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Rendering Question: Will altering Render Control Options affect final video quality?
I’m primarily edited short HD clips in FCP and left the default rendering options in place. I’ve been very satisfied with the results when mastered to SD DVD.
Now that I’m starting to edit longer and longer clips, I’m finding that RT render times are getting frustratingly long. To shorten them, I’ve recently adjusted the Render Control Options under the Sequence/Settings tab to render at half resolution and half frame rate.
Not wanting to render for 30 hours then wait another 30 hours for Compressor to run it’s course, I’d like to know now if this will affect the final video quality.
Is my understanding correct that these options only affect the playback quality of the project while it’s within FCP? Or, am I mistaken and the finished product will be at half resolution and half frame rate?
Thanks!
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7 Replies
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You are mistaken. The quality of the render will be the quality of the resulting QT movies.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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So, the most efficient work flow would be to make my 20 million edits with the settings as I have them now, then set them back to the default when finished without rendering (red bar), and export to Compressor?
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Probably…. you are having to render because you are adding filters or effects though right?
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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Yes.
Will those filters and other effects be lost if I don’t do a final render at the high quality settings?
I’ve been short, unrendered clips to Compressor in order test this notion and everything seems ok, but would like an expert opinon before I get any further into my project.
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Just to make sure that I’m we’re on the same page, I’m talking about rendering on the timeline with RTE and not rendering the final project in Compressor.
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Actually, if you export a QT movie of any sequence, the result will be a single file which is rendered. So the computer has to render it one place or another… even a non self contained movie contains the media that had to be rendered, and all other media it references.
So you should be OK to send the sequence to Compressor unrendered, but I really don’t quite understand the point, becuase I think the export will take just as long as a render would have. So do set the render quality to high before you export (though I’m not sure it comes into play there) and you’ll be able to check your rendered effects that way.
Jerry
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I think the reference movie only contains the render files if the sequence is not rendered. Then the export to the reference file has to render and it builds the renders into the QT reference file and they’re not accessible anywhere else. If the sequence is pre-rendered the reference file simple references the render files on your hard drive. That’s why it’s really dangerous to do reference movies for things you still working on. You change the sequence, the render file gets lost and the reference movie is broken and will not open.
All the best,
Tom
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” DVD
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