Question about Prores 422 8bit and 10bit

I don't have the most thorough knowledge of 422 vs. 422 HQ but let me give some detail.

If you create ProRes 422 and ProRes422 (HQ) sequences, both will "support" 8 bit and 10 bit video clips, in so far as any combination will play back without a need to render.

Deciding between 8 bit (ProRes) and 10 bit (HQ) has a lot to do with your source clips and how the finished product will be used. If your editing a wedding that will be watched on DVD then 8 bit is fine, and will save some hard drive space. If you shot HD with a professional (i.e. RED or XDCAM) system and distribution is HD broadcast, then definitely go with ProRes 422 (HQ) 10-bit settings.

You might be somewhere in between. In that case, use HQ if you have the space and computer power.

A quick check on Apple's presets for ProRes shows all Video Processing options are set to 10 bit YUV. You could certainly change this to 8 bit YUV for sightly lower quality and faster renders. This setting only affects added filters and effects that require rendering.

That's not exactly all correct..

ProRes is always 10 bit. ProRes HQ is just a fatter stream and is also 10 bit. It's used when you have a lot of motion in the shots to reduce the possibility of artifacting there...

Jerry