H.264 codec questions?

[reelmike]

Hey guys, I posted this in the compression forum as well, however, thought maybe some of you tech experts would be able to give some input.

Ok, a question for all of you pros. Excuse my lack of knowledge in this area. When should I compress with the animation codec and when should I compress with the
H.264 codec.

I have a 5 minute piece that will be played on DVD & eventually the web. I exported it lossless (animation codec) and it is like 5 gigs. Then, I wanted to see what the H.264 codec would look like, so I compressed it as H.264. My file is now like 200 mb AND it looks fantastic!

Is H.264 acceptable for broadcast quality? Is it just for the web? Should I always submit a lossless uncompressed file if working with a station?


Any ideas, thoughts and suggestion would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Michael

 

[craigbowman]

I exported it lossless (animation codec) and it is like 5 gigs.

Any codec where no compression is applied will produce humungous files when compared to a codec that has compression acutally applied.

The animation codec is quite often used for producing intermediary files with things like alpha channels from 3D modellers and graphic composting applications. It wouldn't make sense to use it with video. However, a 3D rendered animation using animation codec at a compression setting of medium with alpha generation enabled would produce a file that would likely be used in a compositor with video and then that output would use a codec more suitable for standard playback formats. ie. H.264 or traditional MPEG2 transcoding for DVD.

You are correct in recognizing that you need to know what kinds of codecs are available, how they work and when and where to use them. ie. RLE (Run Length Encoding) is a spatial compression type, lossless format that works great for graphics with large areas of continous colour, but horrible on photos with subtle changes over short distances.

 

[235 Studios]

Is H.264 acceptable for broadcast quality? Is it just for the web?

No. And Mostly. Broadcasters are not transmitting their content in H.264, so if you gave them something in that format it would be rejected. Right now the codec is mostly for the web. Using DVDSP you can create DVD's that use this codec, but they can only play in computers as DVD players do not support this format yet. We are in the middle of a transition, eventually more contnt will be delivered in this format, but it's all really new and not widely supported yet. (PC's can't play it yet for example.)

Should I always submit a lossless uncompressed file if working with a station?

Kind of - the station will want a tape master - most likely a Digibeta. So you'll do a print to tape. Or you can record it to minidv and have a transfer house transfer it for you. Your best bet is to talk with the station your submitting it to and see what format they want it in.