I'm supposed to edit a commercial for broadcast which includes chromakeying. The producer/cameraman has the raw footage, and I requested that he send me the raw footage. I got a dvd with an .mpg file on it. I told them I needed raw files, which would be .avi or .mov. The producer insisted that the .mpg files he gave me are uncompressed, but I said that can't be. He claims to have submitted programming to tv stations in .mpg format. He says he's been doing tv for 30 years and declared .mpg as good as raw dv footage. I say that's impossible. Who is right? BTW I tried chromakeying his .mpg file and of course it looked like crap.

I re-read my post and it's confusing. Raw footage is standard dv. The question should be:
What file format is better for chromakeying? .mpg or .mov?

That's because he has an HDV camera. They natively shoot MPEG-2. If you really want to be sure you can ask him what camera he has. I don't suppose he is familiar with shooting for chromakey?

MOV is a container, not a codec. This means that it does not tell you anything about the quality of the video it contains.

The camera he used was a Canon GL2, standard dv.

The GL2 does not produce MPEG-2 files, so the producer was pulling your leg when he said they are uncompressed. The original DV AVI files are going to be hard enough to key (due to chroma subsampling), and recompressing them to MPEG-2 only makes things worse.

Thank you very much, he insisted he was right, that his footage wasn't compressed. He's been airing programs by submitting mpg files to the station. I haven't seen his programs but from just from the sound of it, I don't think it can look good.