Miraizon ProRes Codec

I rendered a 4K clip using ProRes 422 and 422HQ, and PJPEG @ 85% and 95% in AE3. I brought the clips in to AE CC, and looked at them at 100%. I honestly couldn't see a difference among any of the 4 versions (but my eyes aren't great). At 200%, the differences became visible. The 85% and 95% PJPEGs still looked identical to me, but both ProRes renders were noticeably softer than the PJPEGs, making everything (particularly tree leaves and water reflections) soft and mushy. However, the blue sky noise was also softer and less pronounced, which clearly was a plus. The ProResHQ image had more details than the non-HQ version, but still not as detailed as either PJPEG version.

All in all, given the longer render times and larger files, I think I'm going to stick with PJPEG. For only $50, maybe it's worth keeping this one around, just in case. But I admit to being disappointed, as I expected more from ProRes than just what amounts to a (slow, bloated) blur filter. :-)

I too am a little disappointed. I did find that the quality has to be at 100%, rather than 90%-ish with PJPEG, and 422 HQ is definitely better at preserving details than 422, but about the same, strangely, as PJPEG at 90%.

Another issue I found was a bunch of horizontal lines/bands across the frame in any ProRes render, whether from Vegas or from AE. While you cannot see this looking normally, it is not a good thing to see, as it gets worse with subsequent renders. It is apparent if cropped in about halfway or so looking closely (at around 100% 4K, or 200% HD). Still, somehow, there is less banding in gradients.

I got fed up looking at this crap last night and made some real renders, and for all intensive purposes they look fine, but I'm still a bit disturbed.

In AE3, there is no quality setting available for ProRes. In AE CC, I tried 85%, 95%, and 100%, and could not see ANY difference (even in file sizes), so I assumed that having a % quality for ProRes was actually a bug. But based on what you wrote, it sounds like perhaps I was wrong. Well, I just tried one in AE CC set at 0%, and for me, it's identical to the one at 100%. I don't understand why you seem to have seen something different.

I have not seen (I just looked again) any horizontal lines in the ProRes rendered from AE3. And, just tried one in AE CC, and also I still don't see any banding or lines. But I'm still disappointed. And like you, I need to get back to making some real renders. :)

Now that you mention it, the details are bit fuzzy. Having about 12 various test clips floating around, it's entirely possible that the percentage slider was not doing anything, or, if it was, it was only doing something in Vegas but not AE CC. And going from 90% to 100% "shouldn't" change much. I was geting really punch drunk on this stuff, and frankly, kind of sick of it.

I think I'll keep the codec, but mainly use it when I need to do intermediate renders to make certain clips, like if I detect banding. Certain higher profile clips might get produced in ProRes for stock. However, based on patterns of quality/price/sales amounts, all I can say is that I've sold GoPro and Sony V1U HDV clips for as much as I've sold carefully crafted clips from the FS700, so I really don't think it matters overmuch in this market. It matters to me because I'm trying to do the best I can, but when it has me stalled, writing boring crap in tech forums, I know it's counterproductive.

Ha! Very well said. I'm also trying to do the best I can, and based on what I see, it looks like that means I'm sticking with PJPEG for now. Thanks for your thoughts, Mizamook.