ProRes Proxy vs LT vs 422 vs HQ: Which to Use

What are the ProRes tiers?#

ProRes 422 is a family of four intraframe editing codecs from Apple: Proxy, LT, 422 and 422 HQ. Every tier stores each frame as a complete 4:2:2 picture at full resolution; what changes from tier to tier is how hard each frame is compressed.

The Apple ProRes white paper calls every ProRes codec frame-independent: each frame is encoded and decoded on its own. A timeline therefore decodes one frame to show one frame, which is why ProRes scrubs, plays in reverse and trims without the lag of a long-GOP delivery file. The tier never changes frame size or frame rate.

Above the four 422 tiers sit ProRes 4444 and 4444 XQ, which add full 4:4:4 color and an alpha channel for finishing and graphics. For downloaded footage the real decision is among the 422 tiers, and the rest of the codecs and formats for editing YouTube footage section builds on that choice.

Ema Zamboni, the editor who built B-ROLL, added its ProRes conversion for a practical reason: 4K60 AV1 downloads were heavy to play in DaVinci Resolve Studio on Windows 11, and AV1 or VP9 files crashed Resolve at times.

What data rate does each ProRes tier use?#

Apple lists ProRes 422 Proxy at 45 Mbps and ProRes 422 HQ at 220 Mbps for 1080p 29.97 in About Apple ProRes. LT targets 102 Mbps and standard 422 targets 147 Mbps, so 422 HQ carries 4.9 times the data of Proxy (220 / 45).

The table lists each ProRes tier with Apple’s intended use, target data rates at two frame sizes, color sampling, bit depth and alpha support.

Every rate comes from the target data rate appendix of the Apple ProRes white paper, rows “60i, 30p” at 1920 x 1080 and “30p” at 3840 x 2160; the 4444 figures are without alpha. ProRes is variable bit rate, so a real file lands near the target and lower on simple frames.

One mix-up is worth catching. The 3840 x 2160 figures of 145, 328, 471 and 707 Mbps, often repeated as UHD 29.97 values, are the 24p row of Apple’s appendix. At 30p the same tiers target 182, 410, 589 and 884 Mbps.

The same appendix converts the rates into storage: at 1920 x 1080 and 30p, Proxy fills 20 GB per hour and 422 HQ fills 99 GB per hour. Per-minute sizes for every tier, next to DNxHR, are in ProRes and DNxHR file size per minute.

Which ProRes tier does a YouTube source need?#

A YouTube source rarely needs more than ProRes 422 Proxy or LT, because the stream’s encoder already removed the fine detail that 422 HQ is designed to protect. A heavier tier copies the same compressed picture into a bigger file.

As of September 2026, YouTube delivers most videos as VP9 or AV1 streams with 4:2:0 color. An intraframe re-encode keeps what those streams contain but cannot rebuild what was discarded. The conversion buys smooth editing, not extra quality, as best format to download YouTube videos for editing explains.

Take a 1080p 30 download measured at 8 Mbps, a round number for illustration rather than a YouTube figure. ProRes 422 HQ at 220 Mbps would spend 27.5 times the source’s data (220 / 8), and Proxy at 45 Mbps would spend 5.6 times (45 / 8).

B-ROLL makes this choice per video: it picks the lightest ProRes tier whose reference rate, scaled to the video’s resolution and frame rate, reaches 10 times the measured source bitrate, else 422 HQ. For the 8 Mbps example Proxy falls short of 80 Mbps (8 x 10), so B-ROLL writes LT at 102 Mbps.

The factor of 10 is B-ROLL’s own rule, not an Apple specification. The reasoning is in how B-ROLL picks a ProRes or DNxHR tier automatically, and the full pipeline in download YouTube videos in ProRes or DNxHR.

Which ProRes tier fits each editing job?#

Choose a ProRes tier by the job the file does next: Proxy for cutting, LT for storage-bound online work, 422 as the everyday intermediate and 422 HQ for masters. Each entry gives the job, Apple’s own rating from its white paper quality table and the signal to pick it.

• ProRes 422 Proxy. Job: offline edits, review copies, multicam angles on a laptop. Apple’s rating: OK headroom, intended for first-generation viewing and editing. Pick it when the source is light or the edit will be relinked to originals before export.
• ProRes 422 LT. Job: online edits on tight storage, documentary and archive footage. Apple’s rating: good for some multi-generation workflows, at 69 percent of the 422 data rate (102 / 147 Mbps at 1080p 29.97). Pick it when the file is the final source but will be rendered only once or twice.
• ProRes 422. Job: the general-purpose intermediate for camera footage. Apple’s rating: high headroom, very good for most multi-generation workflows. Pick it when a good camera file goes through color correction and a few renders.
• ProRes 422 HQ. Job: masters, camera originals, heavy grading and effects round trips. Apple’s rating: very high headroom, visually lossless through many generations. Pick it when the source is 10-bit 4:2:2 or better, or when other people will re-encode your file.

Is ProRes 422 10-bit?#

Yes. ProRes 422 is a 10-bit 4:2:2 codec family, and the tiers change the data rate, not the bit depth. Proxy stores the same 10-bit samples as 422 HQ, compressed harder.

Apple’s wording is precise: the white paper introduces the family as built to edit 10-bit 4:2:2 video, and states “10-bit” explicitly only for 422 HQ. B-ROLL removes the doubt in its own files: its ProRes encoders write every tier, Proxy included, as 10-bit 4:2:2 (the yuv422p10le pixel format).

A 10-bit file does not turn an 8-bit source into 10-bit video. As of September 2026, a YouTube stream is 8-bit unless the video is HDR, and conversion adds no color depth the stream never had. The 10-bit container still helps later, because grades and effects render into it with less risk of new banding. The full picture is in 8-bit vs 10-bit YouTube footage for editing.

HDR downloads are the case where 10-bit matters from the start. yt-dlp prefers HDR streams by default, and B-ROLL writes every ProRes tier at 10-bit and applies no tone mapping.

What about ProRes 4444 and 4444 XQ?#

ProRes 4444 and 4444 XQ are Apple’s finishing tiers: full 4:4:4 color, up to 12 bits per channel and an optional alpha channel of up to 16 bits, per About Apple ProRes. Apple positions 4444 for motion graphics and composites, and 4444 XQ for high-dynamic-range images from high-end camera sensors.

Neither tier helps a downloaded web clip. The extra chroma samples of 4:4:4 carry real information only when the source recorded them, and a 4:2:0 stream never did. The white paper’s quality table gives 4444 without alpha the same rating as 422 HQ: its 50 percent higher target rate pays for the added chroma, not for more headroom.

B-ROLL writes only the four 422 tiers, never 4444 or 4444 XQ. Reach for 4444 in your editor when you export titles or graphics with transparency. If you are weighing the other editing family, DNxHR LB vs SQ vs HQ vs HQX maps its tiers the same way, and ProRes vs DNxHR for editing compares the two families.

Can you make ProRes files on Windows?#

Yes. ffmpeg encodes ProRes on Windows, and B-ROLL uses ffmpeg’s prores_aw encoder first, then prores_ks. The result is a .mov with the same name as the download and uncompressed 16-bit PCM audio.

The conversion starts after the download finishes, runs one file at a time on every CPU core and keeps resolution and frame rate unchanged. If a conversion fails, B-ROLL keeps the MKV master so the download is not lost.

Apple’s white paper adds a caveat: it warns that unauthorized ProRes implementations, naming FFmpeg, may cause decoding errors or incompatibility. Files from ffmpeg’s encoders are not Apple-authorized ProRes. When a delivery spec demands Apple-encoded ProRes, export the final master from a licensed application.