ProRess 422

hey guys
I am going to be working on a project that will be shot on EX3 and the format is going to be HQ 1920x1080i 25
and I am reading about the ProRes 422 but not really getting it
I understand that it will be easier to work with proRess 422 setting while editing but what is the workflow exactly?!!!
do I use that codec in the sequence after importing all the media to the FCP? or is it something that I need to do before starting the project?!!!
thanks in advance for any help

hi Harriet
this pro ress converts all of your clips to i phrame clips, meanning every phrame will be a stand alone phrame and not something that follows a key phrame, which is the case with the mpeg long-gop (one key phrame and subsidary 14 other phrames or so).
this will help you on the export and render, whatever the final will be and I presume it will count on color correction as well (some say it doesn't).
the mpeg long gop is a compressed HD, which is the case with XDCAM EX1 and 3 and probably other cameras, becase of the space matter, so the pro ress is something like decompressing (does this make any sense?).

Ken, please correct me if I am wrong, or someone!!!!

another thing with the pro ress is that it will take you 4 times as much space, so if you don't have the storage, do it after you finish editing, but whatever you do, in the end you should export with the pro ress, before your final (dvd, web, etc)

I have done some shooting with EX1 and the look is stunning, I didn't get to the point of having a final edit, because ....anyway, it didn't hapen yet, but it looks amaizing, so I have been studying the same thing ever since, trying to understand.

sometimes the codecs need to be specific with the colors that need to be exported, because sometimes the codec gets confused (wow, somebody stop me!!!!! with this explanation), so this is something built for this matter (the export in pro ress for i phrames to be stand alone), the mpeg long gop, so the codec won't be unstable with the footage.

(this is my presumption from what I have understood) for example, if you have a grey area (this hapent with some of my footage, even though I exported for the web), and that area (a street, a building, some kinds of confusing paint on some wall) does not have a delimitation, it exports blocks of pixels and they apear as drop out or something like this, and whenever I move the camera those grey blocks of pixels look like they will change later and not according to my camera moves: I didn't export to pro ress primarily and nither for the final.

BUT take a look at this guy www.philipbloom.co.uk he said he doesn't export to pro ress and I am amaized.

anybody!!!! please, if I am wrong with something or with all of it, help us!!!!


cosmin

Hi Cos,

You are correct. A number of codecs, like HDV, and EXCam use MPEG 2 long GOP compression (AVCHD uses H.264 Long GOP), only one frame in 15 is a full or Intra frame. This makes editing on the timeline difficult as it requires a great deal of horse power from our processors. These codecs do not wok in the 4:2:2 color space, so chromakey, effects, compositing, CC and anything else that requires rendering will suffer. Generally speaking, when these codecs are used in Compressor or in DVD SP (iDVD), the results can be very poor indeed.

The best way to handle this, is to get pout of these codecs as soon as possible. You can transcode to ProRes 422 at Log and Transfer, Batch export to ProRes 422, or export from the timeline as ProRes. ProRes 422 is a Intra frame codec, every frame is a full frame and it works in the 4:2:2 color space which offers better quality for all rendering. While the file sizes of ProRes 422 are larger than HDV or AVCHD or EXCam, because they are Intra frame, the run well in FCP and are easy to edit.

I have been transcoding to ProRes 422 from a number of different codecs and I am amazed at how well it runs and looks.

--ken

I just finished a year long project (HD, 24f , 1080) in FCS2 , complete with all sound/effects , transitions, titles, ect...... Im ready to go out to compressor 3 then out to standard def DVD in DVDSP. So from what I have been reading , its best to convert to ProRes 422? Then to compressor 3? Will I see a difference in the DVD quality? Its to late to start over with ProRes then add effects , transitions , ect...

Is there a tutorial (with pictures) on how to send an already completed project form the time line out to convert to ProRes422? Then send to compressor? This is how I get lost. I can not afford to mess up the project or I will be "sleeping with the fishes"

Welcome to the family!

Canon XH A1, Canon T2i, FCS3, Fire Store FSC-60, 17" MacBookPro 2.4

Thanks Ken!
We are starting the next year long project, and I would like to do it correctly this time. We just shot a muticam event on Firestore drives (QT) and dumped that on to the backup hard drives. Then I will convert that to ProRes422 before we get into it. Yes?

Hi Rob,

Yes, it's best to transcode to ProRes before you start editing.

From what I understand about the FireStore, you just drag or import everything from the FS right to your media drive, no L & C or L & T.

Once everything is in your Browser, you can batch export as ProRes 422 and bring the entire export back into the Browser.

--ken

Correct!
Thanks again Ken !!

Hi Ken,

Am I getting this correctly?

Footage Shoot in AVCHD, Log and Transfer using ProRes 422, That footage is now in a Color Space of 4:2:2,(As In Easier to Pull a Key) Each Frame Is a Full Frame,(I-Frame).

Mahalo, John

Correct.

--ken

Thanks Ken,

Mahalo, John