Best Rendering Final Cut Pro X

Recently, David asked:

Video Editing with Final Cut Pro X - From Beginner to YouTuber. In this class, you'll learn everything you need to get started with Final Cut Pro, and how to take your editing to the next level. We'll work together to create a YouTube-style video following a 3-part workflow. This course unravels the post-production world for editors. Students will dive into the key features of Apple's Final Cut Pro software for Video and Audio Editing and learn elements for creating professional videos with the use of transitions and effects, titles and motion graphics, color correction, 360 Video and Media Management. Final Cut Pro has a minimum system requirement of macOS 10.14.6 or later, 4GB of RAM though 8GB is recommended for 4K editing. Metal-capable graphics card, 1GB of VRAM, 3.8GB of available disk space, 27-inch iMac with Radeon Pro 580 graphics, Blu-ray recorder for burning Blu-ray discs, and OpenCL-capable graphics card or Intel HD. Final Cut Pro X is arguably the most popular video editing software for MacOS users. That is because Apple, themselves, designed the platform with seamless optimization in mind. If you are a Final Cut Pro X user, you will find no other much smoother interface than this one. This allows you to edit instantly. On top of that, rendering times also process nearly ten times faster than other apps.

'When exporting media, would ProRes 422 have a speed advantage over ProRes 422 LT?'

I was fascinated by this question, because I haven't look at the speed differences between different versions of ProRes before.

However, I need to break this into two parts:

• Do different versions of ProRes render faster?
• What should we use for master file output?

THOUGHTS ON OUTPUT

Where possible, I always recommend exporting a master file at the highest quality possible. It is easy to convert a high-quality file into something smaller. It is impossible to convert a small file into high-quality.

• If you are working with RAW, HDR or Log files, export ProRes 4444
• If you are working with files created on the computer, i.e. After Effects or Motion, export ProRes 4444 with alpha
• If you are working with SD or HD media, export ProRes 422

The only exception to this rule is when getting a clip posted quickly is more important than quality. In which case, export a compressed file – H.264 or HEVC – and post that. However, as soon as possible after you get your story posted, go back and export a high-quality master file and save that for the future. Just in case…

Even though using a lower quality codec as the final export of a master file doesn't make sense, there's still a great deal of value in David's question!

Since we can change render settings at any time, wouldn't it be cool if we could choose a codec that renders faster for initial editing, then switch to a high-quality codec just before final output?

So, for this article, I wanted to see what the speed differences were between the different ProRes render options in Apple Final Cut Pro X. And, truthfully, the results surprised me!

A SIDE NOTE ON ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CC 2019

I originally planned to compare render speeds between FCP X and Premiere. But, as I got into my tests, I realized that would be like comparing oranges to ducks. They each approach rendering from a different point of view.

• Final Cut renders everything that doesn't match the project settings, regardless of whether the computer can play the clips natively or not. This allows slower machines to handle larger, more complex files and edits, but at the cost of more storage space and time spent rendering. This additional time is hidden by FCP rendering in the background.
• Premiere doesn't render unless it is unable to play a sequence. This means that you need a beefier system for Premiere than for Final Cut, but Premiere doesn't require extra storage space for render files. It also means that exports take longer because rendering occurs during export.

There's no 'right' approach – but it is important to know the differences.

NOTE: Here's an article comparing export speeds using different ProRes codecs in Premiere.

SOME BACKGROUND

Before we launch into the tests, let's define a few terms:

• Render. This calculates a new video (or audio) clip from an existing clip, or clips, based upon the effects, transitions or titles applied to it. Rendering creates new video to match the project settings, not the settings of the source clip.
• Final Cut only renders when it needs to. If you don't apply any effects, titles or transitions to a clip AND the project settings match the clip settings, no rendering occurs.
• A render file includes all clips and effects for each frame in the timeline into a single clip. In other words, multiple files are combined into a single, rendered file.
• Most importantly, FCP X renders in the background. This allows you to edit while rendering is going on. However, this also means that render times will vary depending upon other work your computer is doing. (We'll see the ramifications of this in our tests below.)

By default, render files are stored in the Library, though you can change their storage location using Library > Properties.

NOTE: Here's a video that explains how.

Faster CPUs and/or multiple cores will render faster. Faster GPUs may render faster, depending upon the codec; ProRes takes advantage of the GPU. However, faster CPUs or GPUs don't achieve greater quality, just greater speed.

