So......codecs. What the heck are they? Well, it's how your movie will be encoded in order to provide proper playback on the device or medium you want the video to be seen. There are certain codecs required for You Tube and Vimeo. There are certain codecs required for burning to a DVD or Blu-ray. There are also codecs that allow you to render uncompressed video footage which gives you the best picture quality available (along with an enormous file size to deal with). There's a lot of talk going on nowadays about RAW, Pro Res 422, VXCAM 422, DnX 422, 2.5K, and 4K. Where do those file types come from? Your camera. Most DSLR, Consumer, and some Prosumer cameras record video data as AVCHD files (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) -which is a format owned by Sony and Panasonic. In order to get the higher quality RAW or uncompressed formats, your camera needs to have the capability to record data in that format. Cameras like the Blackmagic Design 2.5K/4K, the Blackmagic Pocket, Canon 60D, Canon 5D Mark III, Sony FS700, and etc. You cannot simply take an AVCHD file and upgrade it to 4K RAW. That just simply cannot happen primarily because the RAW format records tons more data and creates a picture size so much larger than standard AVCHD. So, what's the big deal. Why can't you use just any codec and be happy with it? Well, again, it comes back to your end game. What will you be doing with this video? That will determine the quality you want to have. But, be wary. Some HD codecs can compress your video down so much, that it will have no difference between standard definition and high definition. It is important when choosing a codec to see how big the exported file size will be. The larger the file size (MB or GB), the better quality it has because it's not compressing the data so much. Most software programs will tell you what the file size will be after exporting is complete. If your software does not, then..............get a different software. Adobe Premiere, Final Cut, AVID, Sony Vegas....all let you see the file size before exporting. Here are some options to consider for export codecs:
There are lots of tutorials out there to help you decide which codec is best for your project, but ultimately you will have to decide which one gives you the quality you are looking for. You also need to recognize that what ever device will be playing your video, it needs to have the proper codecs to decode the video format. DVD and Blu-ray players generally do not support Apple ProRes 422 or XDCAM 422 unless you author the video file onto a DVD or Blu-ray disc. Likewise, online streaming services generally do not accept uncompressed codecs because the file size is too large.
It's always a good idea once you have completed exporting your video to play the video on several different sources to make sure it works on a variety of things.
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