Production & Post Global Viewpoint – August 2017
By Jim Bask
Editing 4K on Avid’s Media Composer
Editors have used mezzanine codecs to save on storage and network requirements. The two favorite codecs have been Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD and more recently DNxHR. The codecs are supported right back to the camera in many cases. However, since Apple have stopped supporting QuickTime for Windows the support for the export of ProRes files from applications running on Windows has been seriously curtailed. This leaves DNxHD/HR as the codecs of choice for any workflow that is using the Microsoft platform.
There was a time when editing projects shot in 4K was a daunting challenge. Today, however, especially for the industry’s leading NLE, the Avid Media Composer, responsible for posting the vast majority of prime time programming and top feature films, this mountain has become easier to climb because of the proliferation of lower resolution intermediary or mezzanine formats that provide proxies of the original files that are lighter to store and easier to process…[continue reading]