Pro Res compression

Hey guys!
I converted a 2 hr avi to Pro Res 442.
I dropped it into Final Cut and... no rendering. Which is good.
The only problem: the file is 25 GB!!
Is that normal? Considering that I'll be making 14 of these puppies, I wanna make sure this is the only option available. Looks like I might have to buy a new hard drive...
Somebody mentioned Apple Intermediate Codec- would that make the file smaller and also result in no rendering?
Thanks so much-

25 gb for a 2 hour file? Nope, that sound about right, maybe even less than what would be considered normal for a HD video.
ProRes is great to work with because it is relatively uncompressed. If your video files are not HD, you could try Pro Res (LT) or the Apple Intermediate Codec should work fine.

Similar Messages

Color Correct before or after compressing to Pro Res?

Hi,
I have about 53:00 of footage that is 90% xdcam hd 422 footage (1080i60, 1920/1080, 29.97fps). Unfortunately, some of the material was shot 23.98. After researching it, I converted those to Pro Res 422 29.97.
I need to deliver the project in either XDCam 422 HD or Pro Res. Since I had the 23.98 issue I'm going to convert everything to Pro Res.
I will need to deliver the entire media managed project. So I'm going to compress to Pro Res then.
My question is, should I color correct before or after? I'm still waiting to get final approvals so I'd love to start color correcting now, but I hate to waste time if it's not going to be accurate later. Nothing is broadcast safe and the chroma need to be pumped up in the interviews and taken down in other places.
My deadline is next friday, so it has to be at FedEx on Thursday.
Thanks for you help!

Does anyone have an opinion?

16;9 compression, Pro Res?

Hi
Pro Tools does not like HDV GOP...
Pro Res 422 solved this...
But it gave me 4:3 files...
I need 16:9...
What compression can I use?
Quality is important...
Thank you
gary

yeah, i don't see a way to use the pro res codec to get a anamorphic file either... I see that I can make my file HD, but not what I need (853x480).

Issue with Pro Res sources when encoding in Media Encoder.

There seems to be a big issue with Pro Res sources in Media Encoder. I've noticed that when exporting using the 'software only' mode my graphics and titles look horrible, they are pixelated around the edges and the compression looks bad. This issue only happens when it's being made from a Pro Res source, if I make the exact same file Uncompressed this issue is resolved. If I use the 'Cuda' option (which I already know is the better option) this issue is resolved. The thing is, in a work environment not all of our systems are Cuda enabled and I would like to use Media Encoder as a exporting option overall. I love Media Encoder, it's fast and easy to use but this Pro Res issue is huge because the majority of the time we are working in Pro Res. I also did a test out of Avid Media Composer to Media Encoder, I sent a reference file referencing the Avid MXF material and the issue is gone, this seems to my knowledge to be a Pro Res only issue. The settings I am exporting to is 960 x 540 h.264 and also .mp4. This is coming from a 1080p source and yes I do have the 'maximum render quality' checked for best scaling. I understand that Software only vs Cuda and Open CL use different algorithms when scaling but this seems crazy to me that it would look this much worse.
Anyways if somebody can please look into this that would be great, this seems to be an issue where I can't continue at this moment to use Media Encoder. Making my source files Uncompressed every time to do an export is just not a real workflow I want to do.
On a side note I've also recently noticed on a clip that had text over a grey background that there are lines going all down the screen evenly when exporting to even a non scaled 1080p .mp4. Once again, this issue goes away with any format but Pro Res. The weird part is this happens even with Cuda enabled. This is why I am thinking Media Encoder is having some sort of issue with the Pro Res codec.
I am on a current new 27'' fully loaded iMac with the latest Adobe CC updates.
Has anyone else experienced this?
thank you

No, it is why advance users do not use the wizard.
Have a look at OpenOffice.org and its form creation. Once you add your fields in OpenOffice.org, just export to PDF and the form fields will be named just like you named in them in OpenOffice.org and the drop down values carry over.

