Codec confusion!

@Physics: If you color grade H264 directly and render it out to PhotoJPEG the quality is not good (assuming you are using After Effects CS4). Had the same problems when I begun to sell stockfootage a couple of years ago. But I found a very good solution. I use Neo from Cineform to transcode the H264 clips to Cineform 422.

The transcoded clips are by far better and have more latitude when it comes to grading. You can see the huge difference if you look after objects that have red color in them. The PhotoJPEG clip (directly from H264) is somewhat pixelated and the transcoded clip is super smooth! It's of course more work to transcode every clip with Cineform but it's really worth it.

Take a look a this tutorial here:
http://vimeo.com/19908622

At this point the only reason for a new upstart footage agency is their hope to sell something they develop to another established agency like Google. Their chance of success starting from scratch is slim to none. Now if they are already an established photo agency then they may have a chance to offer footage. Like OD said, too many have tried in the last 2-3 years, many with a good concept but all have failed.

@danielschweinert:

I do have Cineform, and use it on a lot of my clips.

Something I noticed though is that even after processing the clips through Cineform and then editing in AE, an output h264 file looks better than a photo jpeg. Areas of the photo jpeg become pixelated.

Many of my files are processed through Cineform, and then rendered to an h264. Check out some of my clips, the color and clarity are clear, although I know it is hard to tell on a preview.

I just wish the Cineform AVI was more commonly accepted, that file is awesome, but also shows that the data is there in an h264 for someone who wants to color grade.

I will often flip to Cineform, color grade in AE, and output to an H264 if I intend to color grade. The problem is, that rendering it back to both pjpeg and h264 makes it no longer 422.

@Physics what software are you using to edit your clips?

I use adobe ae CS5.5 for video, or that combined with photoshop for time lapse work.

Honestly, I think the entire discussion is a little late in the game. A professional editor can get about any file converted. We are talking about advertising or documentary production companies. They can capture any file they can play as a raw signal and turn it to whatever they want. Any file can be converted. Up-scaling to 422 in Pro Res or Cineform, is only as useful as color grading and then turning it back to 420, and the editor is likely to do this again after purchasing.

I provide video very frequently to media and documentary agencies, and in my experience as a professional in this field outside of stock imagery, is that I have never been asked for a Pro Res file.

I would say both photo jpeg and h264 are fine, depending on your work flow, as long as the end file is high quality, and there is no reason to worry about your old files being compatible, because they are.

I know this is really old but it's still interesting because there are so many details about the codecs (of that era).

To see the Photo JPEG details click on "4:2:2 C" (the third button from the left) and scroll down to Photo JPEG.
http://www.onerivermedia.com/codecs/

That is a fantastic link. Thanks much for posting. I did not know that pjpeg was 422, so I think I have to agree that it is the way to go.

Does anyone know, is h264 422 capable?

So reading this, using my cineform to convert the MOV/h264 from canon to the 422 cineform avi, then editing and exporting from AE to a pjpeg, the produced pjpeg is a 422 file correct?

I now understand the issue I was having with cineform files. It resulted from previewing the files in WMV Player. The 422 files converted from Cineform, then converted to PJpeg were showing massive artifacting. It is the player. Viewed in QT player the artifacts are not visible, telling me that the WMV player just cant handler the 422.

I know this is a dead horse beaten conversation, but I did not want to keep this information to myself if anyone else was having the same issue. photo jpeg is with out a doubt the ideal format at this time.

@Physics: Thanks for the info.

I never noticed artifacting because Im on a mac and I preview files with Quicktime or VLC Player.