Comprehensive Guide Tells You Everything You Need to Know About Codecs
If you’re thinking about adding a video component to your portfolio, one of the most important-but-confusing things you’ll have to wrap your head around is codecs — the different video compression/decompression formats available to you. These not only determine the quality retained by the camera, but also affect how you will approach the post-processing of the footage.
Unfortunately, video codecs — with all of the myriad factors at play and the number of options available — can be a bit confusing, and so cinematographer David Kong has shared the above, incredibly comprehensive look at everything you need to know.
You’ll have to check out the full 43-minute run-through to get into the details, but the basic idea of the walkthrough is rather straightforward: Kong simply goes over the multitude of variables that each codec possesses.
From what a codec is, to bit depth, to chroma subsampling, to bitrate and more, Kong gives thorough-but-concise explanations, compressing (pun intended) what would easily be a semester’s worth of class into a single video.
Click play at the top to see it for yourself — although we suggest you grab a pen and paper first — head over to filmmaker Phillip Bloom’s blog for a text run through from Kong himself, and then check out more of Kong’s work over on his Vimeo page.
Everything You Need to Know About Codecs [PhillipBloom.net]