SPEED TESTS

For these tests, I'm using a 2017 27″ iMac. Different computers will render at different speeds, so, in these tests, look at the relationships between render speeds, not the actual speed itself.

All files were stored to the internal SSD, here's the speed of my storage. (As you'll discover, rendering does not max out the speed available from the SSD, which means that this storage bandwidth is more than sufficient.)

For a source file, I took one of my recent webinar masters:

• ProRes 4444 (source)
• 1280 x 720 at 30 frames per second
• And edited it to be precisely 45 minutes in the timeline

To this I applied a single effect: scaling the entire image 50%. This forced FCP X to render the project. All tests were run with the same file, with the same effect. I deleted render files between tests.

NOTE: Applying more, or different, effects will require different render times. Scaling renders reasonably quickly, which is why I picked it.

One last note. Render speeds slow down when FCP X is not the foreground application or when the computer is doing other work. For these tests, I left FCP X as the foreground application and avoided doing other work with the computer. (I, ah, read a book…)

Here are the results:

NOTES

• All times are expressed as minutes:seconds.
• All media and render files were stored on the internal SSD.
• Timed with a stop watch, as determined by watching the Background Tasks window.
• I ran four tests of ProRes 422 LT just to see if any two render times matched. They didn't. So I only ran three tests for the remaining versions.

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

Final Cut Pro Online

RAM

This computer only had 8 GB of RAM, however during rendering for ALL versions of ProRes, rendering was easily handled within 8 GB of RAM.

• Cache is the amount of memory dedicated to holding frequently used files.
• Swap is when RAM is insufficient and the computer needs to temporarily shuffle data out of RAM and onto the SSD. While this expands the total amount of storage, swapping also slows things down. No version of ProRes required swapping to the hard disk.

CPU

The CPU was fully occupied.

• System refers to operations controlled by the operating system.
• User refers to operations – such as FCP X – controlled by the user

You never want the CPU to be 100% occupied, some reserve is necessary to respond to mouse and keyboard actions.

GPU

The GPU was fully involved most of the time. Note the fall-off at the end, we'll talk more about this below.

STORAGE

Final Cut transferred data from storage between 125 – 150 MB/second. Because it needed to process (i.e. calculate) the data in the file, it transfers data more slowly than if it were simply copying the file. In this screen shot, it is reading ProRes 4444 source files and created ProRes 422 LT.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

Final Cut supports these codecs for rendering. I thought that the more compressed files – such as ProRes 422 LT – would render more quickly than larger formats.

But, as you can see from my tests, that really isn't the case. In fact, every time I ran these tests, rendering took a different amount of time! This points out a key fact: render speed is dependent on what else your computer is doing at the time. While I tried to not run any other applications, the computer is ALWAYS doing something in the background.

There really isn't a whole lot of difference between the three ProRes 422 codecs. The first time I ran this test, they were within eight seconds of each other.

ProRes 4444 takes roughly 17% longer to render than any of the three ProRes 422 codecs, I found this longer time to be consistent between tests.

Another trait I noticed in EVERY test was that as Final Cut got within 85% of completion, it slowed down. Rendering from 45-50% took 20 seconds. Rendering from 95-100% took 45 seconds. You can clearly see the slowdown in the GPU chart above, it started right at 85%. It is also visible in the CPU chart, though I don't have a screen shot of it.

NOTE: While ProRes 422 LT, 422 and 4444 all slowed at 85%, ProRes 422 HQ consistently slowed at 70%. I don't know why.

Also, while the three ProRes 422 codecs maxed out the CPU at 95-97%, rendering ProRes 4444 only pushed the CPU to 75% of capacity. Again, I don't know why.

SUMMARY Duck ftp download.

So, what can we learn from this?

• First, ProRes 422 codecs seem to render faster than ProRes 4444.
• Second, while you are doing your rough cuts, switch to a smaller codec – ProRes 422 or ProRes 422 LT – not for speed, but to save storage space.
• Third, FCP X retains all render files, even if you are not using them. This means if you experiment with different render settings, all your earlier files are still stored on your hard disk unless you purposefully get rid of them.
• You can always switch to a higher-quality codec for final output. If the files don't exist, FCP X will create them during the export itself. There's no loss in quality if you switch render codecs.

NOTE: To get rid of unneeded render files, select the Project or Event you want to clean up, then choose File > Delete Generated Event Files. Then, choose Delete Render Files. If you delete the wrong files, don't panic. FCP will simply recreate them.

