Understanding Video Codecs

[00:00] So you put all of this

[00:02] You hit export, you upload it

[00:04] Well, it doesn't look

[00:07] What went wrong?

[00:08] Why is it all so hard?

[00:11] It's okay.

[00:13] We've all been there.

[00:15] Take a deep breath.

[00:17] Now, exporting video correctly out of

[00:20] pretty much any other editing software

[00:24] really simple if you stick to the basics.

[00:26] And nine times out of 10,

[00:28] You only really need to Two options.

[00:30] Two options.

[00:31] Now, for those who are here

[00:34] The top level info that you are looking

[00:38] for a high quality save of your edit.

[00:40] Option two, H264 WebReady Copy, high

[00:45] like YouTube and a low bit rate version

[00:48] And sneaky option three, both.

[00:51] For those who want to dive

[00:53] So what the heck is Prores?

[00:55] What the heck is H 264?

[00:56] What the heck is a codec?

[00:58] It's rapid fire information time.

[01:00] A codec is a software process that is used

[01:03] of files in the case of a video edit

[01:07] a smaller, more manageable file

[01:10] Then that other system can decode it

[01:13] That system could be a different

[01:17] system, such as YouTube, for example.

[01:18] The word in itself is a portmanteau

[01:21] You code your files,

[01:24] you decode your files to view codec.

[01:26] H264 and Prores are codecs.

[01:29] Once the compression process

[01:33] will then be contained in a wrap up

[01:35] That wrap up will be the file format.

[01:37] Mp4 and MOV are containers,

[01:41] whatever helps you best visualize it.

[01:43] H264 is to MP4 and Prores is to MOV.

[01:47] If you do need an analogy, picture

[01:51] on a nice flat surface, easily

[01:54] Now open it up and check

[01:56] Not as easy to move all these things

[01:59] Let it roll in through bustling streets

[02:01] without a suitcase, am I right?

[02:03] Well, in this perfectly

[02:05] and personal items are all the video

[02:08] and information contained in your edit.

[02:11] The suitcase is the wrap up,

[02:14] of carefully packing that suitcase

[02:18] Now, there are two types of codecs.

[02:19] You've got lossy and lossless.

[02:21] There's also two types of stock asset

[02:25] And guess what?

[02:27] This video is brought to you by Envato,

[02:31] The broadest range

[02:33] that you need to make great videos.

[02:35] Follow the link in the description

[02:43] Where was I?

[02:45] Right.

[02:48] H264 is an example of a lossy codec.

[02:51] During the coding process,

[02:55] decided algorithmically, and anything

[02:59] This doesn't mean that intrinsically is

[03:01] it just means that the compression

[03:05] minimum amount of data that will still

[03:09] of quality in your video.

[03:11] This means if you bring that lossy file

[03:14] then you'll be double lossy

[03:17] Marques Brownly actually did a similar

[03:20] looking more at the compression algorithm

[03:25] and it's a great example of what happens

[03:29] and recode, and decode,

[03:31] and again, like a thousand times.

[03:33] And I'm certainly not going to do that.

[03:34] So it's really good if you want to go and

[03:37] It gives a pretty good example

[03:40] But yeah, it sounds

[03:41] Why would you use this?

[03:42] Well, it's a much smaller, more manageable

[03:48] It serves its purpose as a delivery

[03:51] Like I said before, it will retain

[03:53] of quality for your video.

[03:55] Then you have lossless

[03:58] Now, a lossless file is

[04:00] Funny about that, right?

[04:01] In the compression process, when that is

[04:07] Now, don't quote me on that.

[04:07] It's basically 100%,

[04:09] Look, this is already

[04:11] Let's not split hairs.

[04:12] Don't come for me down in the comments.

[04:14] Now, a package It manages

[04:16] Mov file to be viewed

[04:19] And that sounds great.

[04:22] Because they're huge

[04:25] I ran it in a 10 minute 4K sequence

[04:29] a high a bit depth flavor of Prores,

[04:33] And my rushes for the entire project

[04:36] Now, I am a Mac user and I cut mostly

[04:39] I do stand Prores, but I'll caveat this

[04:44] Da Vinci resolve on PC does not support

[04:48] It can read them, but it can't

[04:51] There are, of course, some workarounds,

[04:54] due to licensing issues, even

[04:57] Now, Premiere Pro, on the other hand,

[05:00] of Apple Prores on PC and has done so

[05:04] So there's that caveat.

[05:07] If you are on PC, I believe that

[05:10] is DnxHD or DnxHR in an Mxf Rapper.

[05:14] Again, we're getting technical.

[05:16] So when do you use them both?

[05:18] Well, if you've finished your project,

[05:21] the client is asking for the final files,

[05:25] You can select 422, unless you know it

[05:29] reason, grading or VFX purposes.

[05:31] But at this point, we're mastering

[05:35] This copy will be your master copy

[05:38] and you can make subsequent Mp4 copies

[05:42] to for any reason,

[05:43] compression I mentioned a while

[05:48] Next, you'll render a H264 MP4 file,

[05:52] to save YouTube for web playback.

[05:53] It'll be light in terms of size.

[05:55] The quality will be sufficient for those

[05:58] and you won't have a client threadting

[06:01] 2 hours before it's supposed to go live.

[06:05] Depending on your NLE of choice,

[06:08] when it comes to the level

[06:11] You can pump the bit rate of the file,

[06:15] file, but it won't be anywhere near as

[06:19] This whole thing is boring.

[06:20] It's tedious, but it's very important.

[06:22] And I hope this rapid fire technical

[06:26] has helped demonstrate the points

[06:29] So let's recap together.

[06:31] Master in Prores, web ready in H 264.

[06:34] And this is actually

[06:36] But if you're having trouble

[06:39] or Da Vinci Resolve and you're banging

[06:42] but my CPU and my GPU are the best

[06:45] And why is this happening to me

[06:48] What am I doing wrong?

[06:49] Well, the answer again is take a breath.

[06:51] It's likely codec related.

[06:53] In short, if you're working

[06:56] then try transcribing them to Prores

[06:59] You'll a much better time, or maybe even

[07:03] If you do want me to dive deeper

[07:06] let me know down in the comments

[07:08] Now, I hope that has helped

[07:10] in this relatively complex topic.

[07:13] So thank you for watching.

[07:14] And until next time, stay lossless.