user3295: I'm currently searching for new codecs that are better suited for production than the ones we are currently using. So far we used QuickTime Animation and PhotoJPEG. The latter always proved as something "rocksolid" and never made any problems. Though its lossy and has no alpha, thats when we used Animation but that codec is a dinosaur when it comes to compression and bit-depth.
I generally dislike all the built-in QuickTime codecs as they either dont deliver all the formats options or are just not pracitcal in a multi OS workflow. The whole Pro-Res family is a no go as it can only be encoded on a mac (except for the beta version of the ffdshow ProRes encoder).
So far I'm very happy with JPEG2000 using the j2k plugin from fnordware, the format has all the good things from legacy JPEG and Animation and has even more features but the downside is the fact that its an image sequence which is not so nice to handle as a single container file. The crippled JPEG2000 codec in QuickTime is no option.
So what I'm searching is a codec that can be used with container formats like .avi or .mov (or any other container, it really doesn't matter), with a good compressability in the range of lossless JPEG2000, atleast 16bit per channel and support for an alpha channel. E: And of course lossless if that wasn't clear so far. Otional lossy compression like JPEG2000 has, would be great but not necessary.
I hope someone can suggest me something, its no problem if the format needs a plugin for After Effects, Premiere etc. it just needs to be compatible with CS6 and not be restricted to Windows or Mac.

user1760: Ut Video is an editor friendly lossless video codec and is a good choice for in house production as an intermediary. It is fast, open source, actively developed, supports RGB(A)/ULRA (for your alpha channel requirement) and YUV colorspaces, and is available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. You can install it on Windows and it will show up in Adobe Media Encoder, After Effects, etc. I don't know if it will fit all of your needs, but it is worth a try.

user1950: Targa (TGA in the format options menu in AE) is a lossless codec that works with video (most people who know it know it from early days of image compression). It has better file compression ratios than Animation, but retains alpha support (32b/p). Its main advantage is that it's faster than animation. 
PNG (as used in pictures on the internet) also supports alpha (32b/p) and is lossless with a smaller file size than Animation.
The BBC developed a lossless codec, er a "specification" called Dirac which they want to use for broadcast, so it ought to be pretty fast. The downside is that you need to compile the codec (confusingly called "schrodinger") yourself (there may be binaries out there).
If you're a windows, you can download the open-source lossless codec HuffyUV which is much faster. Or if you want to be able to support 12bit/channel colour (and who wouldn't) there's Lagarith - a variation of huffyuv. But when you talk 12-bit colour you're not talking small file sizes any more.
If you're editing in one of these codecs though, you're just making pain for yourself. Better to do your editing in something fast like proRes or Avid dnxHD and then reconform to your high quality originals.

3295: <p>I'm currently searching for new codecs that are better suited for production than the ones we are currently using. So far we used QuickTime Animation and PhotoJPEG. The latter always proved as something "rocksolid" and never made any problems. Though its lossy and has no alpha, thats when we used Animation but that codec is a dinosaur when it comes to compression and bit-depth.
I generally dislike all the built-in QuickTime codecs as they either dont deliver all the formats options or are just not pracitcal in a multi OS workflow. The whole Pro-Res family is a no go as it can only be encoded on a mac (except for the beta version of the ffdshow ProRes encoder).</p>

<p>So far I'm very happy with JPEG2000 using the j2k plugin from fnordware, the format has all the good things from legacy JPEG and Animation and has even more features but the downside is the fact that its an image sequence which is not so nice to handle as a single container file. The crippled JPEG2000 codec in QuickTime is no option.</p>

<p>So what I'm searching is a codec that can be used with container formats like .avi or .mov (or any other container, it really doesn't matter), with a good compressability in the range of lossless JPEG2000, atleast 16bit per channel and support for an alpha channel. E: And of course lossless if that wasn't clear so far. Otional lossy compression like JPEG2000 has, would be great but not necessary.</p>

<p>I hope someone can suggest me something, its no problem if the format needs a plugin for After Effects, Premiere etc. it just needs to be compatible with CS6 and not be restricted to Windows or Mac.</p>
 1760: <p><a href="http://umezawa.dyndns.info/archive/utvideo/?C=M;O=D" rel="nofollow">Ut Video</a> is an editor friendly lossless video codec and is a good choice for in house production as an intermediary. It is fast, open source, actively developed, supports RGB(A)/ULRA (for your alpha channel requirement) and YUV colorspaces, and is available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. You can install it on Windows and it will show up in Adobe Media Encoder, After Effects, etc. I don't know if it will fit all of your needs, but it is worth a try.</p>
 1950: <p>Targa (TGA in the format options menu in AE) is a lossless codec that works with video (most people who know it know it from early days of image compression). It has better file compression ratios than Animation, but retains alpha support (32b/p). Its main advantage is that it's faster than animation. </p>

<p>PNG (as used in pictures on the internet) also supports alpha (32b/p) and is lossless with a smaller file size than Animation.</p>

<p>The BBC developed a lossless codec, er a "specification" called Dirac which they want to use for broadcast, so it ought to be pretty fast. The downside is that you need to compile <a href="http://diracvideo.org/" rel="nofollow">the codec</a> (confusingly called "schrodinger") yourself (there may be binaries out there).</p>

<p>If you're a windows, you can download the open-source lossless codec <a href="http://neuron2.net/www.math.berkeley.edu/benrg/huffyuv.html" rel="nofollow">HuffyUV</a> which is much faster. Or if you want to be able to support 12bit/channel colour (and who wouldn't) there's <a href="http://lags.leetcode.net/codec.html" rel="nofollow">Lagarith</a> - a variation of huffyuv. But when you talk 12-bit colour you're not talking small file sizes any more.</p>

<p>If you're editing in one of these codecs though, you're just making pain for yourself. Better to do your editing in something fast like proRes or Avid dnxHD and then reconform to your high quality originals.</p>
