ProRes 422
Encyclopedia
ProRes 422 is a standard-definition
and high-definition
lossy video compression format developed by Apple Inc. for use in post production. It was introduced in 2007 with Final Cut Studio
2 and is comparable to Avid's DNxHD codec
which has the same purpose and uses similar bit rates. Both are DCT
based intra-frame
-only codecs, and are therefore simpler to decode than distribution oriented formats like H.264.
Other intermediate codecs include those made by CineForm
and Avid
.
FFmpeg
on 15 September 2011 introduced a free
decoder for ProRes 422 for libavcodec
. An encoder was released on 29 October 2011.
At the NAB show 2010, April 2010 DVS Digital Video Inc. launched the first Windows 7 platform with the ability to encode to all the varieties of Apple ProRes at speeds far faster than real time on their Clipster product.
On, March 31, 2011, Telestream added support for ProRes encoding on Windows system with Episode Engine, Vantage and FlipFactory as free upgrade to the current versions of these products. The system must be running on Windows Server 2008, to be able to support this feature. ProRes video capturing and output to tape is available in Telestream's Pipeline network encoder.
As of June 2011, several hardware-based ProRes encoders exist, from AJA (IO HD FireWire 800 interface; Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini portable recorders), Atomos (Ninja and Samurai recorders), Sound Devices (PIX series recorders), and Fast Forward Video (Sidekick recorder].
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
and high-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
lossy video compression format developed by Apple Inc. for use in post production. It was introduced in 2007 with Final Cut Studio
Final Cut Studio
Final Cut Studio is a professional video and audio production suite for Mac OS X from Apple Inc., and a direct competitor to Avid Media Composer in the high-end movie production industry...
2 and is comparable to Avid's DNxHD codec
DNxHD codec
Avid DNxHD, which stands for "Digital Nonlinear Extensible High Definition", is a lossy high-definition video post-production codec engineered for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. It is an implementation of SMPTE VC-3 standard...
which has the same purpose and uses similar bit rates. Both are DCT
Discrete cosine transform
A discrete cosine transform expresses a sequence of finitely many data points in terms of a sum of cosine functions oscillating at different frequencies. DCTs are important to numerous applications in science and engineering, from lossy compression of audio and images A discrete cosine transform...
based intra-frame
Intra-frame
Intra-frame coding is used in video coding . It is part of group of pictures with inter frames.The term intra-frame coding refers to the fact that the various lossless and lossy compression techniques are performed relative to information that is contained only within the current frame, and not...
-only codecs, and are therefore simpler to decode than distribution oriented formats like H.264.
Key features
- Full-width 1920x1080 and 1280x720
- 4:2:2 chroma sampling
- 10-bit sample depth
- I frame-only encoding
- Variable bit-rate (VBRVariable bitrateVariable bitrate is a term used in telecommunications and computing that relates to the bitrate used in sound or video encoding. As opposed to constant bitrate , VBR files vary the amount of output data per time segment...
) encoding - Normal 147 Mbit/s and High-Quality 220 Mbit/s for HD resolution at 60i
- Normal 42 Mbit/s and High-Quality 63 Mbit/s for SD resolution at 29.97
- Fast encoding and decoding (both at full size and half size)
Intermediate codecs
ProRes is an intermediate codec, which means it is intended for use during video editing, and not intended for practical or end-user viewing. The benefit of an intermediate codec is that it retains higher quality than end-user codecs while still requiring much less expensive disk systems compared to uncompressed video.Other intermediate codecs include those made by CineForm
CineForm
-CineForm Intermediate:CineForm Intermediate is proprietary video codec developed for CineForm Inc by David Newman and Brian Schunck. On March 30, 2011, the company was acquired by GoPro which in particular wanted to use the 3D film capabilities of the CineForm 444 Codec for its new 3D HERO®...
and Avid
DNxHD codec
Avid DNxHD, which stands for "Digital Nonlinear Extensible High Definition", is a lossy high-definition video post-production codec engineered for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. It is an implementation of SMPTE VC-3 standard...
.
Playback
Apple on 28 August 2008 introduced a free ProRes QuickTime Decoder for both Mac and Windows that allows playback of ProRes files through QuickTime.FFmpeg
FFmpeg
FFmpeg is a free software project that produces libraries and programs for handling multimedia data. The most notable parts of FFmpeg are libavcodec, an audio/video codec library used by several other projects, libavformat, an audio/video container mux and demux library, and the ffmpeg command line...
on 15 September 2011 introduced a free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
decoder for ProRes 422 for libavcodec
Libavcodec
libavcodec is a free software/open source LGPL-licensed library of codecs for encoding and decoding video and audio data. Same name but incompatible libraries are provided from both FFmpeg project and Libav project....
. An encoder was released on 29 October 2011.
Encoding
Installing Final Cut Pro will install the ProRes codecs for encoding your own files on OSX. No free codec for encoding is currently available for Windows based system.At the NAB show 2010, April 2010 DVS Digital Video Inc. launched the first Windows 7 platform with the ability to encode to all the varieties of Apple ProRes at speeds far faster than real time on their Clipster product.
On, March 31, 2011, Telestream added support for ProRes encoding on Windows system with Episode Engine, Vantage and FlipFactory as free upgrade to the current versions of these products. The system must be running on Windows Server 2008, to be able to support this feature. ProRes video capturing and output to tape is available in Telestream's Pipeline network encoder.
As of June 2011, several hardware-based ProRes encoders exist, from AJA (IO HD FireWire 800 interface; Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini portable recorders), Atomos (Ninja and Samurai recorders), Sound Devices (PIX series recorders), and Fast Forward Video (Sidekick recorder].