Author Topic: Do film agencies or clients check licenses for Prores codecs? (Read 5336 times)

userpoland · « **on:** December 21, 2022, 02:29 »

I have a question. Do film agencies or clients check licenses for Prores codecs?

I have some videos in AVC/MP4 format, if I convert the videos to ProRes codecs through non-certified programs like Shutter Encoder or other programs that use the ffmpeg library, is it legal?

Who is responsible for selling movies in ProRes codecs. Film agencies, author or client?

I also have Vegas Pro with certified ProRes codecs but AVC/MP4 movies exported to ProRes are not of good quality with artifacts and not acceptable.

Better image quality is in free or paid converters that do not have a license for ProRes codecs, but what about the license, as Apple writes on its website?

ForrestBrown · « **Reply #1 on:** January 05, 2023, 15:00 »

Why not just leave the footage as MP4? There's no advantage to uploading Prores if you're just converting from MP4 to Prores. And your uploads are going to take longer since you'll have larger files.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #2 on:** January 05, 2023, 16:32 »

if your original file is using a 10bits codec, then you can do your customers a favor by converting and uploading ProRes, since (unfortunately) it's the only universally accepted codec able to preserve 10bits (I use Adobe Encoder, which is part of the free package offered by AS).
If your original file is 8 bits, it doesn't matter.

But I don't think that the vast majority of buyers will care too much about the codec. They will look for the right content first.

Visualab · « **Reply #3 on:** January 05, 2023, 17:48 »

buyers looks for a clip that fits their project....forget about codec or price.....do i look for an apple shot in prores if i need an orange??

stoker2014 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2023, 10:59 »

Quote from: userpoland on December 21, 2022, 02:29

I have a question. Do film agencies or clients check licenses for Prores codecs?

No

Quote from: userpoland on December 21, 2022, 02:29

I have some videos in AVC/MP4 format, if I convert the videos to ProRes codecs through non-certified programs like Shutter Encoder or other programs that use the ffmpeg library, is it legal?

Legal. Everything that is not prohibited is legal.

stoker2014 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2024, 05:00 »

Some authors wrote on the forum that they get a lot of money for the video because they sell it in the prores codec. But I know authors who are not bad at selling videos in MOV format but in the H.264 codec. Moreover, the file size of this file is much smaller than in the prores codec. Maybe buyers don’t care what codec, but only need the MOV format?

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2024, 03:05 »

My main work is as a senior (never liked the word!) editor in Broadcast TV.
If someone searches for ProRes, it is because he has his reasons.
No, they are not naive to think it's better quality.
They know how it goes.
Why are they searching for ProRes?
Because no matter the original file (8-bit 4:2:0 or 10-bit 4:2:2) the video is locked in a codec with no visible copy loss.
Apple says that ProRes HQ has that benefit, and then plain ProRes is ok.
Many never think that all videos are compressed (there are better compression codecs though) and since videos are compressed, every time you process them you get a slight loss of quality.
Here is how it could be:
We record (in any format) and that's the original file.
Then, we process and export for micro, which is the second copy.
After that, the buyer gets the file and edits it, which is the third copy.
In the end, he exports the finished product and that's the fourth copy.
There might be a fifth copy if someone who gets it wants to add subtitles, or export to another codec.

Therefore, a high-end customer will prefer ProRes if he has the option to choose from the same content.

Personally, I upload all my videos to ProRes because I have some high sales to the big three and I once (I might have said that in another post)
had a ProRes sale that earned me $603, which means the customer paid over 3 times more.

Final note: if I export an 8-bit to 10-bit (since I process my clips in post) even if that's just H.265 4:2:0 10-bit or ProRes that always locks to 4:2:2 10-bit I never see banding, which sometimes was the case with H.264.

But I will have to agree that these high sales are not frequent, and each one has to decide separately.
Exporting in ProRes means more time to upload and way more needed space to backup.

stoker2014 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 23, 2024, 06:34 »

Quote from: bestravelvideo on April 23, 2024, 03:05

Apple says that ProRes HQ has that benefit, and then plain ProRes is ok.

Are you rendering in ProRes HQ?

stoker2014 · « **Reply #8 on:** April 23, 2024, 06:37 »

I read that the "mov" format is better than "mp4" in quality. If the buyer is not looking for "prores", then when choosing between "mov" and "mp4" in the H.264 codec, most buyers will choose "mov".

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #9 on:** April 24, 2024, 11:08 »

Only limited cameras (aside the latest iPhones) record ProRres internally.
I think some from Panasonic and can't remember about other brands.
I record non ProRres, either 8-bit or 10-bit (depending on the camera I use) and then export that via Premiere in ProRes.
I probably failed to explain the following clearly, so let me try again:
No matter your original recording, when exported in ProRes it locks to a fixed bitrate and color depth at 10-bit 4:2:2.
You can't mess with it. It's always the same.
Only the size grows bigger, but again at fixed settings, depending on the framerate.
A 60 fps 4K ProRes is way bigger than a 4K 24 fps ProRes.
This is sometimes a problem if you upload long drone clips. It might go above the usual 4GB limit (limit the agencies impose, not the codec or windows), so you might have to export a shorter clip, less than 60 seconds (if ever you do so!)
The high end customer won't know if your original recording was ProRes or not, 8-bit or 10-bit.
What he cares is that (although the preview is always compressed) what he buys will not deteriorate in quality when he edits it.

Some add the ProRes detail in the description.

Now, even if a video is not ProRres, the editor can always buy it, first save your non-ProRes video in ProRres HQ and then edit it.
It's kind of the same like if he buys a Jpeg photo and firstly saves it as .TIFF to avoid extra quality loss and compression, then edit it (maybe even in 16-bit) and in the end export back as an 8-bit Jpeg.

Therefore, all the fuss about ProRes has to do with the quality and better handling in post-production.

stoker2014 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 24, 2024, 15:46 »

This is the first time I've heard that jpg can be converted to RAW and made corrections without loss of quality. The same goes for video.

Moreover, it is faster for the buyer to download a video in mp4 format and convert it to prores than to download a 3-4 GB video in the prores codec.