When you convert h.264 files to edit, does it matter if you convert them to apple intermediate codec or prores? I'm going to export the finished project back to h.264 anyway so I just wanted to know if it made a difference, and what the advantages and disadvantages of converting the footage to either of those two codecs are. Thanks.
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
Apple Intermediate is very lossy. Loss in quality is MUCH greater with it versus ProRes. ProRes 422 you won't see any loss in quality. It has a higher data rate due to that...so it takes up more space.
AIC was written to deal with HDV when it first hit the scene. It's a VERY old codec that should be wiped from the earth. BUT...iMovie and Final Cut Express use it.
Apple Intermediate is very lossy. Loss in quality is MUCH greater with it versus ProRes. ProRes 422 you won't see any loss in quality. It has a higher data rate due to that...so it takes up more space.
AIC was written to deal with HDV when it first hit the scene. It's a VERY old codec that should be wiped from the earth. BUT...iMovie and Final Cut Express use it.
When you say loss in quality, do you mean in the editing process? Is there any loss in quality when you export back to h.264?
No...in the conversion process...the transcoding. Editing...no loss in quality happens.
And yes, when you go back to H.264 their will be quality loss. You won't be going back to the exact same H.264 settings that they originated in...you will be outputting to a delivery H.264, for the Web, right? That always results in a loss of quality, no matter what you shot with. Red, Film, HDCAM SR.
Why won't the exported h.264 have the same settings as the original h.264?
And if I converted the h.264 footage to prores for editing, and then exported it with prores, will that finished project be higher quality than the original h.264 footage? Thanks for your help.
>Why won't the exported h.264 have the same settings as the original h.264?
Because the camera records H.264 with a bunch of settings that are specific to that camera. I guess that you can try to match those settings when you export...but to what end? Where will you show your work? How will it be displayed? YouTube/Vimeo doesn't play back video with that high of an H.264 data rate. Nor does DVD...BluRay has it's own spec.
The question is...what will you be exporting to for delivery...for final viewing? You'll be exporting a ProRes 422 as your master source...but then encoding from that the formats you need to deliver. Unless you plan on playing back in the camera, or via a laptop onto a projector...you won't be going back to that original spec.
>And if I converted the h.264 footage to prores for editing, and then exported it with prores, will that finished project be higher quality than the original h.264 footage?
Higher data rate...yes. But it will have gone through one layer of compression. But very good, low loss quality. Your eye really won't see the difference. But it will be better suited for editing and color correction...as H.264 is 8-bit 4:2:0 color space, and ProRes is 10-bit 4:2;2. It will be in better condition for editing and grading, but quality...about the same, ever ever EVER so slightly less quality. Nothing you'd notice.
Converting h.264 files for editing
