Absolute best uncompromised render out quality from Premiere Pro?

demoboy

demoboy

Well-known member
I would like to render out a Master edit / ungraded version of my short. It's about 10min in length and hard disk space is of no issue as I have several glyph drives. I was told that AVI uncompressed out is the absolute best render out option? Is this true? I'm tempted to DPX my footage, or 4:4:4 out the render. I just don't know. There are many options for optimum quality from CC 2014.

The original footage is 10-bit 4:2:2. Would sampling to 4:4:4 overkill or if space is not a problem will it not matter. I don't want to affect the original footage.

-Joel
 
ProRes HQ 4:2:2 10bit is the best. Also DNxHD 220 10bit is similar. I believe these will give you the best compression. You can render to Tiff/dpx but it's complete overkill and will not provide any more quality than DNxHD.

DNxHD is downloaded free from Avid's website. Colourists love it. And it works on both Nac and Windows platforms (unlike mac only prores).
 
Just to clarify, that's only assuming that your footage has been shot in 10bit 1080p 4:2:2 of course, if you shot at 4K 4:4:4 and higher than 12bit then going above DNxHD and ProRes will make a difference. While having shot in 1080p 10bit 4:2:2 it will give identical quality in DNxHD to 16bit Tiffs or DPX.
 
Just throwing another option into the mix.

if you're using Premiere CC2014 you can use the Gopro/Cineform codecs which are wavlet based and cross platform.
 
There is a better option if file size is not an issue. You can select "none" under the codec setting. It will and adjust setting for an absolutely uncompressed master. The file size is ridiculous though. Your 10 min video could be 80+ gigs.

For archive purposes it works. I normally render out a bunch of different formats of the final master. Its arguable though...depending on the acquisition specs and types of added VFX you have added....the "none" codec might not have any visual advantage. As a medium between this an ProRes4444, you could try the animation codec with a lossless setting.

If you go ProRes, which is fine....go with 4444 not 422HQ for the master. Sometimes grading and VFX can create some gradients that the 4444 codec and help with.

Hope this helps.
 
The OP didn't state if he is on PC or Mac. On PC, ProRes is not an export option (without workarounds) and AVI is not for Mac...

On PC, I would second Jim's suggestion of the UT Codec, or very similar is the Lagarith Lossless codec.

http://lags.leetcode.net/codec.html

Technically "Uncompressed" is the "best", but as mentioned is overkill when a mathematically lossless codec will provide the same quality result with smaller files.
 
Is there any possible benefit in decoding 8bit 1080p 4:2:2 camera files into 10bit 1080p 4:2:2 for the sake of color grading (When storage space isn't an issue)?
Do both Adobe SpeedGrade and DaVinci resolve accept DNxHD 220 10bit files?
Do both Adobe SpeedGrade and DaVinci resolve accept Gopro/Cineform codecs?
Do both Adobe SpeedGrade and DaVinci resolve accept UT codec?
What software can convert MPEG-2 files to DNxHD?
What software can convert MPEG-2 files to Gopro/Cineform codecs?
What software can convert MPEG-2 files to UT codec?
 
I think the primary benefit from a conversion will be playback ease. If you're originals are H.264, then a conversion to UT or DNxHD will make working with them smoother. But if the originals are already DNxHD, ProRes, GoPro or similar, then the conversion simply to go from 8 to 10 bit would be wasted time.

I've no experience with Resolve, but SpeedGrade can handle any media format that works in PP, IF you use the Direct Link option of getting the media into SpeedGrade.
 
AS UT is installed as a system codec, chances are any program that can create AVI (Windows) or MOV (Mac) files will be able to convert to UT. You just need to select that option in the export settings.
 
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