FCP X Share time (too long)

[surfmadison]

I recently switched from FCP7 to FCPX. I enjoy editing in FCPX more, but the rendering and sharing are taking much longer then FCP7.

I import 1920x1080 29.97i 1080i HD video from flash cards, and edit. I don't mind the rendering too much, but it is slower then FCP7.

The big issue is the time for sharing. My videos are one hour plus and I "share" through Compressor. I used to export as a QT reference movie, which was much faster. Once shared I use Adobe Encoder to make my final MP4 videos which I upload to the web. (Yes I could use Compressor to export as MP4 but Encoder does a better job.

FCP7 export to QT reference was fairly fast five to minutes at most. Now "sharing" through Compressor is taking an hour or so.

My rig: MPro 3.33 Ghz 6 Core with 6 GB RAM (yeah I could use more RAM but I have had this since the Pro's came out and RAM was expensive then.

Anyone have any ideas how to speed up my sharing. I have played with different sized share files sizes, but the speed is about the same. My share file sizes are 1.5 - 2.5 GB. The QT reference files were way smaller. My MP4 file sizes run about 110 MB per hour (these videos are streamed so I use small file sizes so people don't have issues).

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[4God]

Are you sharing to an h.264? If so, that's your challenge. Try sharing a Master File (ProRes) then use Adobe Media Encoder to create your web file.

 

[surfmadison]

Good idea what about...

Thanks for the idea. I have been exporting using an H.264 codec to .MOV.

In compressor I see 4 ProRes presets already.

422, 422 HQ, 422 Proxy, and 4444.

Which of these should I try?

I imagine they will make a large file, but once encoded on AME I can delete.

 

[4God]

Thanks for the idea. I have been exporting using an H.264 codec to .MOV.

In compressor I see 4 ProRes presets already.

422, 422 HQ, 422 Proxy, and 4444.

Which of these should I try?

I imagine they will make a large file, but once encoded on AME I can delete.

422 is okay but I get best results with 422HQ. You don't want 422 Proxy because it will cut your resolution in half. 4444 gives you an alpha channel if needed.

 

[ChrisA]

How did you import the video? Did you allow FCPX to transcode to prores on input? If so creating a prores output should go fast.

FCPX gives you two options on import. You can create "optimized media" and "proxy media" You can do either, none or both. That is four options.

Which are you doing?

 

[RCAFBrat]

I see you have a new post about video card upgrade or nMP to speed up your workflow but I'm not sure you have exhausted options with what you have; my son has a 21.5 iMac late 2012 with the i7 upgrade and here is what I have found when helping him share his videos:

- transcode the video files to ProRes when adding them to the Events
- when finished select share menu item and save the video as a master (the size of the file will be very large but per activity monitor during this operation the CPU is about 45% capacity and the speed is limited by the internal HDD)
- once the master file has been created quit FCPX
- use Handbrake to compress file to desired format (for a 1080p video size went from about 8 GB to 450 MB and per activity monitor speed was limited by CPU which was using 7 of 8 threads full out)

Handbrake did a fantastic job of quickly transcoding the video and used pretty much all of the resources available to it.

Now my son's workflow is anything but perfect (lots of learning ahead) since projects should not be saved on the internal HDD, there will be lots of faster external storage options soon that he can afford, I suspect the ProRes files on his iMac from just a coupe of small projects are using considerable amount of the base 1 TB capacity, not sure if transcoding on import is best idea but since he is usually in a panic to finish it, better to do it up front than midnight before it is due, etc.

Note that I don't have the computer or FCPX in front of me so its possible I have mis named some of the menu / options above. Also, I don't think he has changed any options from defaults.

Hope this is helpful.

Cheers

 

[surfmadison]

Thanks but..

Thanks for the reply, but here is my work flow. Import from storage card to external RAID (not using internal HDD for editing). It is a five bay eSata enclosure with 5 x 3 TB drives. Raid is connected with single eSata cable. Have another five drive RAID with older video on it. Plus I have an eight bay double eSata connected RAID for backing up the two five bay enclosures to. These all connected on a four port PCI eSata card.

