Codec

A codec (compressor-decompressor) is a hardware device or software algorithm that encodes and decodes a digital audio or video stream. Modern post-production workflows depend on codec choices at every stage: capture, dailies, editorial proxies, finishing, and final delivery. Codecs fall into two families: intra-frame (each frame compressed independently, like ProRes, DNxHR, Cineform) which favor editing performance and quality preservation, and inter-frame (compression across frames using motion prediction, like H.264, H.265/HEVC, AV1) which achieve much smaller files at the cost of CPU-heavy decode and editing latency. The choice of codec dictates color depth (8, 10, 12 bits), chroma subsampling (4:2:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4), bitrate, and whether the file is mezzanine-grade (suited for grading and VFX) or distribution-grade (compressed for streaming or broadcast). A typical feature film pipeline uses log-encoded RAW or ProRes 4444 XQ at acquisition, ProRes 422 LT proxies for offline editorial, and H.265 with PQ transfer for HDR streaming delivery. Selecting the wrong codec at any stage causes irreversible quality loss (8-bit chroma rounding), unmanageable file sizes, or playback failures on delivery platforms. SMPTE, ITU-T and ISO/IEC standardize the most widely used codecs (H.264 is ITU-T H.264 / ISO/IEC 14496-10 AVC). Understanding codec characteristics is foundational to every post-production decision.