I found this exercise fascinating, because the results were not what I expected. If you have plenty of storage space, render in whatever codec you prefer. If storage space is tight, render in ProRes 422 or 422 LT.

But, in practical terms, there won't be any significant difference in speed.

by Christine Smith • 2021-02-06 12:29:40 • Proven solutions

If you own a Mac computer, or even if you don't, and are confused as to which video editing tool you must go for, this Final Cut Pro review will give you a clear picture and straightforward comparison between FCP and its other competitors. After reading this, you will be able to decide which program is best for you if you are a professional video editor or are planning to choose the field as your career.

Part 1. Final Cut Pro Review on Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons

Final Cut Pro (now Final Cut Pro X) is a post-production application for professionals who are into video editing and produce industry-standard movies, advertisements, and other motion clips that can be disturbed and/or broadcasted within a particular region or throughout the globe for economic benefits. Because of its simple UI, instantaneous response/feedback time after receiving an input from a user, and quick rendering, the program is always preferred over any other movie manipulation tool in the market.

Some of the integrated key features that this Final Cut Pro review appreciates most include:

1. Effects Application

Final Cut Pro X allows you to apply various effects to make your clips look professional and broadcast-worthy.

1. Virtual Reality Support

FCPX enables you to create and edit virtual reality (VR) videos. These clips enable users to experience 360⁰ views, thus making an environment look more realistic and natural with VR headsets.

1. Trimming and Arranging Footages

With Final Cut Pro, you can easily trim the raw footages and arrange the random captures systematically in the Timeline to come up with an output that makes sense.

1. Motion Graphics

The application is also enriched with several motion graphics templates that can be added to the footages to make them more engaging.

1. Multicam Edit Support

Final Cut Pro allows Multicam editing to save time and to make a detailed version of the distributable videos.

1. Room for Plug-Ins

Although the program is close-source, it still allows you to add various plug-ins to make your video editing experience more innovative and productive.

Best Rendering Final Cut Pro X Download Free

In addition to the above, the program has several other features, and it would be kind of impractical to cover them all in a single Final Cut Pro X review. At the time of this writing, the latest version of Final Cut Pro X (Final Cut Pro X 10.4.8) is available for USD 299.99 as a one-time payment. Post this amount, and nothing has to be paid in the name of hidden or weekly, monthly, or annual subscription cost whatsoever.

Like any other program, even FCP has its negatives and positives that may help you decide whether you should go for the application or pick any of its alternatives. Listed below are some of the most common pros and cons of the app that this Final Cut Pro review has gathered from various resources.

Pros:

1. Smooth Video Editing

Final Cut Pro X uses GPU that is registered with Apple, and therefore it tightly integrates itself with the hardware to offer a smooth and flawless video editing experience.

1. Assets Organization

All the ingredients you add to produce a final video (collectively called ‘Assets') can be organized in a systematic order. This arrangement helps you quickly locate the components when needed, thus saving you a decent amount of time.

1. 2D/3D Support and Application

FCPX allows you to add 2D and 3D titles with the help of motion graphics templates. Some examples of these titles can be casting, other information that the audience needs to be fed with during the playback, etc.

You never want the CPU to be 100% occupied, some reserve is necessary to respond to mouse and keyboard actions.

GPU

The GPU was fully involved most of the time. Note the fall-off at the end, we'll talk more about this below.

STORAGE

Final Cut transferred data from storage between 125 – 150 MB/second. Because it needed to process (i.e. calculate) the data in the file, it transfers data more slowly than if it were simply copying the file. In this screen shot, it is reading ProRes 4444 source files and created ProRes 422 LT.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

Final Cut supports these codecs for rendering. I thought that the more compressed files – such as ProRes 422 LT – would render more quickly than larger formats.

But, as you can see from my tests, that really isn't the case. In fact, every time I ran these tests, rendering took a different amount of time! This points out a key fact: render speed is dependent on what else your computer is doing at the time. While I tried to not run any other applications, the computer is ALWAYS doing something in the background.

There really isn't a whole lot of difference between the three ProRes 422 codecs. The first time I ran this test, they were within eight seconds of each other.

ProRes 4444 takes roughly 17% longer to render than any of the three ProRes 422 codecs, I found this longer time to be consistent between tests.

Another trait I noticed in EVERY test was that as Final Cut got within 85% of completion, it slowed down. Rendering from 45-50% took 20 seconds. Rendering from 95-100% took 45 seconds. You can clearly see the slowdown in the GPU chart above, it started right at 85%. It is also visible in the CPU chart, though I don't have a screen shot of it.

