Final Cut Pro Workflows

5    Compression and Storage

Now that we have taken a look at video terminology and formats, there are two more topics that are important to helping build a successful postproduction workflow: codecs and storage.

Understanding codecs and storage is essential when discussing postproduction workflows for two reasons:

1. Choice of codec(s) directly influences image quality, color depth, and storage requirements.
2. Choice of storage and its deployment directly influences how much media can be stored, if those media can be successfully played back (high data rates), and what sort of redundancy is available.

Codecs and storage are, of course, in a constant state of flux. We can remember the first FireWire drives we used in the early days of Final Cut ...