Re: What codec do you use for lossless video in particular for MAC OS X ?

[Marcello Mazzilli] "...Premiere (on Mac) doesn't use Pro-Res in realtime like Final Cut does..."

I have no explanation for that. All I can say is that until the day comes when Microsoft, Adobe and Apple all decide to use the same multimedia standards, life will be harder than it has to be. In any case, importing mp4 video into AE, whether it's on a Windows box or a Mac, is a bad idea:

Dave's Stock Answer #1:

If the footage you imported into AE is any kind of the following -- footage in an HDV acquisition codec, MPEG1, MPEG2, mp4, m2t, H.261 or H.264 -- you need to convert it to a different codec.

These kinds of footage use temporal, or interframe compression. They have keyframes at regular intervals, containing complete frame information. However, the frames in between do NOT have complete information. Interframe codecs toss out duplicated information.

In order to maintain peak rendering efficiency, AE needs complete information for each and every frame. But because these kinds of footage contain only partial information, AE freaks out, resulting in a wide variety of problems.


Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA