Output Quality
By default, hance encodes output as H.264 with CRF 18. If your source is a high-quality format like ProRes (common with .mov files from cameras or editing software), the default H.264 output will be lower quality than the original due to lossy compression and 4:2:0 chroma subsampling.
Codec comparison
Section titled “Codec comparison”| Codec | Quality | File Size | Compatibility |
|---|---|---|---|
h264 (default) | Good (CRF-dependent) | Smallest | Universal |
h265 | Better at same CRF | ~30% smaller than h264 | Most modern players |
prores | Near-lossless (4:2:2 10-bit) | Largest | macOS, editing software |
Examples
Section titled “Examples”# ProRes output (near-lossless, 4:2:2 10-bit, larger files)hance video.mov -o output.mov --codec prores
# Lower CRF for higher-quality H.264 (0 = lossless)hance video.mov -o output.mp4 --crf 8
# H.265 for better quality at similar file sizeshance video.mov -o output.mp4 --codec h265 --crf 12Pro codecs
Section titled “Pro codecs”ProRes and H.265 require a pro license. On the free tier, H.264 is the only available codec.