Apple article on Optimizing Media

[Geert Van den berg]

But that’s my point. Besides using a different framework which has better realtime playback performance, as far as rendering is concerned there is no difference between FCP7 and FCPX.

In FCP7 you choose a sequence preset with a certain codec, which you can alter to some extent while already working in the sequence. If your sequence is in ProResHQ and you drop this type of content in the timeline and make only cuts it will just copy over these segments to the QuickTime file on export, however any adjustments or filters will be rendered.

In FCPX you don’t have to specify a codec for your sequence. But if you make cuts only and use export media from the share menu with ‘the codec that you have used the most within the project’ (actually it is not current settings, this will create a ProRes file)  it will also just copy over the editted segments to the QuickTime file if your media has the same codec as the chosen codec. When filters are used it has to render but FCP 7 had to do that as well, then it’s not 1:1 anymore and then smart rendering doesn’t apply.

What’s the difference? IMHO there is none. Try it, test it and report back.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Geert van den Berg] “‘the codec that you have used the most within the project”

I guess I’ve never seen that option.

And, you can’t make ref files.

I’ll look tomorrow.

[Michael Griggs]

My biggest take away is that it’s one more thing that Apple is “deciding” for the editor….

[Jeremy Garchow]

This is a decidedly different direction for Apple, and seems rather deliberate.

There’s probably a reason. I’ve hypothesized that maybe it has to do with future “camera native” support.

There’s nothing stopping you from transcoding before import in a separate application, also just like Premiere.

[Richard Herd]

Not only camera native support but also LUT and CDL support. Think about it for a sec, here. Many cameras, many codex, but 1 LUT vis a vis CDL and that is what you see on the display, what the client sees — before editing even begins, a toggle check-box-type-switch in the color menu. Oh and before you scoff, it’s almost there. It’s not quite a switch, you have to make a photoshop element, and then tell the color to be like “that.” Wallah. It’s not magic. It’s metadata.

I know I know. We need a job today, to pay rent, buy groceries, save for retirement, so we have to cut in Avid, Legend, or Adobe. And who has time to learn new software? Oh yeah, we all have to learn new software because Legend is EOL’d. I believe that marketing department, but not the other marketing department, so now I have to confess my error. Suck it up and move on.

I’m a frowning Clown.

Pretend to edit in Legend. Then when the client leaves, 7tox and cut in X. then x2pro. Then back to 7 for client preview session. We’d pretend to “render” so I could make up the costs of log and transfer to a single codec and use the I/O’s layback app. It’s all buried in the cost structure.

Such a beautiful fashion show, my empty macpros blinking lights and making subwoofer sounds. My workhorse i7 and Tbolt RAID, a nom de plume.

“It’ll take hours to sync that multicam footage and transfer it to APR422,” I tell the client. “But it’s cool. I can work with your budget.” Not only do I make the client coffee, I roast the beans. (sweetmaria.com)

Ain’t this really about stopping the race to the bottom?

[Bret Williams]

So quick I’ve actually forgotten that’s what it’s doing! I’m not positive, but I thought that anything that has already been compressed doesn’t get recompressed like Premiere. For example, the native h264 project I did had color grading on every shot and so by the time it was completely rendered it was all ProRes somewhere. When I export media, it is pretty much instantaneous. I’m pretty sure it’s the equivalent of exporting current settings in FCP in such a case. It definitely did not rerender all the color corrections and also stabilizers. That really would’ve been a 30min or more render and export. It takes maybe 5-10 seconds with the timeline rendered. No different than FCP 7.

[Bret Williams]

He’s definitely right. I don’t use auto render. But I just render selection like FCP 7. And you haven’t seen the sequence codec choice? When you create a sequence (er project). It’s also changeable later from the project window/browser.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Bret Williams] “So quick I’ve actually forgotten that’s what it’s doing! I’m not positive, but I thought that anything that has already been compressed doesn’t get recompressed like Premiere. For example, the native h264 project I did had color grading on every shot and so by the time it was completely rendered it was all ProRes somewhere. When I export media, it is pretty much instantaneous. I’m pretty sure it’s the equivalent of exporting current settings in FCP in such a case. It definitely did not rerender all the color corrections and also stabilizers. That really would’ve been a 30min or more render and export. It takes maybe 5-10 seconds with the timeline rendered. No different than FCP 7.
“

It’s true, there does seem to be a semblance of some smart rendering in X.

Of you have already rendered your timeline to ProRes and you export a ProRes movie, yes it seems to smart render.

I try not to render in FCPX unless I need to. I work with all kinds of formats, not only ProRes. It’s not the exact same
as Premiere, but it does need to compress to your output codec if your timeline is unrendered.

There are no reference files, this is a big difference from fcp7.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Bret Williams] “He’s definitely right. I don’t use auto render. But I just render selection like FCP 7. And you haven’t seen the sequence codec choice? When you create a sequence (er project). It’s also changeable later from the project window/browser.
“

I have never seen the “use the codec most used in your project” option that was mentioned, no.

My Projects are usually just setup as a custom for ProRes or HQ, depending on source material.

[Geert Van den berg]

[Jeremy Garchow] “I have never seen the “use the codec most used in your project” option that was mentioned, no.”

It didn’t mean that literally.

What I noticed is that the media export from the share menu usually only mentions ProRes but if you have an IMX or XDCAM codec in your sequence, and at my company we use those the most for broadcast deliverables, those codecs appear in that menu as well, so FCPX is aware of them. If you want to render to those codecs from a sequence that has only ProRes you’d have to use the Compressor options.

(We don’t actually use FCPX yet, still need to demo CS6 better, but I am charmed by the quality and ease of use with the roles tags because we do a lot of multilanguage stuff).