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View Full Version : best image seq. format for compositing work

cache
04-14-2007, 02:16 AM
hello !

i know there has been a topic like this, but that was too specific and general at the same time.. so if you dont mind, i would like to ask:

what is the best image sequence format for heavy compositing (lots of layers, lots of sequences) ?

of course i'm talking about uncompressed frames..

i know some have lossless compression option, but i dont know if its good to use or bad..
do these compressed formats require more cpu power but less hdd activity when uncompressing them to load them into memory ?

which are the fastest formats ?
what are the benefits/disadvantages of using these basic formats ?: png, tga, tiff, etc.

so as you can see, i'm a little lost, and i dont have the time to test all of them with precise testing of hdd/cpu activity etc..

please help me out with answers !
thanks !
Kai01W
04-14-2007, 10:48 AM
I guess it really depends. On the kind of work you do (many 3D layers or real footage layers), the software you use, on which bitdepth is enough for you or if you even gonna comp in float, if you need to conform and need TC in the files, if you gonna have lots of exchange with other places, etc.


-k
Hugh
04-15-2007, 04:58 PM
It really depends on what kind of thing you're doing....

Film scans are usually done as .cin or .dpx (DPX is the same as Cineon, but has more header information)
Linear CG renders, which are floating point are often rendered as EXRs. EXRs are half float, so it's 16-bit file size, with floating-point values.
Other than that, you'll find tiffs, targas, YUVs and others being used....

In my professional work, though, it's .cin, .dpx and .exr files 99% of the time (maybe with some .tif files thrown in for matte paintings)
MrBrick
04-17-2007, 03:17 AM
I'd go with open .exr

Im producing my first demo reel right now and it seems to be the best thing out there to use for containing all your layers and data. There also seems to be really good support for it and enough conversion apps out there to keep it versitile.
cache
04-17-2007, 03:25 AM
whoa you mentioned lots of unknown formats to me for sure for :)
but great infos, thx !

what i really would like to know is a format for compositing a few (lets say 40-50) layers , which are mostly rendered in 3d.

but i only thought of more 'classical', home-used formats(tif,png,tga..), with no extra information except color and alpha!

but as i see you mention a lot more, a database with all the pros-cons would be the coolest for me i think:)

btw : are there any pros and cons for each ?
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04-17-2007, 03:25 AM
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