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Subject: Re: [AE] lossless codec in a container roundup
From: Jim Curtis <jpcurtis@me.com>
In-reply-to: <list-5146575@media-motion.tv>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:58:35 -0500
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Message-id: <128CA547-14C1-492E-856C-303B9B5296A8@me.com>
References: <list-5146575@media-motion.tv>
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>

You're smart to be nervous.  I mastered a lot of projects on Digital =
Anarchy's Microcosm.  And I don't want to get fooled again.

I'm concerned about all proprietary codecs.  Especially from small =
companies, and even Avid, since their stock is so volatile, and they =
seem to verge on bankruptcy way too much.

What we all need is an open-source, cross platform, high bit depth, =
alpha supported codec.


On Jul 18, 2013, at 10:38 AM, Louai Abu-Osba wrote:

> One codec i'm curious about is SheerVideo:
> http://www.bitjazz.com/en/products/sheervideo/
> =46rom the site:
>=20
> With its direct lossless support for all professional pixel formats
> for digitized film & synthetic imagery (RGB[A]) and video (Y'CbCr[A]),
> both with and without alpha, in high (10-bit) and standard (8-bit)
> precision, full-range and video-range, uniformly sampled (4:4:4[:4])
> and 1:2 chroma-subsampled (4:2:2[:4]); at any resolution, including HD
> (high definition) and SD (standard definition), NTSC, PAL, & SECAM;
> 4:3 & 16:9, progressive and interlaced, SheerVideo is the most
> versatile codec in the world. Support for 16-bit channels is coming
> soon too, to satisfy the needs of the most demanding expert.
>=20
> It's $100 a license if you buy over two. It sounds great, I'll likely
> test it. There's also a free read only codec. However, I've never come
> across it in professional settings, which always makes me nervous
> regarding it's longevity.
>=20
> -louai
>=20
> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 11:23 AM, Jim Curtis <jpcurtis@me.com> wrote:
>> I'm on Macs.
>>=20
>> I use ProRes with Quicktime and it's awesome, but it's reportedly not =
too Windows-friendly, without hacks.
>>=20
>> 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.
>>=20
>> 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.
>>=20
>> 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.
>>=20
>> A lot of people recommend QT Photo-JPEG at 92% quality.  No alpha.  =
Not sure of the bit-depth.
>>=20
>> There's also QT PNG, but I don't use it, because ProRes is more =
efficient.  It supports alpha.
>>=20
>> 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.
>>=20
>> I'm interested to read other insights on this as well.
>>=20
>>=20
>> On Jul 18, 2013, at 9:54 AM, Louai Abu-Osba wrote:
>>=20
>>> 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---+
>>> To unsubscribe send any message to <ae-list-off@media-motion.tv>
>>=20
>>=20
>> +---End of message---+
>> To unsubscribe send any message to <ae-list-off@media-motion.tv>
>=20
> +---End of message---+
> To unsubscribe send any message to <ae-list-off@media-motion.tv>