FCP Pro Res Super 16mm -- Compressor -- DVD Studio Pro (Nightmare Workflow Critique)

Hello,
I figured I post here rather than the DVD Studio Pro forum; I've posted on Creative Cow as well but haven't gotten any responses yet.
Before I mention my problem, I'd like to mention that I've tried several types of compression methods and bitrates and unfortunately, my disk still freezes in my player, generally around the same area.
(I have two, minute long clips with Smoothcam there).
I'll try to be as specific about my work-flow as I can and I've posted the photos of my FCP and Compressor settings below.
30 Minutes. Super 16mm.
2K DPX Scans -- > Graded In Color --> Pro Res 4444 23.976 --> Sent To Compressor --> Mpeg 2 + AC3 --> Build & Format With DVD Studio Pro
I set blue compression markers at the start of each Smoothcam clip.
I've recompressed my footage without Smoothcam as well - with the same end result.
I've sent my timeline to Compressor and used both the 5.5-7 VBR setting and the 6.5 CBR settings (with everything under Frame Controls set to the highest quality).
(I've also used the 6.2-7.7 built in settings with the ninety-minute high quality preset).
I am using Sony DVD-R disks. 16X/1X. When I play them in my PS3, the film freezes at different points in the first two-three minutes - then skips ahead exactly to the same point in my film - about halfway.
I've set Chapter markers and it skips to the halfway one; from there it plays fine.
1. I wanted to ask if I should maybe export my entire sequence first through FCP (an .mov file) and try Compressing that?
(I've done this and the result is still the same)
2. Should I set it to Pro Res 422 HQ first?
(I've done this and the result is still the same)
3. Perhaps I should just try to Compressor with the 90Min-HQ setting without changing anything?
(I've done this and the result is still the same)
4. Should I remove the Smoothcam?
I'm currently compressing the entire sequence void of all Smoothcam.
When I bring the files into DVD Studio Pro, I see under preferences that Studio Pro also has VBR settings. Do those have any effect on my DVD encode? There is no CBR there - only VBR set from 5.5-7.
5. Is there anything I'm doing wrong with regards to my workflow? There are several options that may be causing this; I'm not sure if its the progressive footage to interlaced standard definition disk, or modifying field dominance, gop structure, etc.
Any help would be greatly (that's greatly) appreciated.
Thanks!
-Boris

My first impression is you're trying to make this too hard...
You have a high quality timeline which is downconverted to 1080, no problem. Once rendered, SmoothCam
should not represent a problem. If anything, SmoothCam will reduce the sudden movement that can cause problems. Any scenes where you have a high rate of change per frame (like in an explosion or a background of leaves flapping in the wind) should be marked with compression markers.
Export as a QT movie using sequence settings (include markers for DVDSP) so you have a completed source file for compression. I'm not aware of anything that will improve the quality beyond what is in the timeline, so current sequence settings are fine. Test this for playback issues.
If you are having playback problems with the sequence after export and compression, the most probable cause is excessively high bandwidth requirements. Try using the DVD: Best Quality 90 minutes preset. It generally produces a very good quality product. Any attempt to increase the quality will likely increase the bandwidth requirements that are the probable cause of the skipping.
While Sony is a big name, their DVD substrate is only mediocre. If you think the substrate is a problem, switch to Verbatim or JVC/Taiyo-Yuden.
If you are dissatisfied with the quality of the Compressor output, look into the Cinema Craft encoding products.
Hope this helps.

