Apple ProRes is one of the most popular video formats in professional video production and post-production. ProRes is a codec technology developed by Apple for high-quality, high-performance editing in Final Cut Pro.
Apple ProRes RAW applies ProRes compression technology to RAW image data from the camera sensor. This delivers the flexibility of RAW video with the incredible performance of ProRes in a format ideal for high-dynamic-range (HDR) content creation.
In addition to this, unlike MP4, ProRes is a 10-bit codec, which means that you get more room to work with color grading as compared to H.264 and H.265. Assuming that you have now clearly understood why professionals prefer ProRes over MP4, the remaining two parts that follow from this point onward discuss the most recommended tools and methods.
Apple also licenses and certifies ProRes and ProRes RAW for specific third-party products and workflows. These products include software, cameras, and other hardware devices. To learn more about Apple ProRes and ProRes RAW, view the Apple ProRes White Paper (PDF) and the Apple ProRes RAW White Paper (PDF). For information on ProRes and ProRes RAW licensing, development, and product certification, contact the Apple ProRes Program Office at ProRes@apple.com.
In some instances, unauthorized codec implementations have been used in third-party software and hardware products. Using any unauthorized implementation (such as the FFmpeg and derivative implementations) might lead to decoding errors, performance degradation, incompatibility, and instability. If you're using or considering the purchase of a product that encodes or decodes ProRes but isn't on the list below, please contact us at ProRes@apple.com.
BroadStream(was OASYS)
DFN
DJI
EVS (also see OpenCube)
KOLOR SAS (A GoPro company)
Odyssey
OpenCube(an EVS company)
Pebble Beach Systems
Microsoft photo premium 10 download. Steinberg Media Technologies
Thomson Video Networks
Vision Research (an AMETEK company)
XTRMX
Z CAM
by Christine Smith • 2020-12-03 17:15:21 • Proven solutions
If you are planning your career in the field of video editing, it is imperative to know which codec, ProRes vs H264 works better with a post-production tool. Here you will learn some of the important differences between ProRes and H264 codecs and which one should you choose in order to make your editing process simpler and less resource-intensive. By the time you have finished reading this, you will have a fair idea about the two codecs, when and why you should choose one over the other, and how you can convert H264 to ProRes with one of the most efficient conversion tools that are available today.
To scratch the surface, ProRes files are loosely compressed, and your GPU finds it easy to process them during both editing and playback. This is not the case with H264 files, and they do require more processing than ProRes.
ProRes
Developed by Apple Inc., ProRes is a codec that was released in 2007 along with Final Cut Studio 2. ProRes uses QuickTime (MOV) format that, as mentioned above, makes the files gigantic in size that further occupy a significant amount of space on a disk. However, ProRes files come with a plethora of benefits, some of which are listed below:
H264
With the first version that was approved and released in 2003, H264 (technically written as H.264) codec is a product of two entities that joined hands for the purpose. H.264 offers a high compression ratio, and therefore the files are small in size that uses less space on your storage devices. However, there are certain downsides of H264 format that many professionals who use post-production tools like Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro, etc. don’t appreciate much. Some of such disadvantages (from video editors’ perspective) are listed as follows:
The following comparison table summarizes all the points given above explaining ProRes vs. H264:
| ProRes | H.264 |
|---|---|
| Developed by Apple Inc. | Jointly Developed by Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and Moving Pictures Export Group (MPEG) |
| Low Compression Ratio | High Compression Ratio |
| Works with QuickTime Movie Format (MOV) | Works with Almost All Major Formats (MP4, M4P, M4V) |
| 10-bit Codec | 8-bit Codec |
| Less Overhead on Processor and GPU | Processor and GPU Intensive |
| I-Frame (Individual Frame) Compression | GOP (Group of Pictures) Processed Collectively |
Even though most used post-production applications allow H264 to ProRes transcoding using their built-in export features, sometimes the process takes a significant amount of time, or the settings box has numerous confusing options that newbies find hard to understand. Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) bridges this gap by providing one of the simplest user interfaces, and the pre-configured presets that you can use to transcode H264 or any other video format to ProRes without any hurdles or complications.
The process given below explains how to convert H264 to Apple ProRes in easy steps:
Launch Mac version of Wondershare UniConverter on your macOS, confirm that the Video Converter tile is selected from the top, click the icon from the center, use the box that appears to go to the container that has the file you want to transcode H264 to ProRes, select the video, and click Load to import the clip to the app.
Click and open the Output Format: menu at the bottom left corner of the window, and go to the Editing tab (only present in the Mac variant of Wondershare UniConverter). Select ProRes from the list of available formats in the left, and choose an appropriate resolution from the right (Same as source is selected here). Note: Optionally, you can also click the Edit icon at the right side of any of the resolution presets to open a box where you can manually make adjustments to create a custom preset of your own.
Use the Output field at the bottom of the window to select a folder you want to save the converted file to, and click the Convert from the right of the imported video to transcode H264 to ProRes with Wondershare UniConverter.
Conclusion
When comparing ProRes vs. H264, the former generates large files than the latter. While the smaller files created by H264 codec are economical to your storage media, they are processor and GPU intensive and put overhead on the hardware. On the other hand, the ProRes files, even though consuming a huge amount of space on your disk, don’t require the GPU to de-compress the information while using any post-production tool for editing. Therefore, as a professional video editor, every time you are asked to choose ProRes vs. H264, you should always prefer ProRes, and use the most recommended tool Wondershare UniConverter for quick and easy H264 to ProRes conversion.