What now for ProRes?

Question

ProRes has become a very widely-used and accepted codec in the professional finishing business, but with FCPX not even supporting all versions (4444, etc), what is to become of the format?   A codec is only as good as the apps that support it, and the creator of the codec no longer makes a product that uses it.   For those of us that have used ProRes to deliver, transport and archive media files, should we be considering migrating to other, more open-source codecs?  I've personally seen work I've done become tricky to recover due to codec or media format choices that died on the vine, so I'm concerned that ProRes coulod be yet another media coffin.   Thoughts?

Answer 1

Well, clearly prices on all these tools are rapidly dropping. Now with Sony launching the 13K F3 in conjunction with the simultaneously launched Gemini 444 and Apple FCPX. All of the promos are coming from London. They're all going after the Indie market, which makes me apprehensive about challenging their marketing strategy, but at the same time, I find it objectionable that, with FCPX taking out ProRes4444 as you say, that there seems to be a collusion to isolate 444 format from the techno-revolution and mass capability. Such is the struggle for isolating class privilege and maintaining a more central control of the key to social programming...mass media...through the instruments of central banking. I can't say I'm even all together against the move from that standpoint, either, since Barclay's financed this little tool sitting on my desk right now. But I do think it should be more openly recognized and debated as a mass-media power-grab if, as you say, the ability to edit in 444 format has been stripped from Apple.