Exporting higer than the mbps of your footage

[DetroitRockCity]

Ok, so I have a canon HF10. It records at 17Mbps.
When I transfer the footage to FCP, it converts to Apple Pro Res.
Does the Pro Res codec keep the footage at 17Mbps?

Is there a benefit of exporting my video through quicktime conversion with a higher Mbps?

For instance, instead of exporting at 17,000kbps I decide to export at 24,000kbps. Will my quality increase at all?

 

[bigbossbmb]

no ProRes will not keep it at 17Mbps.

there is no visual benefit to converting to a higher bitrate. the conversion isn't about raising the bitrate, it is about getting the video into a codec that Final Cut can edit natively.