Miraizon DNxHD and ProRes Codecs FAQ

This FAQ page answers questions regarding our DNxHD and ProRes Codecs.

General Questions


Installation and Update Questions


Usage Questions


Troubleshooting

General Questions

Q: How do the codecs get installed?

A: Our codecs install as QuickTime movie compression components, meaning that once they are installed they become essentially system resources. When you use a program that supports QuickTime, you will be able to select our codecs from within the program when you save out your movies to a QuickTime container format.

The advantage of doing things this way is that our codecs are not tied specifically to a particular application. Instead, the codecs are shared and can be used by any video programs you have installed so long as they support QuickTime.

Q: What are the system requirements for the codecs?

A: For a complete list of system requirements, please see the Miraizon DNxHD and ProRes Codecs System Requirements page.

Q: Are the encoded files produced by the codecs compatible with other applications?

A: Yes, the DNxHD and ProRes movies produced by our codecs should play and import fine into any application that supports QuickTime. In order to play DNxHD files created with our codecs on a different system, either our codecs or the Avid DNxHD codec must be installed on that system. In order to play ProRes files created with our codecs on a different system, it is only necessary to have QuickTime installed. Our codecs need not be installed on that system.

Q: Are the encoded files produced by the Windows codecs compatible with Macs?

A: Yes, files created with our Windows codecs should work fine on Macintosh systems, and vice-versa.

Q: Will the codecs work with Adobe CS and CC applications?

A: Yes, our codec components are compatible with Adobe CS and CC applications.

Q: Will the codecs work with Edius or Vegas?

A: Yes, our codec components are compatible with GrassValley Edius and Sony Vegas applications.

Q: Will the codecs work with Resolve?

A: Our codec components will work with DaVinci Resolve for the Mac but not DaVinci Resolve for Windows. DaVinci Resolve for Windows filters the available codec list and only displays a subset of what is actually there. Blackmagic Design has made a decision not to display any ProRes codecs in this list. We cannot really release a patch to address this as it is a program design issue in DaVinci Resolve for Windows.

Q: Is there a demo version of the codecs?

A: No, unfortunately we don't have a demo version of our codecs. It is very difficult to make a trial version of a product that operates as a plug-in component like ours.

Q: Will the codecs be compatible with future releases of applications?

Our codecs are packaged as QuickTime components, and Apple has pretty much halted QuickTime development aside from periodic security fixes. As a result, we don't expect there to be any kind of future compatibility issues between QuickTime and our components.

So long as application developers continue to support QuickTime, which will most likely be for quite some time, we would expect our components to work fine. Even if application developers make major changes to their products, the portion of their products that supports QuickTime will not change significantly because QuickTime itself is not changing.

Because of this, we would expect that your workflow using our codec products should be stable for at least the next few years.

Installation and Update Questions

Q: Can version 2 of the codecs be installed along with earlier versions?

A: No, installing version 2 of the codecs will overwrite earlier versions.

Q: How do I uninstall the codecs?

A: The codecs installer includes an uninstaller as well. For the Macintosh version, the uninstaller is included on the .dmg file along with the installer. For the Windows version, you can run the uninstaller through the Start menu or through the usual Windows program uninstallation process.

Q: I can't save my registration information for the codecs. Why is this?

A: Since the codecs are considered to be shared system resources available to all users, you will need to install them using an account with administrator privileges. If you try to install using an account without administrator privileges, you will not be able to save the registration information.

Q: I can't register the codecs and I am on a Russian language system. Why is this?

A: There is a bug in QuickTime for Windows on Russian language systems in which QuickTime fails to recognize any components that are installed into the normal components directory. Because the codec components are not being found, the Codecs Registration tool will not work correctly and will give an error. We have reported this problem to Apple, but they have not issued any fix for it.

Here is a workaround that will avoid this problem:

  1. Install the codecs normally but do not try to run the Codecs Registration tool.
  2. Locate your QuickTime installation directory. The default location for QuickTime on a 64 bit machine is "C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime"
  3. Move the files "DNxHDCodec.qtx" and "MProResCodec.qtx" from the QTComponents directory into the QTSystem directory
  4. Run the Codecs Registration tool and enter your serial number
  5. After this, things should work normally

If you still have trouble or you are running version 1 of the codecs, please contact Miraizon for assistance.

Q: I don't see the codecs in my applications. Why is this?

A: After you install the codecs, you will need to quit all applications that use QuickTime in order to let QuickTime refresh the installed codec components list. To be safe, it is best to reboot your system. After this, you should see the components listed in the codecs menu beginning with "Miraizon".

In Adobe applications, you will also need to make sure that in the Export window you do not select a preset of "Match Source". If "Match Source" is selected, the Adobe applications will not show you all the available codecs on your system.

Q: I'm having trouble getting the codecs to work after installation. What should I do?

A: Most installation issues like this result from either some kind of problem with QuickTime itself (Windows only) or existing corrupted or out-of-date QuickTime components.

