Hello everyone, I’m a newbie of newbies. I edit in FinalCut Pro X, and always use ProRes for everything, which is what I need for large or cinema projections. It looks like TD doesn’t accept ProRes .mov files, so I’m wondering what other codecs I can use that would allow decent quality. I have the commercial TD. But I’m unsure how to import my ProRes movie files without compressing them to H.264 and losing quality. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks SO much.
@kimiagar lots of this depends on your output resolutions.
For large resolutions that need GPU acceleration we typically use the HAP, HAPW, or NotchLC family of codecs. They’re GPU accelerated, and make for snappy playback of large resolutions (think 8k+). That said, they can produce less than idea gradients (HAP especially), and generally make for very large files.
HVEC - or h.265 - is also supported by TouchDesigner, as well as a whole host of other codecs and formats. The full list found here:
Your big gotcha will be how you’d like to use your video, and how fast the drive is on the machine you’re using. For example, formats like HAP and NotchLC are great for very large plates, but their performance will be bottlenecked by the read speed of your hard drive.
There’s a good article here from @elburz that covers codecs, their use, and what you might choose for your projects:
Codecs for TouchDesigner, Explained - The Interactive & Immersive HQ.
Finally, for what it’s worth ProRes looks like it’s going to be supported in the not too distant future as it’s been added the experimental builds. So, while you can’t use ProRes yet, that will change 
before long.
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Hello to TD users/lovers,
Considering the apparition of proRes on the experimental build, here are some reflexions and test results:
For comprehensive reasons (TD, nVidia and Kinect), I am now more on Windows. User of daVinci Resolve Studio, there is no proRes easy export on Windows. It would be difficult to allow use of DNXHR format inside TD?
Concerning export from TD to use clip in TD (as to have a lighter process) or in daVinci (to insert image created in TD), I have tried different video format.
The subject was a point cloud generated by a noise TOP (1000x1000 pixels), moving a simple particule using line Mat (here is the .toe).
testRecordMovie.toe (5.9 KB)
The render was in 3840x2160 60 f/s to maintain the crisp of particles. I tested with and without realtime. Recorded with moviefileout Top. I wanted to stay with alpha.
Here are some results, on my computer (desktop, AMD Ryzen 7, nVidia 3090, SSD 2To)
Export from TD:
– cineform : not working, freeze the computer in RT or NRT
– ProRes 444A RT : stutter 1 Go/s
– ProRes 444A NRT : working 1 Go/s readable on TD and DVR
– HAP QA RT and NRT : working 400 Mo/s readable on TD, not on DVR (translation possible to proRes with Media Encoder, not Shutter Encoder)
– notchLC RT stutter
– notchLC NRT : working 400 Mo/s readable on TD, not on DVR (translation possible to proRes with Media Encoder, not Shutter Encoder)
– EXR sequence : not working at all
My conclusion:
The quality difference between proRes and Hap is quite invisible. If you need realtime (interaction with the world), I recommand HAP. If you really need the highest quality and can record it non real time, use proRes.
Export from daVinci Resolve (using fusion page)
I made a text coming from right to left with motion ease and motion blur (very difficult to obtain in TD) in 4K 60 f/s to produce the best quality in TD.
– Cineform : work well 6 Mo/s the only alpha format available natively in DVR and readable in TD
– DNXHR : work well 160 Mo/s cannot be played in TD, difficult to translate in proRes
Another solution is to use BlackMagic Fusion standalone (available to DVR studio owners). You can directly export to proRes 4444 / 16 Mo/s / high quality and playable in the experimental TD version 2023.11170.
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Thank you so much. That’s very helpful. Especially on exporting from TD. I don’t need real-time, just need the highest crispest quality for large projections. I’m trying to figure out what I can import into TD that is not as compromising as H.264. My entire project consists of .mov files in ProRes 422 HQ that I edit in FCPx. I want to bring some of these videos into TD to work on them before taking them back to FCPx for the final edit. So my current issue is what codec I should export these videos to be able to import them into TD. FCPx doesn’t have that many options for export [attached an image]. So I may have to use a converter? I’m trying to understand what codec I should use for this convert that doesn’t affect their quality. H.264 is not great.
Hello,
Have you tried the new experimental TD build? Whit it you can import and export proRes. With fcpx you can easely import and export prores so there is a solution for you.
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No I haven’t. I only just got the commercial license a few days ago and am still trying to figure things out. I’m very new to everything – apologies for my basic questions. Is the experimental TD something I should download or exist within the TD I have already downloaded? Thank you.
Only because the last experimental buil introduce ProRes import and export…
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ok, I’m an idiot – just realised @raganmd already sent me a link to the experimental build! Thank you both. I’ll test it out.
Consider using intermediate codecs like DNxHD/DNxHR or Apple’s ProRes proxy for TD compatibility without quality loss.