ProRes is a line of intermediate codecs, which means they are intended for use during video editing, and not for practical end-user viewing. This is achieved by only using intra-frame compression, where each frame is stored independently and can be decoded with no dependencies on other frames. The benefit of an intermediate codec is that it offers excellent random access performance in post-production applications, and retains higher quality than end-user codecs while still requiring much less expensive disk systems compared to uncompressed video. It is comparable to Avid's DNxHD codec or CineForm which offer similar bitrates and are also intended to be used as intermediate codecs. ProRes is a DCT scalar based[3]intra-frame-only codec and is therefore simpler to decode than distribution-oriented formats like H.264. In 2018 Apple added a new "ProRes RAW" (compressed Bayer filter) to Final Cut Pro X,[4] after Blackmagic Design implemented compressed Bayer as "CinemaDNG 3:1" and "CinemaDNG 4:1" in their cameras and DaVinci Resolve.[5]
Data rates
ProRes supports different data rates and different resolutions. All ProRes422-variants use chroma subsampling of 4:2:2 at 10-bit color depth. ProRes 4444 and 4444 XQ samples color in the 4:4:4 schema with a color depth of 10 or 12bits, and can optionally include an alpha channel.
ProRes 4444 was introduced with Final Cut Studio (2009)[7] as another in the company's line of intermediate codecs for editing material but not for final delivery. It shares many features with other, 422, codecs of Apple's ProRes family but provides better quality than 422 HQ in color detail.[8] It has a target data rate of approximately 330Mbit/s for 4:4:4 sources at 1920x1080 and 29.97 fps.
ProRes 4444 XQ was introduced with Final Cut Pro X version 10.1.2 in June 2014. It has a target data rate of approximately 500Mbit/s for 4:4:4 sources at 1920x1080 and 29.97 fps, and requires OS X v10.8 (Mountain Lion) or later.
Key features
8K, 5K, 4K, 2K, HD (up to 1920×1080), & SD resolutions[8]
Alpha channel support at up to 16-bit sample depth
ProRes RAW
In April 2018 Apple released ProRes RAW. It is built upon the same technology as other ProRes codecs, but is directly applied to the raw data coming from the sensor, thus delaying the debayering process to the post-production stage. ProRes RAW therefore aims at quality and better color reproduction, rather than performance.[9]
Apple ProRes RAW is available in LUMIX cameras and the Sony Alpha FX3 via Atomos Ninja V.
ProRes RAW is a 16 bit uncompressed[citation needed] video format in .mov.
In Sony FX3 and Atomos Ninja V, ProRes Raw record in 16 bit and compress in 12 bit of color data.
ProRes RAW encoder is natively available in Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Assimilate Scratch and Apple Final Cut Pro. Davinci Resolve users need to convert it to another format before they can use it.
Playback
On 28 August 2008, Apple introduced a free ProRes QuickTime Decoder for both Mac and Windows that allows playback of ProRes files through QuickTime.
Open source projects
On 15 September 2011, FFmpeg introduced a free decoder for ProRes 422 for libavcodec.
FFmbc, a fork of FFmpeg customized for broadcast and professional usage, supports ProRes 422 and 4444 files.[10]
On 1 October 2011,[11]JCodec introduced an open source (FreeBSD License) pure Java decoder for ProRes 422, a translation[12] of the FFmpeg version.
FFmpeg as of 2024, now supports encoding generally compatible (for current hardware and broadcasting software suites) Proxy-HQ and 4444/4444XQ modes, but still only supports 10-bit or 16-bit modes and not the 12-bit standard for the 4444 codec versions (4:4:4 chroma subsampling) compared to hardware and native Apple licensed software encoders.
Encoding
Installing Final Cut Pro will install the ProRes codecs for encoding files on macOS. Without Final Cut Pro installed, QuickTime Player can also be used to capture ProRes 422 video from any compatible attached camera, using the "Maximum" quality setting when producing a Movie Recording.[13]
Apple released ProRes bundled with other pro codecs as a download for users with "qualifying copies of Final Cut Pro, Motion, or Compressor" installed, for OS X with QuickTime 7.6 and newer.[14]
At the April 2010 NAB Show, Digital Video Systems launched the first Windows 7 platform with the ability to encode to all the varieties of Apple ProRes at speeds far faster than real time on their Clipster product.[15]
On March 31, 2011, Telestream added support for ProRes encoding on Windows systems with Episode Engine, Vantage, and FlipFactory as a free upgrade to the current versions of these products. The system must be running on Windows Server 2008 and be able to support this feature. ProRes video capturing and output to tape is available in Telestream's Pipeline network encoder.
