Formats you don’t know you already know¶

• ZIP is the compression method used in Portable Network Graphics (.png) files. It is NOT based on the Zip file format, despite its name). If you don’t need 32bpc precision, that means when this document states you can use ZIP, it can be replaced by PNG files (if you don’t need AOV, keeping in mind that most software is slower handling PNG, especially After Effects).
• RLE is a compression used in TGA files, and it is close to the way data is compressed with Quicktime Animation sometimes used in .mov files. If you don’t need 32bpc precision, this means you can replace RLE by TGA files (if you don’t need AOV)
• DWA is close to the way data is compressed in JPEG files. If you don’t need 16 or 32bpc precision, DWA could be replaced by a JPEG file sequence, if you’re careful about the compression rate (and you don’t need alpha or AOV).