Summary: everything you wanna know about Apple ProRes codec is here, including ProRes definition, ProRes raw, ProRes 4444 vs 4444 XQ, ProRes bit rate, ProRes format, ProRes vs H264, iPhone 13 Pro 4K 30FPS file size, ProRes licensees, etc.
ProRes 4K 30FPS' support on new iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max brings ProRes codec back to the limelight again. Many a non-Apple fan has no idea about ProRes codec. What is ProRes and what difference among ProRes 4444 XQ, 4444, ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 LT/Proxy? What is ProRes Raw? How big is a 4K ProRes file? All these questions related to ProRes are flooding into online forums, Q&A answers, Apple support site, etc.
Apple Prores 4444 Xq Codec Mac
For most ordinary users, you don't have to know the internal complicated codec compression architeture, nor the obscure RGB or Y'CbCr pixel formats. Instead, the major difference you get is enough. Apple ProRes 4444 XQ, ProRes 4444 vs ProRes 422-variants, the major gaps are quality (of course highly relevant with codec compression ratio) and application.
On account of incredibly huge size ProRes codec caused, most users have time to convert ProRes to MP4 format or convert ProRes 4444 to 422 to save space. MacX Video Converter Pro (professional video converter & compressor) offers you ultimate solution to free convert ProRes video to MP4 (H264/MPEG-4/HEVC), convert ProRes 4444/XQ to 422/HQ with quality and file size better balanced. Built-in High Quality Engine ensures visually no quality loss (98% quality kept)!
Apple ProRes 422 HQ: A higher data-rate version of Apple ProRes 422 that preserves visual quality at the same high level as Apple ProRes 4444, but for 4:2:2 image sources. With widespread adoption across the video post-production industry, Apple ProRes 422 HQ offers visually lossless preservation of the highest-quality professional HD video that a single-link HD-SDI signal can carry. This codec supports full-width, 4:2:2 video sources at 10-bit pixel depths while remaining visually lossless through many generations of decoding and re-encoding. Apple ProRes 422 HQ's target data rate is approximately 220 Mbps at 1920 x 1080 and 29.97 fps.
I'm helping out with a short film, which was filmed in ProRes 444 XQ. I'm starting to prep to relink back to the camera files for the color grade and doing some tests but it looks like my only choice is to transcode to ProRes 4444? Does Media Composer support this new XQ codec? I'd like to stay with the same codec if possible.
It would be great to discuss if QT and DNX files are expected to be full range or legal range or both. There has been a long debate about proress 444 being full or legal or both. Also different systems render out prores differently. I was told by baselight team that all prores are expected to be legal. However, i heared davinci renders prores 4444 as full range.
Hello, I am not really a developer, but I seem to be running into a problem similar to this. I've been exporting Apple ProRes 4444 files + alpha perfectly for a long time, but on the Silicon M1 Max Macbooks it doesn't seem to work anymore. Mov-files exported with this codec appear black instead of transparant. How can I raise this issue/bug with Apple? It's a pretty important thing for editors / motion designers who are in need of exports + an alpha layer for their clients. Thanks!
I am not a dev, but a video Postproduction operator. I use prores4444 with alpha all the time. Works all on my intel iMac. But on my new M1 max MacBook Pro some files are shown black with glitches, not correct with alpha channel. I posted a bug report. FB9909638
This version of ProRes gives the same high level of image quality as ProRes 4444 but for 4:2:2 image sources. The codec will remain visually lossless even after multiple generations of decoding and re-encoding during post-production. The target data rate is 220 Mbps.
Apple ProRes 4444 is characteristic of full-resolution and high quality 4:4:4:4 image source that supports alpha channels. It is perfect codec to store and exchange motion graphics and composites because of its lossless nature.
Apple ProRes 4444 (XQ) provides the highest quality for 4:4:4:4 image sources involving alpha channels. As with Apple ProRes 4444, Apple ProRes 4444 (XQ) is the best codec to exchange motion graphics.
I have been successfully using animated credits made in Apple Motion and exported as prores 4444 and displayed as a series of video clips in a playlist. They sit in a layer above the main output layer, and it has always just worked. Clean background with animated titles.
The extension of the output files must be one of .mov, .mkv or .mxf, because the containers QuickTime, Matroska and Material eXchange Format are allowed for the various flavours of the ProRes 422 and 4444 codec.
