Project properties in 10.3...is this right?

Is it just me or is something not quite right with this:

I create a new project with" base on first clip" selected. I then import a Pro Res 422 HQ clip and drag that to the project. I then click and highlight project icon in browser and look at Modify in the inspector and it says the project is Pro Res 422, but not HQ. If I click on the clip in the project itself, and look at the inspector, it is confirming the clip is Pro Res 422 HQ.

Again, could be just me.

JL

Project properties doesn't media the codec. It means frame rate and resolution. The rendering codec is separate.

Thanks Tom.
So this means that if I have a bunch of Pro Res 422 HQ clip in my Project that says it is Pro Res 422, when I create a master file, it will be HQ?

Thanks.

JL

Render files don't really have anything to do with export files. When you export you pick whatever codec you want. If you want to render to HQ then set that as the render codec. If you're going to export to HQ it will sped up the export process some what, at the expense of having slower and larger render files of course. Or do what most people do, don't render anything so you don't care what the render codec is. If you're rendering just for preview purposes while you work, I'd set the render file to ProRes LT, faster and smaller.

Thanks again Tom.

So now I'm confused. So why is there an option to set to different Pro Res flavors in the Project Properties. If I drop a PR HQ clip in the project, and I export a Master file, my choice for output would be a PR HQ master file.

If I drop LT clips in my project and export, the file can't be any higher resolution than the LT file, I think. Kind of like taking a JPEG image and saving it as a TIFF or Photoshop file. You wouldn't gain anything except having a larger file size.

I know I'm probably missing something here :blink:

Jonathan

That's right. But the render codec doesn't effect the output.

Tom, I don't think some of this is entirely accurate

1. When background rendering is turned on, the project will render to the flavor of ProRes that's selected in the Project Properties. By default, this is going to be ProRes 422. When you have rendered in the background, any export made that's equal to or lower will be created from the render files directly, speeding up the output dramatically. (Lower meaning h.264, etc). That means FCPX will only be transcoding, since the render process has already happened.

2. When background rendering is off, or the project hasn't been rendered, FCPX will render and transcode together, taking a very long time compared.

3. If you change your Project Settings to ProRes HQ, you'll see faster renders since FCPX won't be rendering and transcoding to ProRes 422 (which is what it's doing now). Just keep in mind that the files are larger.

I don't believe this is correct. When you export I don't believe FCP goes through a render process first. It generates no render files. It doesn't take H.264 transcode to ProRes and then recompress that to H.264. I believe it processes from the original file if there is no render file. If there is s render file or optimized file it processes from that.

If you're in HQ and need to render a file it will be no faster to render to HQ than to PR422 just because the original is HQ. The file is altered that's why it has to be rendered. As I said rendering to HQ and outputting to HQ will be quicker.