NOTE: While ProRes 422 LT, 422 and 4444 all slowed at 85%, ProRes 422 HQ consistently slowed at 70%. I don't know why.

Also, while the three ProRes 422 codecs maxed out the CPU at 95-97%, rendering ProRes 4444 only pushed the CPU to 75% of capacity. Again, I don't know why.

SUMMARY Duck ftp download.

So, what can we learn from this?

• First, ProRes 422 codecs seem to render faster than ProRes 4444.
• Second, while you are doing your rough cuts, switch to a smaller codec – ProRes 422 or ProRes 422 LT – not for speed, but to save storage space.
• Third, FCP X retains all render files, even if you are not using them. This means if you experiment with different render settings, all your earlier files are still stored on your hard disk unless you purposefully get rid of them.
• You can always switch to a higher-quality codec for final output. If the files don't exist, FCP X will create them during the export itself. There's no loss in quality if you switch render codecs.

NOTE: To get rid of unneeded render files, select the Project or Event you want to clean up, then choose File > Delete Generated Event Files. Then, choose Delete Render Files. If you delete the wrong files, don't panic. FCP will simply recreate them.

I found this exercise fascinating, because the results were not what I expected. If you have plenty of storage space, render in whatever codec you prefer. If storage space is tight, render in ProRes 422 or 422 LT.

But, in practical terms, there won't be any significant difference in speed.

by Christine Smith • 2021-02-06 12:29:40 • Proven solutions

If you own a Mac computer, or even if you don't, and are confused as to which video editing tool you must go for, this Final Cut Pro review will give you a clear picture and straightforward comparison between FCP and its other competitors. After reading this, you will be able to decide which program is best for you if you are a professional video editor or are planning to choose the field as your career.

Part 1. Final Cut Pro Review on Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons

Final Cut Pro (now Final Cut Pro X) is a post-production application for professionals who are into video editing and produce industry-standard movies, advertisements, and other motion clips that can be disturbed and/or broadcasted within a particular region or throughout the globe for economic benefits. Because of its simple UI, instantaneous response/feedback time after receiving an input from a user, and quick rendering, the program is always preferred over any other movie manipulation tool in the market.

Some of the integrated key features that this Final Cut Pro review appreciates most include:

1. Effects Application

Final Cut Pro X allows you to apply various effects to make your clips look professional and broadcast-worthy.

1. Virtual Reality Support

FCPX enables you to create and edit virtual reality (VR) videos. These clips enable users to experience 360⁰ views, thus making an environment look more realistic and natural with VR headsets.

1. Trimming and Arranging Footages

With Final Cut Pro, you can easily trim the raw footages and arrange the random captures systematically in the Timeline to come up with an output that makes sense.

1. Motion Graphics

The application is also enriched with several motion graphics templates that can be added to the footages to make them more engaging.

1. Multicam Edit Support

Final Cut Pro allows Multicam editing to save time and to make a detailed version of the distributable videos.

1. Room for Plug-Ins

Although the program is close-source, it still allows you to add various plug-ins to make your video editing experience more innovative and productive.

Best Rendering Final Cut Pro X Download Free

In addition to the above, the program has several other features, and it would be kind of impractical to cover them all in a single Final Cut Pro X review. At the time of this writing, the latest version of Final Cut Pro X (Final Cut Pro X 10.4.8) is available for USD 299.99 as a one-time payment. Post this amount, and nothing has to be paid in the name of hidden or weekly, monthly, or annual subscription cost whatsoever.

Like any other program, even FCP has its negatives and positives that may help you decide whether you should go for the application or pick any of its alternatives. Listed below are some of the most common pros and cons of the app that this Final Cut Pro review has gathered from various resources.

Pros:

1. Smooth Video Editing

Final Cut Pro X uses GPU that is registered with Apple, and therefore it tightly integrates itself with the hardware to offer a smooth and flawless video editing experience.

1. Assets Organization

All the ingredients you add to produce a final video (collectively called ‘Assets') can be organized in a systematic order. This arrangement helps you quickly locate the components when needed, thus saving you a decent amount of time.

1. 2D/3D Support and Application

FCPX allows you to add 2D and 3D titles with the help of motion graphics templates. Some examples of these titles can be casting, other information that the audience needs to be fed with during the playback, etc.

