C A S Q U A R T E R L Y W I N T E R 2 0 1 9 15
DNxHD and DNxHR
Codec Support
Apple to Discontinue
b y P e t e r K e l s e y C A S
A
pple has announced that in future versions of the macOS after macOS Mojave, 32-bit
applications will not be supported. This means that certain video codecs that are used
by Pro Tools will not be supported. Specifically, DNxHD and DNxHR codecs will
no longer be supported.
Both of these are Avid codecs and are used by Pro Tools. They are implemented natively in
Pro Tools and Media Composer and, thus, this announcement by Apple will NOT affect the
functionality of these applications. However, any application that would like to use these codecs
will have to have them implemented natively.
The original QuickTime is still supported in Mojave as QuickTime 7, but it is a 32-bit
application and will disappear with the next macOS. The QuickTime Player now on Apple
is based on a 64-bit platform called AVFoundation. This still supports, and will continue to
support, the QuickTime MOV file format.
If you are currently working on the Mac platform, consider converting files to Apple-friendly
codecs to be safe; especially if work is being edited in Final Cut Pro. Post macOS Mojave, the
Apple OS will NOT support third-party codecs AT ALL! You may wish to consider using a
separate video playback application such as Video Slave 3. Apparently, a growing number of
people have stopped using the Avid Video Engine, using Video Slave Pro instead, and have
found their video problems solved.
Further information can be found at:
The Avid Knowledge Base in the December 10, 2018, release titled: The Future of Avid DNx
on the Apple Platform (link info here):
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Compatibility/The-future-of-Avid-DNx-on-the-Apple-platform
And on the Pro Tools Expert site's December 4, 2018, post on the topic (link info here):
https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2018/12/3/a-future-macos-wont-support-the-avid-dnxhd-and-
cineform-codecs-pro-tools-users-working-with-video-need-to-prepare-for-this-now
