Rendering audio in FCP

Hi there -
Is anyone able to explain to me the difference between the three audio render options in FCP: Render for Playback, Render Item-Level, and Render Mixdown? I'm confused as to which one to use and when.

Many thanks in advance, and Merry Christmas!

Rob

Render for playback is for media that doesn't conform to sequence settings. You can also render at item level which will build a render file for a specific piece of audio and will remain attached to that audio file wherever it is used in a sequence. Mixdown is an internal render file used to facilitate playback or export.

All the best,

Tom

Many thanks for this clear explanation Tom, ....(although I wish Apple/FCP made things a bit more straightforward sometimes!?)

Merry Christmas.
Rob

We used to do a mixdown before export as a matter of course a few years ago, but now I only use it on complicated projects that I think may have hiccups during export. It basically builds a single file for your timeline to play out - not affecting your mix, or your ability to remix - so that there is less load on the processors while going to tape. If you're having audio glitches, it's quite useful.