1. Filters and Effects Support and Application

Final Cut Pro allows you to add various filters and effects to the footage to make them more lucrative and appealing during the broadcasting sessions.

1. Audio Editor

Unlike other video editing tools, FCP has its own built-in audio editor that eliminates the need to invest in a dedicated program to edit sound clips and tracks for the video.

1. Quick Rendering

Rendering is considered to be the most tedious and boresome task after you are done with all the edits and modifications the video needs. FCPX remarkably reduces the rendering time because of its dedicated and tight integration with the GPU your Apple computer has.

Cons:

1. Platform Dependency

One of the biggest downsides of FCPX is that it is available only and only for Mac computers. The program cannot be installed even on a virtual machine running macOS as guest operating on a Windows computer.

1. Customer Support

Many people complain about the Customer Support Team, not responding to the queries or addressing the issues on time. This imposes great dissatisfaction among those who are using the program and have been stuck with something due to any bug in the app.

1. Value for Money

Some users find the program a bit expensive as compared to its competitors.

1. Learning Graph

Some claim that it took them a while to get familiar with the interface and to learn the application to produce professional-level output. However, this might be the case with the people who are new to the industry and are not much aware of how the video editors work.

Part 2. Best Alternative to Final Cut Pro You Should Know

Considering all the advantages mentioned in the Final Cut Pro review above, the program seems to be pretty nice and flawless to use. However, you may want to give the idea of buying the tool a second thought due to the reasons listed under the ‘Cons' section of the previous part (Part 1). If that is the case, you are in luck. Fortunately, Wondershare came up with a decent alternative for FCPX called UniConverter. Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate), as its name suggests, is not only a universal media converter but is also an efficient video editor and an all-in-one program for many other relevant tasks that you may want to conduct. In addition to the above, unlike Final Cut Pro X, Wondershare UniConverter is not restricted merely to one platform and is available for both Windows and Mac PCs.

Wondershare UniConverter - Best Final Cut Pro Alternative

Final Cut Pro Not Rendering

• Convert videos to Final Cut Pro compatible formats easily and quickly on Mac/Windows.
• Edit video files with trimming, cutting, adding subtitles, applying effects, and more easily.
• Support 1000+ video formats, including MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, MKV, and customized output settings.
• It has a 30X faster conversion speed than any conventional converters.
• Burn video to playable DVD with an attractive free DVD template.
• Download or record videos from 10,000+ video sharing sites.
• Versatile toolbox combines fixed video metadata, GIF maker, video compressor, and screen recorder.
• Supported OS: macOS 11 Big Sur, 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista.

That said, listed below are the steps to help you edit your videos in an easiest possible manner using Wondershare UniConverter:

Step 1 Click Add Files to Import Raw Footage.

Start Wondershare UniConverter on your computer (Windows or Mac), ensure that the Video Converter tile is selected from the top, click the icon from the center, use the Open box to choose raw footage that you want to edit, and click Open to import the clip to the program.

Step 2Click the Scissors Icon and Trim the Clip.

Click the Scissors (Trim) icon from below the left thumbnail of the imported video, on the new box that opens up, use the Timeline bar and handles on either side of the clip to locate and select portions of interest, and use the Cut and Delete buttons to trim off the unwanted sections from the footage as needed. Once you are done, click OK from the bottom-right corner to save the changes, and get back to the main interface.

Step 3 Click the Crop or Effect Icon for Further Modifications.

Click either the Crop or Effect icon present next to the Trim icon to open a new box with all the needed sections available in different tabs located at the top. Use these tabs to access their corresponding options and crop the video, add watermark, subtitles, and/or audio to it as needed. Once you are satisfied, click OK to save the changes and close the box to come back to the main window.

Step 4 Define Output Format and Export Video.

Click the Output Format menu from the top-right corner, choose your preferred output format as needed (MP4 with Same as source resolution for this example), choose a destination folder in the File Location field at the bottom, and click Start All to export the video.

Part 3. Comparison Table Between Final Cut Pro X and Wondershare UniConverter

You can check the comparison table given below to differentiate between Final Cut Pro X and Wondershare UniConverter.

Conclusion

Yes, Final Cut Pro X is a program that is preferred most by professional video editors who also own a Mac computer. However, considering the comparison table in Part 3 of this Final Cut Pro review, Wondershare UniConverter is way more equipped, cheaper, efficient, and flexible when it comes to features, pricing, convenience, and multilingual and tech support, respectively.