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Subject: Re: [AE] lossless codec in a container roundup
From: Jim Curtis <jpcurtis@me.com>
In-reply-to: <list-5146487@media-motion.tv>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:23:59 -0500
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References: <list-5146487@media-motion.tv>
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>

I'm on Macs.

I use ProRes with Quicktime and it's awesome, but it's reportedly not =
too Windows-friendly, without hacks.

DNxHD is 10-bit, 4444, and free, but not versatile, since it's =
restricted to a set of frame sizes and frame rates.  e.g., you can't =
make a 300x300 pixel pre-render for use as an element in Ae; you're =
stuck with PAL, NTSC and HD frame sizes and rates.  I think Avid made it =
much more complicated than necessary.

I discovered one that looks interesting, called "UT Video." It seems to =
have the right specs:  It's free, alpha support, 4444, but it's only =
8-bit, which is a downside.

I've looked at Cineform, but it's not been totally stable for me, and =
it's not free, which means it's not universal.

A lot of people recommend QT Photo-JPEG at 92% quality.  No alpha.  Not =
sure of the bit-depth.

There's also QT PNG, but I don't use it, because ProRes is more =
efficient.  It supports alpha.

Wasn't Adobe working on a Cinema PNG format?  For BMD cameras?  What's =
up with that? =20

All these I mentioned aren't lossless, although most are visually =
lossless.  Some lossless codecs shouldn't even be called "codecs" =
because there's no compression and decompression taking place.  It's a =
term akin to "married bachelor."  It's a contradiction.

I'm interested to read other insights on this as well.


On Jul 18, 2013, at 9:54 AM, Louai Abu-Osba wrote:

> Hey All,
>=20
> I'm generally curious what everyone is using for a lossless codec =
these days.
> I'm also specifically looking for  a Windows friendly, resolution
> independent lossless codec in either an avi or mov container.
>=20
> -louai
>=20
> +---End of message---+
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