ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

13 years ago - Winfield Edson

I don't know if it's possible to reduce your file to 8gb in apple prores 422? I've used h264 and mpeg compression and been very happy. You'll always lose some quality when you compress, but a good compressor will make it very hard to notice. Also, I like using quicktime pro to compress, as opposed to fCP.

13 years ago - Peter Ward

One needs be more specif about what codec (if any) the original file is,--saying it's a "Quicktime" just means it's in a .mov wrapper--the resolution of the original, the desired resolution of the compressed file and the frame rate to determine what trasncoding software will work. (Failing that, at least knowing what device created the file might suffice. Hyperdeck Shuttle perhaps?) Probably Compressor, MPEGStreamclip or QT Pro will do it.

Also one needs to consider the delivery requirements--what is the video being used for post-compression. As Winfield (above) notes, any compression will lower quality. What codec and bitrate will give the best quality depends on the length of the clip. A short clip (+/- 5 mins) might work as ProRes 422, a long one might do fine h.264 but will not be optimal for editing. Why does it have to be specifically 8GB in size?

[NB: lack of essential information is bane of questions posted. It might be helpful to politely demand as much detail as possible, a la Creative Cow, in the SP posting guidelines.]

12 years, 12 months ago - Mark Brindle

Hi Colin, as Peter says we need a bit more info. If you must go to prores 422 then (rather then prores 423 lt or hq) then you have no options over quality. So convert to prores 422 ( use fcp media manager, qt pro, compressor whichever you prefer) and see what size your file is. If its NOT under 8gb then you can't go to prores 422 and you need to use another compression like h.264, make it a physically smaler frame size like 720p or SD or make your film shorter!

12 years, 12 months ago - Magnus Aronson

MPEG Streamclip. It's free. You know your preferred codec, so just slide the quality down.

12 years, 12 months ago - Beaumont Loewenthal

I think Peter answered your question the best. If you are done with editing it and want to compress it purely for storage or uploading to the internet, then go for h.264 as it'll make your file size a lot smaller but is not great for editing with.