I have some ProRes 422 footage that I need to deliver on 2 external drives. One of these will be for an editor (no idea which platform/NLE s/he might be using, in fact there could be more than one editor or more than one type of system) and the other drive is intended for people who will mostly likely just want to be able to watch some of the footage whether it be from a PC or a Mac.

I have done some research but not sure if what I've read is the most up to date option.

Questions:

1. Drive file system? As I understand it, fat 32 is the only system readable by both Mac and PC and the max. file size of fat32 is 4 GB. Or is that history now? In any case, there are clips bigger than 4 GB

2. If said editor/s are PC based, will Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Windows give them what they need?

Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Windows (http://support.apple.com/downloads/Apple_ProRes_QuickTime_Decoder_1_0_for_Windows)

3. Or should I be downloading Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Mac and mastering with that. Not sure if this is needless or if it will even work as the support page indicates this is for 10.4. or 10.5 and I'm on 10.6.8

Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Mac (http://support.apple.com/downloads/Apple_ProRes_QuickTime_Decoder_1_0_for_Mac)

4. If fat 32 doesn't work, what are the options for those on a PC who simply want to view it? MacDrive?
Mediafour - MacDrive 9 Standard and Pro | (http://www.mediafour.com/macdrive)

5. Or should I consider transcoding it to another codec altogether.

Some of the footage was shot as HDV, the rest as AVCHD. All was imported as ProRes.

Thanks for any help.

Unless you have more than 2 channels of audio in ProRes files, PC version of QuickTime will handle them without problems.

Ideally you'd use NTFS-formatted drives, but OS X can't by default write to them (can only read them). There are drivers that allow writing to NTFS but it depends on which version of OS X you're on.

FAT32 has 4GB filesize limit, which can be a problem.

Although nowadays most PC NLEs work with HDV and AVCHD files natively, and there is no need to transcode them to ProRes.

I have one NTFS external drive + Mac Drive installed just for cases like this. I also usually copy over the latest versions of the ProRes decoder for both Windows/Mac, DNxHD, & Cineform. But best is to know what format they prefer in the first place.

Thanks for your reply Michael. I will be contacting them but did want to be sure I had accurate information first.

From what I can see, the standard version of Mac Drive will suffice. Is that right?

I'm also wondering if, for the "viewing only" drive, whether I should transcode the material to a less processor intensive codec than ProRes. I'm considering this in order to minimize the possibility of people being unable to view the footage on an inexpensive and possibly poorly maintained PC laptop. Any suggestions?

Jase

Michael, I'm also wondering why you've used an NTFS drive. Doesn't Mac Drive provide PC access to Mac OS Extended Journaled? Is that a more fool proof method for PC access?

What do you use to partition as NTFS? I found this: NTFS for Mac® OS X 9.0

PARAGON Software Group - NTFS for Mac, communication channel between Mac OS X and Windows (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/)

Thanks again.

It's better that you make a NTFS drive then expect the client to download and install a Mac drive reader on their PC. Also ProRes is not any more processor intensive than other editing grade video format floating around. In fact most internet video formats are more processor intensive.

The question is what you expect your clients to do with the files. If they have anything resembling a professional editing program then ProRes is the way to go. If they just need to view the footage then you should make h.264 or Windows Media files that are not full resolution. Actually you should only consider Windows Media if you know that they have a PC that is old and hasn't been updated in while or very under powered.

Thanks for the input. What their system is, I don't know yet but will find out. Having just shipped off another project which I was told would be edited in FCP, there are outstanding issues because it turns out they're using iMovie. Not ProRes in that case, but the HDV it was shot on.

I'm pretty sure this project will be edited with a professional NLE but which one is the question, so trying to cover all bases before the fact.

My wife edits in Premiere Pro CS5.5 on the Mac Pro & needs to deliver projects to one particular customer who uses Premiere Pro CS5.5 on Windows. I installed the Paragon NTFS product & it works like a charm. We just format an external drive as NTFS then dump the project & all video clips onto that drive before sending it off. The software is really cheap. I paid €12.56 (about $16).

Thanks for the input everyone. It turns out that delivery needs are Mac only but will save this for future reference.