When a project is complete, archiving 4444 XQ or 422 HQ masters can quickly deplete storage. Consider consolidating your project media, keeping only the final master file in ProRes 422 HQ, and archiving your source materials using automated cold-storage solutions.
High-quality ProRes variants (such as 422 HQ and 4444) are engineered to withstand multiple encode/decode cycles. A video clip can be exported, re-imported, run through a VFX pass, re-exported, and graded without introducing blocky artifacts or color shifts.
Traditional ProRes codecs require the camera to debayer (demosaic) the raw sensor information and convert it into a standard Y'CbCr or RGB video signal before compression. This locks in choices like white balance, ISO exposure mapping, and color space characteristics.