How to Choose the Right Version of Pro-Res for Your Project
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High quality video typically means video with robust amounts of visual information such as a large picture size, a wide range for storing color information, high bit rate and continuous timecode stored in a well-defined and flexible format. Higher quality files often equates to big files. These large data rich files can also be costly to create, store and maintain so compromises are often needed on some parameters. Our studio strives to capture and maintain the maximum amount of picture and sound data that your systems can support.
Select High Definition (HD) video encoding over Standard Definition (SD) Rationale HD formats provide options to carry more visual information than SD formats including larger picture or frame size, more flexible and higher frame rates as well as options for scanning methods (interlaced and progressive).
Developed and maintained by Apple, Inc, ProRes is a family of proprietary, lossy compressed, high quality intermediate codecs for digital video primarily supported by the Final Cut Pro suite of post-production and editing software programs.
There are two main branches of Apple ProRes: the Apple ProRes 422 Codec Family and the Apple ProRes 4444 Codec Family.
The Apple ProRes 422 Codec Family comprises four subtypes, each of which is geared for a different end use. The 422 codecs are differentiated mainly by expected file size ranges, software version support and data rate limits. The consideration of data rate is important in three ways. First, it governs quality (the higher the rate, the better the quality); second, file size (the higher the rate, the bigger the file) and, third, it relates to the ability of a given network to carry a video signal in real time for viewing (the lower the rate, the easier to carry).
Apple ProRes 422 HQ is the highest data-rate version of the ProRes 422 codecs, applying the least compression for the best imagery and resulting in the largest files. Its high quality means that it is often selected for professional HD video production, especially in the creation of documentaries and other programs for broadcast television. One video expert states that ProRes 422 HQ provides nearly the same quality of uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 video but at about 1/5th the file size and throughput (the 4:2:2 ratio represents the type of chroma subsampling in each version).
Apple ProRes 422, with the second-highest data-rate of the group, frequently is used for multistream, real-time editing at a significant storage savings over uncompressed video and Apple ProRes 422 HQ.
Apple ProRes 422 LT, the third-highest data-rate version is also considered an editing codec but its smaller file sizes lend its use towards environments where storage capacity and data rate are at a premium.
Apple ProRes 422 Proxy is the lowest data-rate version of the ProRes 422 codecs and is often used in offline post-production work that requires low data rates but also a full screen picture.
The key character traits that define the ProRes 422 family are support for:
4:2:2 source material, as well as 4:2:1 and 4:2:0 source material if the chroma subsampling is upsampled to 4:2:2 prior to encoding.
any frame size (including SD, HD, 2K, 4K, and 5K) at full resolution.
10-bit sample depth.
intraframe (I-frame) only, and
variable bit rate.
While ProRes is a 10-bit native codec, it can be used with either 8- or 10-bit sources. 8-bit sources (such as DVCProHD), would be upsampled to a 10-bit file.
The Apple ProRes codecs, both the 422 and 4444 families, support both interlaced and progressive scanned images and preserve the scanning method used in the source material.
Apple ProRes 4444 Codec Family comprises Apple ProRes 4444 and Apple ProRes 4444 HQ. The fourth “4” in codec family name indicates this format’s support for alpha (transparency) data, in contrast to ProRes 422. Other features include picture sizes ranging as high as 5K and 4:4:4 chroma subsampling up to 12-bits per sample. Alpha channel sampling can be as high as 16-bits.
