Question Recorder: is it pointless to use Apple ProRes 4444 XQ codec with HD Rec 709 Color Def?

So after trying recording with MP4, WebM, and ProRes QuickTime, I have found that ProRes QuickTime is the only acceptable option. MP4 provides garbage image quality. WebM slows my gameplay down to insufferable FPS. ProRes QuickTime's only downside is massive file sizes, but I can deal with that.

The only Color Definition Option provided is "HD Rec. 709". When I read the docs on Apple's website (link below), it says this about "Apple ProRes 4444 XQ" codec:
"...Apple ProRes 4444 XQ preserves dynamic ranges several times greater than the dynamic range of Rec. 709 imagery.".

I don't know much about video, but this leads me to believe that recording with "Apple ProRes 4444 XQ" codec and "HD Rec. 709" is pointless, and the same result would be acheived using a lower quality codec. So I am here asking is my reasoning correct or misguided? If it really is pointless to combine the 2 settings, which codec format would be the highest quality that would see a loss from downgrading?

Link to Apple ProRes Codecs:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202410

Thanks in advance!

 

My novice understanding is dynamic range etc can be particularly helpful if you are going to create a video then do lots of visual effects, color grading, etc in an external video editing app. The greater the dynamic range, the more adjustments you can do without losing color depth. If you don't use external video editing software, I don't know what benefit there would be.

Note: I have also found that Unity MP4 is pretty fast but not good quality. Recorder 4.0.0 however I just tried today and it's MUCH better than before. WebM I also found slowed down playback rate a lot. Someone pointed out the ffmpeg option with Recorder 4.0.0 as well, but it requires the ffmpeg executable to be installed on your computer as well.

See also this thread: https://forum.unity.com/threads/unity-recorder-low-video-quality.599176/#post-7423268 (I just posted an update to the thread today with a quick blog with some more screenshots etc.)

 

Thanks so much for the help. Im using Unity 2020.3, and dont plan on updating versions on this project, so i am stuck with Recorder 2.5.7

 

thanks for the update, this is good news for future projects! of the current PreRes codec options, which would be my best bet if my intention is to immediately convert to mp4 (h.264)?
By "best bet", i mean that a higher quality ProRes codec wouldnt have any benefit when converted to mp4, but a lower quality ProRes codec would be worse off? Asking within the context of my use case (immediate conversion to mp4).

 

i see. i was under the impression that no subsampling (4:4:4) would get lost by converting to mp4 and that something like ProRes 4:2:2 would yield the same result post conversion. The memory isn't as much the issue for me. it is moreso that it takes a couple hours for a 30 second ProRes 4444 video file to be ready for playing (422 HQ takes seconds). And if i wouldn't even see a better result, post conversion, i'm just being dumb lol.

Thanks for your help, i really appreciate it! I will be evaluating my final results at 422, just wanted to check the "technical" answer because my eyes just binarily detect between "good enough quality" and "not good enough", while i know the expected viewers detect more subtle differences.