Amount of encodes from source?

Apple does not encode their content from blu rays. They're a bit more professional (even if an encode with a blu ray looks better what Apple provides). I'm not exactly sure but I believe they get their source file from the studios and Apple does what they do.

I don't think Apple is encoding anything. They probably have a deal with the content providers (the film studios), requesting them to provide Apple with an iTunes compatible encode. And these studios likely use their master source. I doubt this master source file ever leaves the film studio, for security reasons. I could be wrong though...

Nermal said:

Apple used to encode from 220 Mb/s ProRes 422 HQ, but I've heard that that is no longer the case. It's probably still a good baseline though...

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There's a pdf file if you search online that has all the details, but this is what I've read as well.

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Mackan said:

I don't think Apple is encoding anything. They probably have a deal with the content providers (the film studios), requesting them to provide Apple with an iTunes compatible encode. And these studios likely use their master source. I doubt this master source file ever leaves the film studio, for security reasons. I could be wrong though...

Click to expand...

Apple hires outside encoding companies that encode the video from the studios and then send it to apple for final sale.

Mr Dobey said:

Thank you guys.

I had the feeling Apple got a pre compressed video file according to the iTunes standards considering this is how they manage their music files.

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Woooo

What is pre compressed? Take the BluRay then compress it? Take the 4k or 2k DI to 1080p, that's compressed too. I think we'd have define what compression is tolerable.

1 hour of miniDV at "5:1" compression at Standard Def is 12-13GB

HDTV is compressed.

A CD is compressed too, so most iTunes music is a compression of a compression. But so was napster and almost every mp3 ever made.

Where an iTunes video is sourced and compressed is speculation until someone in the supply chain is willing to go on record. Maybe many of them won't bc they work for companies taking the lazy easy way? Who knows?

Just don't expect an easy answer bc some film companies will spend a little more for a higher quality product than others. Just like any industry.


My thinking would be, how do they get 80-90% of the quality at 20% the size of a BluRay. Or more likely, if the film has a good story, why am I analyzing the compression.
People get too caught up in the tech and numbers, rather than enjoying the story.

As was said before, Apple uses 220 Mb/s ProRes 422 HQ.

So somebody sits there at apple and encode every movie


That's gotta be a fun job

Nermal said:

It's automated. It'll be something like "drop folder of movies onto droplet, wait however long, grab output files".

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At least someone needs to check the quality of the encode, making sure no artifacts in the video or audio.

For example, producing an AAC stereo track as a downmix from a multichannel audio source should require some individual handling, if they care about things like dynamic range and dialnorm. These are things that cannot be automated with tools like Handbrake.

I've got a friend that has shows on HBO and trailers on YouTube, so I'll ask about the compression process.