FCP 6 takes too long to export quicktime

When I export my FCP timeline, video only to quicktime it takes 8 hours. the project is a 90 minute feature that uses XDCAM HD, DVC Pro HD and HDV footage. The sequence compressor is Pro Res HQ. I leave the make movie self-contained box unchecked and every time I have exported the movie as a reference file, it takes longer and longer. When i exported 2 months ago, it took 6 hours. We made edits and exported it last month and it took 7 hours. The most recent version of the movie that I exported to DVD Studio took 8 hours and the changes are relatively minor. Any suggestions???

to export as a reference file, your timeline has to be fully rendered.


nick

my time line is fully rendered. only green and blue is at the top. do you have another suggestion. it is very puzzling

"only green and blue"

that's not fully rendered. green needs rendering too. green indicates a "preview quality" of an effect.

you can render the green alone with Control R,
or use Option R for "render All"

to really render all, go to your Sequence Menu, > Render All, and make sure all video items is ticked.
THEN use Option R

i've got a feeling you may not have unlimited RT set in your timeline.
go to the small RT menu top left of the timeline, and set it to Unlimited


cheers,
nick

IMHO Exporting a 90 minute project like that as a reference file is asking for heartache. It would be my preference that you export it as a quicktime file. An extra TB isnt that expensive.

Also that you export reels, so if you have to re-do a section it isnt the whole movie.

This will actually make other process like creating DVD's and web files faster.

Reference movies are fine. I do that a lot to save time, but my long form work is usually an hour. Make sure your timeline is fully rendered (XDCAM and hdv takes longer as it has to rewrite the GOP structure). And that your drive isn't full.



www.strypesinpost.com

reference moves are ok for immediate tasks.
as long as you are realistic and don't expect it to work a week later you will be fine.

i also tend to work in "reels" of around 20 minutes,
partly for the same reasons as Ethan
but also because that's how i edit, across multiple sequences, or projects


nick

I usually work in acts and scenes. But when I'm compiling or packaging, everything goes into 1 sequence. And I export a reference qt for encoding (because my deadlines tend to be that tight that a SCQT makes a difference).



www.strypesinpost.com

excellent advice from everyone. i do not have unlimited RT set in my timeline because when I was editing, the playback kept dropping frames. I never went back to change it for the export. thank you all

hi lori

you dont need to change it back for the export,
but to render the orange RT effects, and other colours, you need to go to the Sequence Menu > Render, and make sure those colours are ticked.

i much prefer working in unlimited RT.
Unlimited RT works by making visual compromises to play back.
firstly it will drop the resolution to half or quarter,
then if it still needs to it will drop the frame rate,
then it will just drop frames.
the dropping of the frame rate is not set by default, and i find that that works for me, as it looks sort of like dropped frames anyway.

if you are getting the dropped frames warning popping up all the time and stopping your work, it's simple.
just tell it to not do that! there is a check box in the window.

for me most of the orange rt effects do play ok.
if they get really bad, i just render them.
i much prefer having that choice.



cheers,
nick

again, more great advice. i wish i had know of this forum 2 years ago. i mostly use creative cow, but this is much more practical and applicable to my project. again, thank you so much. i will post after my next QT export with update

in conclusion, i followed all your advice and the QT reference file exported in about 90 seconds as opposed to 7 hours. My project is divided into 4 acts which makes changes so much simpler. I am using DVD studio pro to burn a reference copy DVD for the person who will do the audio sweetening for the movie. Thank you all.

> I am using DVD studio pro to burn a reference copy DVD for the person who will do the
> audio sweetening for the movie.

Wait a minute...you're burning a video DVD as a reference for a sound mix? DVDs aren't frame-accurate, and there's no random access for playback, either. I've never had a sound designer accept a video DVD as a reference for sync.


www.derekmok.com

i can't comment on what Lori is doing, but a "reference DVD" is not necessarily a "picture guide"

i sent a DVD of an early cut of my latest project to our sound team just last week so they could have a look / listen to the show,
and plan their commitment.

the golden rule of course is to ask the other person what they want / need.


nick

True, just don't check sync with that thing!


www.derekmok.com