Pro Res v HDV v SD comparison test

Just incase anyone is interested, I have just completed a comparison test for checking the processing times for converting HDV footage into SD (ready for authoring). Having read up on the forum,the options of keeping things in native HDV , converting to 422 or downconverting to SD at the start, I thought I would try a like for like test and see how it came out, both from a processing time and quality viewpoint. (this is only my test, so please don't hammer me if you don't agree, I am only trying to share this basic test.
Exactly 1 minute of footage was filmed on Sony Z1 as HDV
The footage contained a mixture of static, and slow pan shots, to make it a bit challenging.
Option 1 - Capture and edit using Pro Res 422
Option 2 - Capture and edit using native HDV
Option 3 - Down convert from HDV to SD via the camera, edit in SD anamorphic (don't groan just yet)
All clips had the exact same transitions and filters applied
These were 2 x cross dissolves, 1x 3way colour corrected clip, 1 x speed modification clip.
All processed on a new MBP 2.53 with all settings left as default (hopefully a fair representation for many)
The process was to export a self contained QT file, import into compressor (best quality), timed until the MPEG2 and AC3 file icons popped up as complete and ready for import into DVDSP.
The time results were as follows:
Option 1 (Pro Res422) - time taken to exp to QT = 131sec, Compressor encode time=371sec
Total time 502 secs i.e 8m 22s with the QT file size being 731mb
Option 2 (native HDV) - time taken to exp to QT = 197sec, Compressor encode time = 400 sec
Total time 597 secs i.e 9m 47s with the Qt file size being 192mb
Option 3 (DC to SD 1st)- time taken to exp to QT = 22 sec, Compressor encode time = 94 sec
Total time 116 secs i.e 1m 56s with the QT file size being 219mb (strange as i thought it would be less than the HDV version, but there we go)
All 3 options were then imported into DVDSP and the same settings chosen for burning a SD DVD and the 3 dvds then displayed on a 42"plasma (pioneer) and 42"LCD (sony bravia).DVD players Sony upscaling DVD connected via HDMI and Sony Std DVD non upscaling DVD player.
6 people(1 x BBC camera man, 1 X editor and 1 x program manager, 3 x general public ) were then persuaded to view DVDs and pick what they thought was the best. None had any knowledge as to which was which.
Results surprised me, in so much that most struggled to spot the difference!
1 picked the Pro Res (stating they thought it was a little sharper)
1 picked the native HDV, giving a similar reason
4 said that they would be happy with either and couldn't see any concernable difference to pick one over another.
Ok so maybe not a scientific test, and I am sure some will say oh but...if you had done this, or that, then the results would have been different, but hey I only did the test to see in a real world, what the differences are. Certainly the processing times varied hugely from 1m56s to 9m47s for the same 1 minute piece of film. Likewise the QT file sizes from 192mb (hdv) to 731mb (422).
So if storage or time are really critical, I hope it may be useful to anyone with little HDV experience (like me) to make a decision. At least in this case, most people cannot tell the difference for it to be that important.
I would like to hear if anybody else has had too much time on their hands to carry out similar tests and come up with the same or different results?
This is after all only a tiny piece of the jigsaw.
Cheers
Stu

It offers better performance when editing. HDV is processor intensive, and can take longer to render, and a lot longer to compress into your final format. And HDV is an 8-bit 4:2:0 codec. While you can't change that going to ProRes, ProRes is 4:2:2 10-bit, and color correcting that gives you better leway with color...you can push things more. just a TAD more, as your color information is already whack.
But if you intend to master back to HDV, do not go to ProRes. To go back to HDV you need to capture as native HDV.
Shane

Pro Res HQ to M2V

I am trying to compress a 20 minute clip and was wondering if anyone had any data for how long something like this should take. Originally I made a custom setup including deinterlacing and 2 pass encoding. It was going to take like 24 hours! Am I missing something here? I made a new setup and asked for one pass, no deinterlacing and after 15 minutes, it can't even estimate time to complete. I am on a MBPro and an esata 4 drive raid 0. Anyone have any suggestions?
Jeff

Hi G.
Here it is:
3 Sony F-900's. Shot HDCam. Captured Pro res HQ 10801 29.97. The concert had 3 angles but what I am working on now is a two angle interview shoot. 22 minutes, 26 minutes and 36 minutes. I created 3 two angle multiclips. After editing, I created a self contained movie with same settings. I then closed FCP and used "open with" to invoike compressor. I selected DVD Best 90 minute 2 pass. I set up for all three plus acs for each and hit submit. It showed it was going to take 14 hours. Woke up the next morining and my machine stuck on the first 22 minute encode at 99% complete. Instead of counting down to successful, it was counting UP! I stopped the que and closed compressor. Lo and behold, my first m2v file was where it was supposed to be. Then I sent the second file. It ran fine and took 6 hours. The third went fine and took 7 hours.
When I started, I was thinking I should create a custom template with all of the "Best" settings instead of "Fast" as in this 90 minute template. Since this is my first major DVD mastering, I wanted to be sure I made it perfect. Now I see I need to just use the standard templates. What was funny though, when I chose the 90 minute template, frame controls were greyed out and wouldn't let me change the bitrate. After the compression started, it would let me change that. Those times I qouted were for 6.2 2 pass and 7.7 max.
Does this sound like the right workflow?
Jeff

Is Apple Pro Res viewable on computers WITHOUT Final Cut installed?

I have used Apple Pro Res to compress 3d animation and it looks great, far better than any codec so far. Now I find that it is only viewable on computers with Final Cut Pro 6 installed.
I am planning to exhibit the work as quicktimes, but need to use computers without Final Cut installed. Is there any way to import the codec into a Quicktime pro library so movies with Apple Pro Res are viewable on computers WITHOUT Final Cut on them???
Thanks!

