On Wed, 23 Jan 2002 01:30:40 GMT, "kenobi" wrote:

>Well its been awhile, but good to see ya guys goin hard.
>I'm working with DV video and will be doing all kinds of filters ect.. to my
>project. I would like to get your opinions on the best way to keep this high
>quality.
>I am using the MainConcept codec which is said to be much better than the
>MS-DV codec in terns of render speed and image quality after rendering
>effects. I was recently reading a book,"the digital filmakers handbook", and
>the author recommends when sending clips to your composting program(After
>Effects in my case) use the Quicktime animation codec as it is lossless then
>when re-rendering again choose the quicktime animation codec then import
>back into your editing package.
>This makes sense to me but can anyone tell me if it will have marked
>advantages over my mainconcept codec? I also do not have the quicktime
>animation codec. Can anyone recommend a codec that will work as well or
>better(lossless)?

Do a test (there is a 10-generation one for the
Canopus Raptor codec at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/original_vs_10th-gen.htm).
As I found with this similar-quality codec (to the
MainConcept), there is no need to worry about quality
losses if the number of renderings is kept reasonable
(maybe 5?). If you cannot tell the difference between
original footage and footage forced to pass through
4-5 generations of rendering, the QT animation
codec will not help unless you need its specific
advantages...