PRG Mbox Designer Manual 3.9 - Manual (Page 54)

46 MBOX ® MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL
MEDIA CONTENT
File Type Specifications
The Mbox server supports Apple QuickTime® technology for rendering and playback of images and movie files. The
following file types are supported:
Still Image Files
JPEG (.jpeg or .jpg), PNG (.png), TARGA (.tga), TIFF (.tiff or .tif) for still image files.
+ For still images not requiring transparency, JPEG is the best choice.
+ To use files with transparency, PNG is the best choice.
Movie Files
QuickTime format (.mov) for movie files. Spatial-compressed codecs will always provide better playback results than
temporarily-compressed codecs (e.g. H.264 is not recommended). MP4 is not recommended.
+ Photo JPEG – Medium (50-60%) is the recommended codec for movie clips.
+ Apple ProRes - Light or Normal are recommended, High Quality can be used if you make sure the bitrate is not
too high (150Mb/sec or lower).
Note: ProRes is installed on all rental Mbox servers. But in other cases, unless the ProRes codec is installed on the
computer these files may not play back.
Note: File extensions are not case-sensitive. For example, files with extension .JPG and .jpg are the same.
3D Model Files (Objects)
Custom 3D models can be added to the Mbox server. The server supports the Alias Wavefront™ 3D .obj format.
There are several third-party applications that can export files to this format, including Maya®, Poser®, Bryce®, and
Cheetah3D to name a few.
File extensions for 3D object files:
+ .obj is the standard format.
+ .vle is a PRG proprietary format for encrypted model files.
Additional File Types
Scalable Vector Graphics (svg and svge) for digital gobo files, .aiff for audio files, and .rtf or .txt for text files.
Recommended Practices
JPEG and PNG file types are recommended for creating still image content for optimum output on the Mbox server.
For movie content, Photo-JPEG (60% - 80% quality) is the recommended codec for optimum video playback. Mbox
Designer will play movies that use other QuickTime codecs, if the appropriate codec is installed on the server.
However, sometimes those movies may not load as quickly or play as smoothly as movies that use the preferred
codecs. For best results, all custom content should be created in a single, common format. The Photo-JPEG codec is
strongly recommended. (Refer to
"Creating Custom Content" on page 158 for more information.)
Note: In this manual, "preferred movie codecs" refers to Photo-JPEG, DV/DVCPro, Apple Intermediate, Animation,
Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy, Light, Normal and High Quality), and Apple ProRes 4444. All other movie codecs are
considered "non-preferred."