On 29 October 2011, FFmpeg introduced a free encoder, enabling ProRes 422 encoding on all FFmpeg supported platforms.
At the April 2012 NAB Show, Brevity introduced a customized algorithm for the accelerated transport and encoding of ProRes files.[17]
Frame layout
A typical ProRes 422 frame has the following layout:
Frame container atom
Frame header
Picture 1
Picture 2 (interlaced frames only)
ProRes hardware
The Arri Alexa has a built-in ProRes recording unit for its 1080p and 2K video streams, supporting ProRes 4444 and all ProRes 422 versions.
As of June 2011, several hardware-based ProRes encoders exist, from AJA Video Systems[18] (HD FireWire 800 interface; Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini portable recorders, Ki Pro Rack and Ki Pro Ultra for 4K/UltraHD workflows), Atomos[19] (Ninja and Samurai recorders), Sound Devices (PIX series recorders), Convergent Designs (Odyssey7, 7Q, 7Q+), and Fast Forward Video[20] (Sidekick recorder).
At NAB 2012, Blackmagic announced ProRes recording support for their HyperDeck SSD recorders as well as onboard recording on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, and Brevity announced a GPU-based ProRes transcoder with simultaneous accelerated file transport.[21]
In 2013 Blackmagic Design released Blackmagic Cinema Camera that record in raw and Prores files directly in camera 4:2:2 10bit.
In 2013 Convergent Design introduced their Odyssey7 and Odyssey7Q monitor/recorders that can record in Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) and are certified by Apple.[22]
In 2014 Atomos introduced their latest advanced recorder Shogun that can record 4K in Apple ProRes.[23]
In 2015 AJA introduced the CION production camera that can capture 4K/UltraHD/2K/HD to all Apple ProRes 422 formats as well as Apple ProRes 4444 in 12-bit.[24]
In 2016 Blackmagic Design released UrsaMini 4.6k that can capture from 4.6k to HD in all Apple ProRes flavor from Proxy to 4444 in 12-bit.
In 2018/2019 Blackmagic Design released Pocket Cinema Camera 4K that can capture 4k/UltraHD/1080p in all Apple ProRes 422 formats.
In 2019 Mac Pro introduced a new "Apple Afterburner" card as an optional component to accelerate ProRes and ProRes RAW decoding.
In 2021, Apple announced the iPhone 13 Pro, with ProRes encoding/decoding using its built-in camera app alongside its recent addition of DNG raw photos (DNG v5.1) on the 12 Pro Models. ProRes encoding can be performed at up to 3840 × 2160 30p ProRes HQ with Dolby Vision HDR color profiles on models with at least 256GB of storage, while the 128GB model will be limited to 1080p 30p with its built-in camera application. Other applications such as Filmic Pro (a third-party application, notably used by Apple for their demo reels in recent years) bypasses this limitation on lower end models and allows full industry compliant ProRes 10bit 4:2:2 profiles LT, 422, and HQ using the less supported Dolby Vision HDR standard. In 2023, Apple announced the iPhone 15 Pro, which added the ability to shoot ProRes in the Apple Log format, as well as the ability to shoot ProRes footage at up to 3840 x 2160 60p to an external drive via the USB-C port from the built-in camera application.
In 2021, Apple announced the Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max, variants of the Apple M1system on a chip containing, among other new features, hardware ProRes encoding and decoding acceleration.
On June 6, 2022, Apple announced the Apple M2 with 8K ProRes hardware decoding and encoding acceleration.
On January 17, 2023, Apple announced the Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max with 8K ProRes hardware decoding and encoding acceleration.
On October 30, 2023, Apple announced the Apple M3 series of chips with 8K ProRes hardware decoding and encoding acceleration.
Awards
The ProRes codec was awarded an Engineering Emmy Award in 2020 for "Outstanding Achievement in Technology".[25]
Avid DNxHD is a lossy high-definition video post-production codec developed by Avid for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. It is an implementation of SMPTE VC-3 standard.
libavcodec is a free and open-source library of codecs for encoding and decoding video and audio data.
AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video. It is H.264 and Dolby AC-3 packaged into the MPEG transport stream, with a set of constraints designed around camcorders.
The following is a list of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC products and implementations.
AVC-Intra is a type of video coding developed by Panasonic, and then supported in products made by other companies. AVC-Intra is available in Panasonic's high definition broadcast products, such as, for example, their P2 card equipped broadcast cameras.
The Apple Intermediate Codec is a high-quality 8-bit 4:2:0 video codec used mainly as a less processor-intensive way of working with long-GOP MPEG-2 footage such as HDV. It is recommended for use with all HD workflows in Final Cut Express, iMovie, and until Final Cut Pro version 5. The Apple Intermediate Codec abbreviated AIC is designed by Apple Inc. to be an intermediate format in an HDV and AVCHD workflow. It features high performance and quality, being less processor intensive to work with than other editing formats. Unlike native MPEG-2 based HDV - and similar to the standard-definition DV codec - the Apple Intermediate Codec does not use temporal compression, enabling every frame to be decoded immediately without decoding other frames. As a result of this, the Apple Intermediate Codec takes three to four times more space than HDV.
CineForm Intermediate is an open source video codec developed for CineForm Inc by David Taylor, David Newman and Brian Schunck. On March 30, 2011, the company was acquired by GoPro which in particular wanted to use the 3D film capabilities of the CineForm 444 Codec for its 3D HERO System.
CinemaDNG is the result of an Adobe-led initiative to define an industry-wide open file format for digital cinema files. CinemaDNG caters for sets of movie clips, each of which is a sequence of raw video images, accompanied by audio and metadata. CinemaDNG supports stereoscopic cameras and multiple audio channels. CinemaDNG specifies directory structures containing one or more video clips, and specifies requirements and constraints for the open format files,, within those directories, that contain the content of those clips.
The Arri Alexa is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. The Arri Alexa was introduced in April 2010 and was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography, after previous efforts including the Arriflex D-20 and D-21.
x265 is an encoder for creating digital video streams in the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265) video compression format developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC). It is available as a command-line app or a software library, under the terms of GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or later; however, customers may request a commercial license.
XAVC is a recording format that was introduced by Sony on October 30, 2012. XAVC is a format that will be licensed to companies that want to make XAVC products.
CineAsset was a complete mastering software suite by Doremi Labs that could create and playback encrypted and unencrypted DCI compliant packages from virtually any source. CineAsset included a separate "Editor" application for generating Digital Cinema Packages (DCPs). CineAsset Pro added the ability to generate encrypted DCPs and Key Delivery Messages (KDMs) for any encrypted content in the database. It has since been discontinued, along with CineAsset Player.
High Efficiency Video Coding implementations and products covers the implementations and products of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).
Nvidia NVENC is a feature in Nvidia graphics cards that performs video encoding, offloading this compute-intensive task from the CPU to a dedicated part of the GPU. It was introduced with the Kepler-based GeForce 600 series in March 2012.
The Cinema Camera is a line of digital movie cameras developed and manufactured by Blackmagic Design, introduced on September 4, 2012. They are a series of small form-factor cinema cameras that shoot in 6k, 4K, 2.5K, and 1080p resolution, and thus are more versatile when compared to standard-resolution digital movie cameras.
Versatile Video Coding (VVC), also known as H.266, ISO/IEC 23090-3, and MPEG-I Part 3, is a video compression standard finalized on 6 July 2020, by the Joint Video Experts Team (JVET) of the VCEG working group of ITU-T Study Group 16 and the MPEG working group of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29. It is the successor to High Efficiency Video Coding. It was developed with two primary goals – improved compression performance and support for a very broad range of applications.
Atomos is an Australian company primarily engaged in manufacturing and distribution of video equipment. The company specializes in producing 4K and HD Apple ProRes monitor recorders, designed for various video production purposes, including social media, YouTube, television, and cinematography. Atomos has significantly contributed to the adoption of Apple ProRes RAW format in Cinema Cameras. The company has also made innovations in several areas, including RAW recording through HDMI, wireless timecode, multi-camera setups, asynchronous switching, and streaming solutions.
The TICO codec, an abbreviation for "Tiny Codec," is a video compression technology created to facilitate the transmission of high-resolution video over existing network infrastructures, including both IP networks and SDI infrastructures, the result appears visually lossless. TICO codec was represented in 2013 by the Belgian company intoPIX.
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