick “look” to show a client.

[David Mathis] “What quality will I give up by not shooting in Cinema DNG format? “

Not much. ProRes HQ should be fine even for broadcast work. Again no locked white balance or ISO with cDNG and you can push the grade a bit more extreme if you have to.

A few years back I asked ProApps product manager Steve Bayes if Apple would support cDNG wrapped in .mov in FCPX. He basically responded there’s really no need. You’re just not going to see the difference even in broadcast work.

Keep in mind Apple has since come out with ProRes 4444 XQ which is 12 bit, like cDNG rather than 10 bit which are the other flavors of ProRes. The Ursa and Ursa Mini can shoot XQ from what I understand although I haven’t used those codecs first hand.

[Craig Seeman]

I was going to buy the Blackmagic Ursa Micro that didn’t happen. 😉

Really looking forward to that free upgrade to Color Finale Pro.

The DJI Osmo with their announced Z Axis thing made that a bit more interesting. Considering the PilotFly H2 and wanted to see if any other single handed gimbals with encoders and that kind of payload were announced but apparently not.

[Craig Seeman]

Perhaps the compression app is limiting the data rate below your target. That does happen. Normally that happens when there’s little room for improvement. BTW I’ve heard others get similar warnings. Usually the quality of the Vimeo encode is still good because source is truly at its best quality.

You can try uploading Apple ProRes. It’ll be a big file and it’ll take a longer time to upload but I know others who do that and it may result in a better encode.

[Craig Seeman]

[Caroline Scott] “it says that the data rate is not high enough. How do I make it higher? “

umm, raise the data rate. Vimeo has specifications for data rate relative to frame size. You have to use them in your settings.

[Craig Seeman]

[Scott Witthaus] “hey are looking at the new folks, not the old folks.”

If only there were a way to see such demographic study. We tend to look “up ladder” to see how widespread its use is in Hollywood, TV, maybe even higher end corporate work.

Apple may be looking to win an attrition battle though.

What NLE to people grab when making their first web series, indie film, even those entering the wedding video market, businesses bringing corporate/industrial video in house or, maybe the word or photo journalist being pushed into online video . These tend to be markets that have a younger demographic or, at least less experienced.

Is FCPX successfully grabbing the newbies and, more importantly, retaining them as they advance?

[Craig Seeman]

Which begs the question, what happens when the old guard retires at a higher rate than they are replaced?
If the replacement rate were greater, Avid MC would be expanding even if slowly. Perhaps Avid is willing to let MC die by attrition.