Con la actualización de Final Cut Pro X y resto de aplicaciones así como los codecs ProApps se ha incluido una nueva versión de ProRes, la ProRes 4444 XQ. Este nuevo codec está pensado para dar más calidad como ya podemos ver en el White Paper que Apple ha actualizado.
Apple ProRes 4444 XQ es un codec de ultra alta calidad, una versión de ProRes 4444 que permite una gran cantidad de información para conservar el detalle de imágenes con un gran rango dinámico. Con soporte hasta 12 bits por canal y hasta 16 cuando incluya canal alpha, el nuevo codec sólo tiene una pega, aumenta considerablemente el espacio requerido con respecto la versión ProRes 4444.
ProRes 4444 XQ is the latest member of the ProRes family. It is a very professional and high-quality codec designed for high-end post production workflow. Similar to Apple ProRes 4444, XQ supports 12 bits per image channel and 16 bits maximum for alpha channel. The target data rate is about 500 Mbps 4:4:4 sources with a resolution of 1920x1080 and a frame rate of 29.97 FPS.
The codec features mastering quality in 4:4:4:4 RGBA color with an extremely high quality. It is preserving the image quality from nearly every footage we ever worked with. In Contrast to 4444 XQ the target data rate 1180Mb/s with our 4K 25fps footage.
This is the third highest data rate version of ProRes. It preserves the visual quality as close as ProRes 4444 but for 4:2:2 image sources. This offers visually lossless preservation of the highest quality footage. This codec is widespread around the camera and video production industry. The codec is a 10-bit pixel depth codec. It retains visually lossless through many decodes and re-encodes.
There are six versions of Apple ProRes codec: Apple ProRes 4444XQ, Apple ProRes 4444, Apple ProRes 422 (HQ), Apple ProRes 422, Apple ProRes 422 (LT), and Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy), with the quality from high to low. Here is one thing in common, videos in Apple ProRes codec are very large in size:
Apple ProRes is a family of proprietary, lossy compressed, high quality video intermediate codecs primarily supported by the Final Cut Pro (FCP) suite of post-production and editing software programs. There are two main branches of Apple ProRes: the Apple ProRes 422 Codec Family (described here) and the Apple ProRes 4444 Codec Family.
The Apple ProRes codecs, both the 422 and 4444 families, support both interlaced and progressive scanned images and preserve the scanning method used in the source material. The 422 codecs are differentiated primarily by data rate limits, expected file size ranges and software version support. The 4444 codecs additionally have dynamic range limits (see Notes). Apple provides a summary of the ProRes family technical specifications as well as guidance for selecting appropriate ProRes codecs up to ProRes 4444 based on anticipated workflows. The Apple ProRes family spans a broad range of data rates to support a variety of workflow and application purposes. The authors of this website have selected to use 1920x1080 at 29.97 fps as a comparison target across the ProRes 422 codecs.
The ProRes family is widely adopted in professional moving image production. There is extensive use of the 422 family in the creation of documentaries and other programs for broadcast television. There is some use of the ProRes 4444 family in the production of advertising and in content destined for theatrical distribution. The popularity of Apple's Final Cut software suite has encouraged uptake of the codecs. Apple ProRes 422 and Apple ProRes 422 HQ were first supported in Final Cut 2 (2001); Apple ProRes 422 Proxy, Apple ProRes 422 LT and Apple ProRes 4444 were added with Final Cut Pro 7 (2009); Apple ProRes 4444 XQ was added to Final Cut Pro X (2012). Apple has licensed Apple ProRes for use in specific products and workflows. Although Apple complains that unauthorized implementations provided by other third-party software and hardware products including FFmpeg "might result in decoding errors, performance degradation, incompatibility, and instability," this support is a further indicator of adoption.
There are two main branches of Apple ProRes: the Apple ProRes 422 codec family and the Apple ProRes 4444 codec family. In 2018, Apple released ProRes RAW to the family for use in capturing RAW footage in cameras. ProRes codecs are supported only on authorized ProRes products like Final Cut Pro and Abode Premiere Pro. To play ProRes on Windows, the corresponding ProRes codec for Windows is required.
ProRes 4444 uses 4:4:4 color sampling to encode RGB log film scans, and a higher bit rate (less compression) than the ProRes 422 codecs. ProRes 4444 XQ takes this further by using even less compression. (However, 4444 XQ is a newer format and isn't as widely supported as ProRes 4444 -- yet). 2ff7e9595c
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