Edit and render (rendering hour long videos takes a while). Share through Compressor using ProRes, which gives me a 20+ GB file. The share takes a long time too. Import said file into Adobe Media Encoder with a resulting 110+-MB file.

In FCP7 there was the option to export as a QT Reference movie. This provided a very fast export (just a few minutes). However, in FCPX there is no export to QT Reference, and you must now "Share". I use the latest compressor to share using the standard ProRes setting.

I use AME to encode down to MP4 files because we spent a great deal of time finding the optimum settings and like the results. I have tried using Compressor to share to the file, since this would avoid a step, but we have been unhappy with the file.

My thoughts were that the new FCPX 10.1 could use the video card in some way to increase the speed of "shares" and "encoding". Obviously a new MPro would be fastest, but since I already have a six core, I was thinking a new video card might be the ticket? If anyone knows, let me know what you think and which one would be the one to go with.

 

[RCAFBrat]

Way above my pay grade!

I'm really impressed with my son's iMac and FCPX but he is only working on short videos (less than ten minutes so far) and this is relative to Corel Video Studio on an HP laptop that died this past summer. Definitely apples and oranges compared to what you are working on.

I think your last post holds a lot more info about your workflow than previous posts so hopefully you'll get some better suggestions.

Cheers.

 

[4God]

Thanks for the reply, but here is my work flow. Import from storage card to external RAID (not using internal HDD for editing). It is a five bay eSata enclosure with 5 x 3 TB drives. Raid is connected with single eSata cable. Have another five drive RAID with older video on it. Plus I have an eight bay double eSata connected RAID for backing up the two five bay enclosures to. These all connected on a four port PCI eSata card.

Edit and render (rendering hour long videos takes a while). Share through Compressor using ProRes, which gives me a 20+ GB file. The share takes a long time too. Import said file into Adobe Media Encoder with a resulting 110+-MB file.

In FCP7 there was the option to export as a QT Reference movie. This provided a very fast export (just a few minutes). However, in FCPX there is no export to QT Reference, and you must now "Share". I use the latest compressor to share using the standard ProRes setting.

I use AME to encode down to MP4 files because we spent a great deal of time finding the optimum settings and like the results. I have tried using Compressor to share to the file, since this would avoid a step, but we have been unhappy with the file.

My thoughts were that the new FCPX 10.1 could use the video card in some way to increase the speed of "shares" and "encoding". Obviously a new MPro would be fastest, but since I already have a six core, I was thinking a new video card might be the ticket? If anyone knows, let me know what you think and which one would be the one to go with.

Have you tried sharing without using Compressor? I don't use Compressor to share, only to encode/transcode outside of Final Cut. I share a ProRes 422HQ file right out of Final Cut Pro and it only takes about 40 seconds to share a 4 minute clip. Not sure what you have going on there but I would try to share without using Compressor first and post your findings here.

 

[surfmadison]

ProRes Share

Not sure how you actually share without using Compressor. I think you are clicking Share >> Master File? If so, this is giving me a file size of 72 GB. When I choose Share >> ProRes through Compressor the file size is about 68 GB. Not much of a difference and there is no perceived time difference in the share either. Both are fairly slow as this current video is 62 minutes long. In fact this one is just one long clip, no edits other then a 10 second title overlay.

 

[talmy]

I generate 2 hours of 720P 10FPS H.264 videos in an evening of my class lectures (which are recorded from two sources, occasionally three). It's a lot of material I need to process quickly. And the video must be clean so that shots of the white board (and computer screen) are clearly readable.

1. I do no transcoding on import. Input is 1080P AVCHD and 720P JPEG screen capture using iShowUHD Pro. Occasionally also 720P H.264.

2. I do a Share Master File to an external drive (important with HDDs to avoid thrashing). I use ProRes 422(LT). I could see no visible difference with the higher quality formats, probably because of the size and frame rate reductions done in the Compressor step.

3. I then use Compressor into which I've installed the X.264 codec. I've spent time tweaking it for "best" results for my use. Destination is back on the internal drive.

I found that Sharing to Compressor takes longer, for some reason.

The final distribution is from my web site. Students can stream or download the videos for viewing offline.