Hi, Bill. The interesting thing is these codecs allow swapping footage between editors of various NLEs--even PC and Mac. That's what interested me in the first place.

Indeed, I can work on a project on a PC in my studio, then take the files to work and use their MACS....quite handy, combined with MediaoFOUR's MACDRIVE software.

I recommend Avid DNxHD for media exchange between Vegas Pro and Final Cut Pro (though I personally try to avoid using Quicktime formats on PC). It's of high quality, it's free - and it works ;)

Marco

Recenly I tried using DNxHD, to export 1440x1080 @ 50P out of (QT-based) Boris Red, but wasn't able to determine what template or setting to use for DNxHD. I use 50P a lot (and 60P sometimes), at several resolutions (from mobile phones to HD), so if anyone has any tips or knows of any guides on how to plumb non standard things like these into DNxHD that'd be great.

I've been using Cineform traditionally and ProRes more recently, now that Apple have made their 'Dec (but not their Co') available on Windows. I found their settings options (for the same non standard formats) more obvious.

(...Been editing this post a while, sorry if I cross any other postings,...).

New into the Avid jungle, trying to get a feel for what varieties of DNxHD should be used for what, and what (if any) of those varieties fit my workflow, so I've been Googling. In case useful to anyone else or to prompt discussion towards a firmer understanding, I share what I've learnt here:

From http://forums.dvdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=37163&page=2 (way back in Feb 2006):

"Sky have adopted the avid DNxHD codec for their machines. they use DNxHD at 185Mb/s (10bit full raster) and this actually uses less storage than SD."

"Xpress Pro HD renders HDV effects using the DNxHD-120 codec, which won't be quite as high quality as DNxHD-185"

So I think DNxHD-185 is the way to go. But I wonder, is that comparable to using proRes-HQ, when in fact just straight ProRes (lower bitrate) is sufficient for standard footage ? So I start Googling on Prores and DNxHD bitrates:

According to Wikipedia (just now):
* ProRes bitrates:
- Normal 145 Mbit/s and High-Quality 220 Mbit/s for HD resolution at 60i
- Normal 42 Mbit/s and High-Quality 63 Mbit/s for SD resolution at 29.97

In which case, if they are broadly comparable in efficiency (which I guess they are), then DNxHD-185 doesn't sound excessive.

Wikipedia (just now) also said:
* Unlike DNxHD, ProRes 422 provides full functionality at advanced resolutions (2K and 4K cinema) and SD. So I wonder what kind of functionality gets lost...

ProRes white paper at http://images.apple.com/finalcutstudio/docs/Apple_ProRes_White_Paper_July_2009.pdf (just now) suggests bitrate 245 Mbps for (8-bit?) HD @ 50P (though it says nothing about HDV @ 50P).

Avid forum thread http://community.avid.com/forums/t/60656.aspx says:
"DNxHD-TR120" means: DNxHD Compression. TR = Thin Raster (1440x1080 instead of 1920x1080). 120 = 120Mb/s. So your DNxHD file is 120Mb/s which is almost 5 times the data rate of the raw HDV material.

I guess from this that 120bps is broadly OK for 1440x1080 @ 25i (consistent with the Xpress pro info above). For 1440x1080 @ 50p I guess 185Mbps would be more appropriate. For 1920x1080 @ 50p maybe need something bigger than 185bps - is that true?. Looks (from codec config selection list) like it goes up to 220Mbps for "1080i/59.94 DNxHD 220 8-bit", which as it says is still interlaced, not 60P.

But this is just guesswork. And I'm also guessing (e.g. from http://community.avid.com/forums/p/71327/398673.aspx#398673 that non standard formats might not necessarily be supported at all. Or does anyone have a more pragmatic answer (like "I tried this and it works OK").

The lower bitrate options like 36/8-bit seem more designed for low-rez proxies e.g. for offline editing http://www.avid.com/DNxHD/features.asp.

Incidentally, when I installed the Avid codec package I also got other codecs: Avid 1:1, Avid DV Codec, Avid DV100 Codec, Avid Meridien Compressed, Avid Meridian Uncompressed, Avid Packed Codec. I'm guessing that these are older and more specialised codecs than DNxHD and so in general can be ignored. Is that true?

Get the whitepaper and read that, if you haven't already. That should help with your selection of "Configuration."

When you select the DNxHD codec from the Quicktime window in "Render As," there's a bug in the PC interface. At the bottom of the configure window there's sliver of a dropdown menu at the bottom of the options window. Cick on that sliver and you'll get a list of the free bitrates. The numbers for the bitrates are accurate, but they are just suggestions for the kind of video you are working with. Hit "enter" on your keyboard when done, since you can't see/click on the OK button. Don't click on cancel!

Just make certain you use like bitrate options--progressive for progressive and interlaced for interlaced. Do not mix the two, it can and will cause problems!

Get the whitepaper, it will help. It's an easy read.