FCP 7: Determining Render Times and Filters

[ This article was first published in the September, 2010, issue of
Larry’s Monthly Final Cut Studio Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. ]

John Carter asks:

Great Presentation in August at WEVA.

 

Question, what should my RT setting be or sequence or even any other preset? Once I applied a filter I get a orange line w/ unlimited for 20 hours to render vs safe red line rending time of 3 hours.

 

Is this normal. I thought render time would be quick with these filters. 35 min timeline using color fixer (100% of sequence), flash reducer( 3 min clip) and noise reducer.(80% of the sequence)

Larry replies: John, thanks for the question.

The RT setting won’t make any difference in the render times. Also the time estimates FCP makes at the beginning of a render are notoriously inaccurate.

The speed of rendering depends upon a number of factors:

1. The speed of your computer’s processors
2. The video format you are using – HDV and XDCAM are notoriously slow
3. The complexity of the work being performed by the filter
4. The amount of material being rendered

Render files are always created to match the format you selected for your sequence.