ProRes is only licensed with FCP, and can only be installed along with FCP. You could transcode your clips into the Animation codec and try playing them on the other systems.

Apple Pro Res "Render at Maximum Depth"

From my understanding, Apple Pro Res maxes out at 12 bit with DSLR cameras in movie mode not even reaching that. Yet, the setting for "Render at Maximum Depth" offers 24 to 64 bit. Anyone know what the story is with this setting?
And does anyone know the settings for Apple Pro Res 4444 at its highest quality when coming from H.264?
Thanks.

For your reading enjoyment -
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4529886
http://images.apple.com/finalcutpro/docs/Apple_ProRes_White_Paper_October_2012.pdf
A question for you - what is your workflow where you think you might need this? Keep in mind that the majority of cameras only record 8-bit color, and also in a very highly compressed format, so you won't necessarily gain anything by going to 4444, as the source video is of limited quality already.
Basically, if you don't have any high-bit-depth sources in your timeline to preserve the quality of, there may be little or no benefit to enabling "Max Depth".
Thanks
Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

Pro Res 422

Hi Guys,
I am using Final Cut Pro 6 and have imported a movie which is 1.36GB. The movie is a .mov file and the codec is Apple Pro Res422. When I import it into FCP I receive the error message Codec not found. You many be using a compression type without the corresponding hardware card. I thought that Final Cut Pro 6 could play the codec, any ideas? I really need to get this video imported into to FCP. Thanks guys.

Do you have the latest FCP build - 6.0.3?
Does it play in the Quicktime Player?
And are you positive the clip is Pro Res?

Sharing FCPX Pro Res 422 .mov master file with both Ps and Macs

I'm using FCPX 10.1.4 on Mac OS 10.10.2. I want to put a FCPX Pro Res 422 master file on a data DVD so it can be read and poled on both a Mac and PC using Quick Time 7. I tried using Toast 12 to create a data DVD playable on both a PC and Mac but it would not open on the PC. Any ideas what the problem might be or an alternative way to do this?
Thanks

One additional possible point of confusion: I think you wrote (or meant to write) "so it can be read and played."
A playable DVD is a very specific standard of filenames & compression sufficient to fit a two hour movie into 4.7GB of standard def video. Simply writing any video file onto a disc (maybe marked as "DVD-R") never creates a DVD that is playable in standard DVD players.
Given that, you can transfer any file (up to 4.7GB) by writing it onto a data "DVD" disc. However, as others point out, ProRes isn't windows-friendly (or good for small files) and just for seeing the video on other platforms, H.264 would be the right choice.

Apple Pro Res 422 / FCP7 render issues

Hello,
I do a lot of timelapses and have pretty good workflow for all this. However, I am experiencing one issue that makes everything a bit difficult. I appreciate if anybody could help me.
My workflow is:
1. Shoot some stills RAW
2. Develop in Adobe Camera RAW
3. Import stills sequence and render in AfterEffects CS4 to AppleProRes 422
4. Import to FCP7 and edit
5. Grading / color correction
6. Publishing
All works fine, however I am having very often an unpredictable issues with the Apple Pro Res 422 codec under FCP7.
I always render a bunch of sequences from AE using the same settings for all files. The only difference is resolution.
My render settings for exporting from AE are:
- Apple Pro Res 422 wrapped in MOV
- render in 10-bit YUV from RAW 16 bit sequence files
- AE project in 16 bit
- Resolutions of rendered all files around 3500x2500 px, this vary from file to file.
The sequences render fine in AE.
The sequences play properly in QT, I can import them to FCP properly, play in FCP properly. I can drag to timeline, scale, rotate, scrub etc.
However: Some sequences fail to render in FCP7.
When I drag them to my working sequence in timeline (Usually a Full HD 1080p, Pro Res 422, YUV), scale down (usually) and try to render timeline footage (don't mean exporting here yet) I get the following error:
"Codec not found. You may be using a compression type without the corresponding hardware card."
This happens on many computers including iMac, MacbookPro and a Mac Pro.
I discovered that setting the footage size to even width and height figures when exporting from AE eliminates the problem sometimes, but it does not help in all cases.
Also it sometimes help if i take such sequence, crop and export using QT under the same settings, just a few pixels less in size. But again - it helps sometimes.
Can anybody help me with these?
Anybody experiencing similar issues?
Thanks a lot.

