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QT Movie or QT Reference File. Which is lossless?

Hi,


I have a project on a timeline that I want to export as lossless. It was shot and editied at 1440 x 1080i HDV.


Should I export it as a Quicktime File (Self Contained) or a QT Reference File?


Which will give me a Lossless file?


What settings should I use when I go to File ------ Export ------ Quicktime?


Current Settings?


Thanks in advance.


FCP 7

Mac Pro

Intel Xeon

10 GB RAM

Posted on Apr 18, 2013 1:01 PM

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3 replies

Apr 18, 2013 3:03 PM in response to Adam Berch

Which will give me a Lossless file?

Neither. If the video was recorded in HDV, imported/captured as HDV, and edited as HDV, then the resulting QT file will also be HDV (unless you re-render it) which is not a "lossless" codec. A "standalone" file simply contains all data within your output file container. Instead, a "reference" file contains a combination of "pointers" to data that is contained in the raw captured file and rendered data created during your editing process. "References" file are much smaller and faster to write but require both the "reference" file and the "resource" file be available for use. (I.e., you cannot create a "reference" file and sent it to someone else as an independently playable file.)


If you are using the term "lossless" in the sense of "unmodified," then it makse no difference since the same data is "copied" or "resourced" to both types of file whether it is the raw source data or the rendered data created by your edits within the project.


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Apr 19, 2013 7:17 AM in response to John Lockwood

ProRes is sort of lossless, see


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5151

Only the Apple ProRes 4444 Alpha channel is "mathermatically lossless" which merely means that redundant data in the alpha channel is encoded once and code referenced thereafter as needed. (I.e., no data is lost since this strategy is reverisble in data duplication instances.) The advantages and disadvantages of using the various Apple ProRes codecs for the archiving of content and/or the prevention of further loss in quality during the transcoding of data originally recorded using other, more highly compressed codecs would, of course, have to be weighed by each user.


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QT Movie or QT Reference File. Which is lossless?

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