What is the Best Export Format?

[ReflexVideo]

Hi,

We make short films (5-15 mins) using full HD.

After editing, what would you say is the best format to use for the master archive copy, that will be stored on a Hard Drive for the long term.

I have heard that H.264 is the best quality for size, but it seems to take ages to render.
The other one I have played with is MPG2, as it seems good quality and render time is short compaired to other formats.

What would you suggest?

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Zensteve]

Export format is not the same as master archive.

For archiving, I bundle all tapes with a copy of the EDL.

Then, on the project harddrive make a "trimmed" project - which basically creates a copy of the project with any unused footage/objects deleted. (You leave about 30 frames of "handles" on each clip) This trimmed project would be using whatever codec was used for the original import.

MPG2 would be a lousy choice for archiving.

Dunno enough about H264.

Your master archive should always be the highest resolution possible. From that, you can generate whatever you need.

.