ProRes LT vs ProRes HQ

Ben_B

Ben_B

Veteran
So far I am seeing no discernible quality difference in 720p footage from the GH1 logged to ProRes LT than that of ProRes HQ...this is zoomed in @ 800% on an out of focus area.

Sequence 1 (left) is ProRes HQ, Sequence 2 (right) is ProRes LT. Both sequences are formatted for the respective codec of their clips, both clips were generated on log and transfer (not converted after.)

The playback settings are all set to high, etc. I realize this is probably not the best comparison as it is just a screen grab from FCP and not an exported image, but deal with it. :p

picture5cxf.png



and @ fit to window, in case you couldn't tell from scroll bars the zoom was far left center of image.

picture6bux.png


In case you were wondering the clip is about 10 seconds long, the ProRes 422 HQ clip weighs in at 277.8 MB, the ProRes 422 clip at 175.6, and the ProRes LT clip at 119.7

So why do we care about this?

FULL QUALITY TRANSCODED GH1 PRORES FOOTAGE AT 32% SMALLER FILE SIZES! WOO!
 
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Ben, if i've been following your threads correctly it seems that, as a 720p, shooter you've been a fan of pro res from the beginning but as there is now a choice between HQ and Lt you seem to be leaning to LT. Saying that I'd like to ask the question I asked Martti. if you shot 1080 mode what procedure and codec would you like to work with for pulldown and transcoding? Between the two of you I think that my workflow will be best established. If you recall I'm the guy with the smart*ss moose through the courier's windshield answer.
 
AVCHD is 8 bit
prores422 is 8 bit
prores422 HQ is 10 bit

unless you are planning on adding 10 bit comps or gradients to your footage then prores HQ is unnecessary

maybe next camera :happy: fingers crossed for luck


edit: corrected - all prores422 is 10bit
 
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Im guessing
proxy for offline edit
LT for hdv/avchd 4:2:0
4:2:2 or HQ for high bandwidth codecs avcintra, dvcprohd 4:2:2
HQ for final render
 
Yeah I know HQ doesn't add much of anything for it I was just using it to show that there can be no mistake! Lol. That's why I included the ProRes 422 file size and did my percent calculation based on it, not the HQ footage. That said I've noticed ProRes HQ seems to work best when I'm doing compositing on my footage (this was DVCPro HD footage,) regardless of the initial format...using non HQ ProRes, etc, caused a quality drop when exporting out of After Effects. (HVX footage.)

Anyway I would imagine LT would still work best for 1080p as the bitrate is the same on the codec and 1080/24p60i is only slightly more pixels per second percentage wise [12%...less if it's true 24p] (not that that statistic matters much) than 720p60?

Anyway...ProRes LT is looking very nice indeed.

ProRes Proxy is looking very great for certain things. Earlier I was using AIC as a lightweight codec to edit in on my laptop, and then later hooking up the big, not really portable (although we lug them around for in-field p2 dump if need be...dont worry special drives for that) 3.5" external drives I have, logging to ProRes, and reconnecting the footage. Then doing color grading and exporting.

Anyway now ProRes proxy will replace AIC and ProRes LT will replace ProRes 422 in my workflow. If I know I'm going to be editing mostly on my desktop (speed is still an is still an issue but file size is a bigger one..pun intended) I'll probably just log right to ProRes LT.

Oh and in case anyone was wondering it is possible to install and run Final Cut Studio 3 on systems that have less than the normal requirements (my Macbook does not meet GPU requirements, but I only really use FCP on it, no color correction or anything) if you go into some files. I'll post a tutorial if there is call for it.
 
J Davis said:
AVCHD is 8 bit
prores422 is 8 bit
prores422 HQ is 10 bit

unless you are planning on adding 10 bit comps or gradients to your footage then prores HQ is unnecessary

maybe next camera :happy: fingers crossed for luck
Click to expand...

Hopefully next camera we'll all be using ProRes 4444 as our offline codec, while we fly around in Boeing 787s, laughing at the pitiful people shooting home movies on their pocket Scarlets, and playing Duke Nukem Forever using Project Natal on our Xbox 360s...which are of course synced to our Windows Mobile 7.0 phones.
 
All of the pro res formats are 10bit right? I am pretty sure even the proxy format is 10 bit. Can someone confirm.
 
I think that's right actually...hang on...

Yes ProRes white paper would seem to indicate that.
 
I'd rather have my $1500 4/3" (well not literally but you know) sensor than a $3750 2/3" sensor. ;)
 
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Ben_B said:
Hopefully next camera we'll all be using ProRes 4444 as our offline codec, while we fly around in Boeing 787s, laughing at the pitiful people shooting home movies on their pocket Scarlets, and playing Duke Nukem Forever using Project Natal on our Xbox 360s...which are of course synced to our Windows Mobile 7.0 phones.
Click to expand...
Oh you too? I thought I was the only one who made a joke about that wonderful Duke Nukem Forever/Starcraft Ghost double pack, exclusively for the Phantom, and best viewed on SED TVs.
:grin:
 
Starcraft Ghost has officially been canceled for awhile now...Duke Nukem Forever has been too I think...maybe...wait it's back...no it's canceled...and now it's back...and now they're switching game engines...and now the Scarlet is out...and all the GH1 backorders have been filled.


In any case...good news about ProRes LT if I do say so myself. :)
 
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