ProRes 422 HQ vs ProRes 4444 - which is better?

[steven moreno]

Hey all -
So I have raw R3D's from a shoot that I want to put on my DP reel. I am cutting the reel in FCP 7. I dropped the clips that I want in a timeline in Redcine-X and I have colored them. On the export, what will produce better looking footage, ProRes 422 HQ or ProRes 4444?

 

[Eric Cameron]

Do your own comparisons, but in most circumstances, 422HQ will be sufficient. 4444 does hold more information, but you'd be hard pressed to see the difference visually. If you are planning to do heavy grading or VFX work from the prores, 4444 may be desirable, if not, 422HQ should be more than enough.

 

[Leland Haushalter]

422 HQ is more than enough for bluray / web.

 

[Nick Morrison]

444 just has more color depth than 422. If you plan to keep grading from them, use the 444. Otherwise as everyone has said, the HQ is more than good enough as a broadcast deliverable standard for 1080p.

 

[steven moreno]

thanks guys! I went with 444 because I plan to have my way with the footage in after effects

 

[jimhare]

Good decision Steven.

You won't see any differences in a simple compression test, but you will notice that 4444 holds together better and is much more flexible when you are working the footage.

The way I approach it is I use 422 as a delivery CODEC and 4444 as a working CODEC, especially if I want to do any grading/fx work.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Good decision Steven. The way I approach it is I use 422 as a delivery CODEC but 444 as a working CODEC, especially if I want to do any grading/fx work.

Nicely put.

 

[Antonio Ribeiro]

Nicely put.

Hi guys,

Maybe you can advise me on this: I'm a CS6 user and when I output an R3d edit to the web (h.264) or as a Master (mpg2), I seem to notice a little bit of noise even in the well lit areas not visible on the original files, which makes me think it's not an issue with the grading/colour correction, but maybe one to do with compression.

Has anyone here had a similar experience, or am I just missing a trick?

Thanks
Antonio

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

ProRes 422, 422 HQ, and 4444 are indistinguishable by the human eye. Most people (those that stare at images and footage all day, especially) can see a difference between Proxy, LT, and the others.

If it's the last time you're ever going to be working with it in any sort of color-important capacity, then 422 is enough, and 422 HQ is more than enough. 4444 contains more information that a computer can use to then DO THINGS with. Really helpful for green/blue screen and the like.

 

[Christopher Mills]

+1 to grading in 444 for max flexibility and deliver/exhibit in 422 or 422HQ depending on bandwidth.
In my world (studio promos and bonus modules for Blu ray), they only want 422HQ from me. The drama unit uses 444 only for the shots going to VFX.
RAW gets archived, 422Hq transcodes provided to editorial, 444 shots only go to VFX unit, and only from VFX shots.

 

[Alfonso Cammarano]

4.2.2 uses only half the chroma resolution, e.g. HD 1080 in each line only has 1920 points in luminacia and 920 in chroma, in return 4.4.4. used full resolution in chroma. If you use it for web or blue ray it ok 4.2.2 and 4.4.4 is suitable for composition or final master.

 

[Daniel Pitta]

Nicely

 

[Daniel Pitta]

Web 422 is enough, and 422 HQ is more than enough.