I had the same problem when we started to edit on Pro Res timelines. The solution I found was to go the Sequence Settings > Video Processing > and change the Render setting to "Render in 8-bit YUV" that allowed me to actually render the timeline and view my work. Hope that helps.

Fcp forces me to render Apple Pro Res 4444 files when i drop on timeline

i shoot with the canon 5d mark ii and i have been having problems making my videos easy to edit. I convert them from h.264 to the apple pro res 4444. when i take the files and then attempt to drag them into the project timeline, i am prompted to change the settings to match that of the video format. when i select no, all of the files require me to render before playback. when i select yes, i always get dropped frames and the video stalls and fails to play. selecting no and rendering is not time efficient at all and i know there is a better way to do this. any help or suggestions? i'm clearly doing something wrong.

Hi -
While it may seem counterintuitive, transcoding to a ultra-high quality, specialized format like ProRes 4444 actually, in most cases, counter productive.
Converting your h.264 files to ProRes 4444 is like buying size 26 shoes for size 9 feet. Apple ProRes 4444 is there for specialized use by people editing large frame size images +WITH an alpha channel for each frame+. To properly play it back will require both a high horsepower computer and high speed disk drive array to support the data rate involved in that format.
May I make a suggestion? I would be to convert your h.264 material to Pro Res 422. Even ProRes HQ is beyond what you need to handle your material correctly.
When you convert your files to ProRes 422, and allow FCP to set the sequence to the same settings, you will find that you will be able to edit without rendering. And don't worry - the quality of your image is set by the h.264 compression, the conversion to Pro Res 422 will not degrade it.
A frequent example given on these boards: if you take a can of beer, and pour it in a keg, you still have just a can of beer, but it is harder to carry around - and the keg certainly takes up more space.
There is a very useful White Paper written by Apple that describes the various flavors of ProRes and their correct application at:
http://images.apple.com/finalcutstudio/docs/AppleProRes_White_Paper_July2009.pdf
Hope this helps.
MtD

Trouble with flickering after converting AVCHD files to Apple Pro Res 22

Hi guys.
I have figured out that Apple Pro res 22 is the best format for my AVCHD files.
But I am having trouble with the files after converting them to this format.
Every 60 frames I have a blurred frame.
This results in a flickering effect when watching the clip.
The original MP4 clip (AVCHD) plays fine on the Mac but when I convert is it flickers.
I have captured a still shot of the frame here
http://www.willpower.net.au/DOWNLOADS/FrameError.jpeg
Here are the settings I am using for the conversion
http://www.willpower.net.au/DOWNLOADS/Error.JPG
Here is the converted file in Apple Pro Res 22 format with the flickering
http://www.willpower.net.au/DOWNLOADS/SANY0007.mov
I'd appreciate any help that you can offer.

Actually I think I might have found the answer.
After diggin deaper into the camera manual I have discovered that the setting I had it on "Full HD" actually is interlaced not progressive. Even though tha badging on the camera says Progressive"
So I think something got lost when converting the files to apple pro res.
I just shot a 10 sec clip on "Full HR" which is the progressive function and it converted nicely.
I'll come back to this post after shooting and making a little test movie today.
Thanks for your help.
PS. I wonder what codec it actually shoots in. Apparently it is not AVCHD but MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression (I thought that was AVCHD)

Burning a dvd h264 versus pro res 422?

Hi everyone, I have a "film" project I put together. It is comprised of many mini scenes and clips. For each clip I have exported (FCP 6.06) an H264 (720x480) version and a Pro Res 422 (HQ) version. The Pro Res was better for editing and the H264 was better for uploading to the intrawebs. Both versions play just fine, but now it's time to burn to DVD.
I was not going to burn a blue ray just yet, so a SD DVD should be just fine. I was going to use Toast/ DVD Studio Pro on my mac 10.5.8 Os to make a DVD of all the clips. Will the Pro Res footage look better than the H264, or since its compressed to SD is it better to use the H264 footage?
Thanks in advance

A DVD uses ALWAYS Mpeg-2. A DVD-Rom can take anything, it takes data.
Sound on a DVD is usually AC-3. Also, you have to decide on NTSC or PAL format, in your case (480 lines) it would be NTSC.
SD is not a compression, it just means NTSC or PAL as opposed to HD (720 or 1080 lines)

Pro Res compression

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