Windows users can follow these steps to re-install QuickTime and remove any potentially problem components:

  1. Uninstall the Miraizon codecs
  2. Locate the QuickTime components directory, which by default on a 64 bit system is "C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTComponents"
  3. Create a folder on your desktop and drag out everything from that components directory
  4. Uninstall QuickTime
  5. Reboot
  6. Download the latest version of QuickTime from Apple's web site
  7. Install the latest version of QuickTime
  8. Install the Miraizon codecs and register them

Mac users can follow these steps to remove any potentially problem components:

  1. Uninstall the Miraizon codecs
  2. Locate the QuickTime components directories, which are "/Library/QuickTime/" and "~/Library/QuickTime"
  3. Create a folder on your desktop and drag out everything from those components directories
  4. Reboot
  5. Install the Miraizon codecs and register them

After this, check to make sure that things are working as expected. If they are, then you can try dragging in any other components you have from the folder on your desktop. If things break again, you'll know that one of those components is corrupted.

Usage Questions

Q: How do I use the codecs in Adobe Premiere Pro?

A: You would access our codecs through the export window in Premiere Pro.

  1. Run Premiere Pro and open a project
  2. Choose File > Export
  3. Under Export Format, choose QuickTime
  4. Make sure you do not have a preset of "Match Source" selected
  5. Below this under Video, choose Miraizon DNxHD or the appropriate Miraizon ProRes profile from the Video Codec menu
  6. Click on the Options button to configure the codec
  7. Verify that the width and height, frame rate, and other settings are correct
  8. Click Export to save out your DNxHD or ProRes movie

Q: How do I use the codecs in Adobe Media Encoder?

A: You can create custom presets in Adobe Media Encoder. You can also download ProRes presets from Adobe as follows.

If you are a Windows user, ignore the "Mac Only" warnings. Import these into Adobe Media Encoder and you will then see a new set of ProRes export presets under the "Broadcast" category.

Q: How do I ensure that there are no color shifts when encoding?

A: Typically, color shifts occur when you edit material that uses one color standard and then export it out tagged with a different color standard. For example, you might be editing HD video using ITU-R BT.709 (Rec. 709) color standards, but then you export out at SD video size and the video gets tagged as SD ITU-R BT.601 (Rec. 601) color.

To help with this problem, our codecs include support for specifying the correct color system to use for converting the video components between YCbCr and RGB . You can select the correct color standard through the configuration dialog, or your editing software can send it to the codecs programmatically. Our codecs will set metadata in the compressed files to include whatever color setting you specify. This way, when the file is decoded the decoder will also know what color settings to use for YCbCr to RGB conversions.

Q: How do I control the encoded bit depth?

A: In DNxHD, you can control the video component bit depth to be 8 bit or 10 bit data using the "Bit Depth" menu in the options box. You can also control it programmatically using the compression quality level. For more information, please see the PDF user guide.

In ProRes, all video components are stored with a fixed depth of 10 bits, regardless of what you send in. If you send in 8 bit data, the codec will upsample it to 10 bits before encoding. Likewise, despite Apple's marketing documents, if you send in 12 bit data it must be downsampled to 10 bits before encoding. 10 bit data will be encoded as-is. The "Depth" control in the options box controls whether or not to include alpha channel data when encoding to one of the 4:4:4 profiles. For more information, please see the PDF user guide.

Q: How do I encode alpha channel data with the ProRes codec?

A: This is controlled by "Depth" control in the options box (or the programmatic equivalent) when encoding to a 4:4:4 profile. If you choose the "Millions of Colors" option (24 bit depth), no alpha data will be included. Incoming alpha data will be ignored. If you choose the "Millions of Colors+" option (32 bit depth), alpha data will be included. If no alpha data are supplied, the codec will include data at full opacity. The "Depth" setting has no effect on the encoded data resolution, which is always 10 bits. For more information, please see the PDF user guide.

Q: Which DNxHD or ProRes profile is the best one to use?

A: For both DNxHD and ProRes, we give information about the different profiles and their associated data rates in our PDF user guide. For additional information about DNxHD profiles, Avid has a useful DNxHD technology summary document. For additional information about ProRes profiles, Apple has a useful ProRes whitepaper document.

Troubleshooting

Q: I get an error every time I try to export using the codecs. Why is this?

A: You probably forgot to run the Codecs Registration tool to register the codecs with your serial number. If the codecs have not been registered, then you will get an error any time you try to encode video.

Q: I can't see any preview image in QuickTime Pro when I select the codecs. Why is this?

A: You probably forgot to run the Codecs Registration tool to register the codecs with your serial number. If the codecs have not been registered, encoding will fail and QuickTime Pro will not show any preview image.

Q: I'm having playback problems in Adobe Premiere Pro. How do I solve this?

A: This problem should be resolved in version 2 of the codecs.

If you are still using version 1 of the codecs, there is a workaround as follows.

  1. Run Premiere Pro and open a project
  2. Open a clip in the Source monitor (on the left)
  3. Click on the "wrench" icon in the Source monitor
  4. Set "Playback Resolution" and "Paused Resolution" to both be "Full"
  5. Drag a clip to the timeline so it shows in the Program monitor (on the right)
  6. Click on the "wrench" icon in the Program monitor
  7. Set "Playback Resolution" and "Paused Resolution" to both be "Full"
  8. Quit Premiere Pro

After this the problem should be gone.

Q: I'm seeing visual encoding artifacts in some places. How do I solve this?

A: This problem should be resolved in version 2 of the codecs.