Using Render Commands
Final Cut Express's rendering commands are all about choices. At the top level of the Sequence menu, you'll find three Render commands: Render Selection processes only the material you select in the Timeline. Render All creates render files for the entire sequence. Use Render Only to process a single type of unrendered material. Render Only can process either the portion of the sequence you select or the entire sequence if you don't mark a selection.
Each Render command has a submenu that offers a second tier of choices. In all three submenus, you can choose to render just video, just audio, or both. Both the Render Selection and Render All submenus allow you to pick and choose which types of render-eligible sections you want to process in this rendering operation. Check any or all of the render types before you kick off a render (Figure 18.9 ). The render options stay checked until you change them, so once you've set up a render specification, you can render with a simple keyboard command.
Figure 18.9. Choose Sequence > Render Selection (or Sequence > Render All) and then specify which render types you want to include in this rendering operation by selecting those items from the submenu. Making a selection toggles the checked status on or off; you'll have to select multiple times if you want to include or exclude multiple render types.
Tip
To render a section of a sequence:
1. | Do one of the following: - In the Timeline, select a portion of a clip or one or more clips or transitions.
- In the Timeline or the Canvas, set the sequence In and Out points to mark the area that you want to render (Figure 18.10 ).
Figure 18.10. Set the Sequence In and Out points to select the area you want to render. (This figure shows split edit points, marking Video In and Video Out.)
| 2. | Choose Sequence > Render Selection and then select which types of render-eligible material you want to include in this rendering operation by selecting those items from the submenu. Selected types are checked; making a selection toggles the checked status on or off. | 3. | Press Command-0 (zero) to open the sequence's Sequence Settings window. Verify (or adjust) the settings on the Render Control tab to specify the image quality of this render operation (Figure 18.11 ); then click OK.
Figure 18.11. Review or adjust the image quality of your rendered material on the Render Control tab of the Sequence Settings window.
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| 4. | Do one of the following: - Choose Sequence > Render Selection; or press Command-R to render both video and audio in the selected area.
- Choose Sequence > Render Selection > Video (Figure 18.12 ) to render just video in the selected area.
Figure 18.12. To start rendering, choose Sequence > Render Selection. Your submenu selection determines whether you render video only (pictured here), audio only, or both audio and video.
- Choose Sequence > Render Selection > Audio; or press Control-Option-R to render just the audio in the selected area.
A progress bar displays the percentage of completed processing while the selected area is being rendered (Figure 18.13 ).
Figure 18.13. A progress bar tracks the speed of the rendering process. More complex effects will take more time to render than simple effects or audio processing.
| 5. | Click Cancel if you want to stop rendering. Final Cut Express saves all the rendered frames it has processed, even if you cancel rendering. |
To render an entire sequence or multiple sequences:
1. | Do one of the following: - Open the sequence you want to render in the Timeline.
- In the Browser, select the icon of the sequence you want to render (Figure 18.14 ). You can select multiple sequences in multiple projects.
Figure 18.14. You can use the Render All command to render an entire sequence, but you can also use it to batch render multiple sequences. Select the sequences that you want to batch render in the Browser.
| 2. | Choose Sequence > Render All and then select which types of render-eligible material you want to include in this rendering operation by selecting those items from the submenu. Selected types are checked; making a selection toggles the checked status on or off. | 3. | Choose Sequence > Render All. A progress bar displays the percentage of completed processing while the sequence is being rendered. Click Cancel if you want to stop rendering. Final Cut Express saves all the rendered frames it has processed, even if you cancel rendering. |
Quick Preview Tip
The "instant preview" techniques listed here can show you a quick, temporary preview of an effect or transition before you commit to rendering it. Place the Timeline playhead at the section you want to preview and then use one of these methods: Press Option-P (the Play Every Frame command) to force a frame-by-frame preview of your unrendered material. FCE displays the frames as fast as they can be processed. Use the Left and Right Arrow keys to step through your footage a frame at a time. Scrub the playhead across the Scrubber bar in the Canvas or the Timeline's ruler.
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To render a single type of render-eligible material:
1. | Select a portion of the sequence, or to render the entire sequence, leave the entire sequence unselected. | 2. | Choose Sequence > Render Only and select a type of render-eligible material to render from the submenu. Video render options are listed at the top of the submenu; the three options at the bottom are audio only. |
To disable rendering:
FCE Protocol: Estimating Render Processing Time
Render processing times can range from a couple of seconds to many hours. How do you know whether you have just enough time for a quick break or enough for a two-hour lunch? Read on. Final Cut Express expresses the progress of your rendering operation as an estimate of the time remaining. Even so, the time displayed on the progress bar is based on how long the current frame takes multiplied by the number of remaining frames; so if your effects differ drastically in complexity, predicting the time required to render is difficulteven for Final Cut Express. Watch the progress bar for a few minutes and make a guess, based on the speed of the progress bar and your knowledge of the sequence. After rendering, or whenever you move a large number of clips, Final Cut Express rebuilds the QuickTime movie used for computer playback of your sequence so that it will be ready to playwherever you put your playhead. While it's rebuilding, you may see a dialog box that says "Preparing video for display."
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Rendering audio
Table 18.1 .)
Tip | The Mixdown Audio command produces a render file with a computed mix. Even though the command is called Mixdown , you still have individual control over all your audio tracks. Think of Mixdown Audio as a "temp mix" you can use while you're working.
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FCE Protocol: Track Costs
Final Cut Express uses the concept of track equivalent costs, or track costs , to calculate the total processing power needed to play back multiple audio channels. Under certain conditions, you may be able to play back audio tracks with filters or transitions applied. Choose Low Audio Quality playback from the General tab of the User Preferences window, and you'll pick up an extra track or two. You can estimate the real-time audio capabilities available in your sequence by adding up the audio track costs. Track costs can accumulate quickly when even a couple of unmixed tracks are combined, if you have used filters and transitions. If you exceed your real-time playback capability, you'll hear beeps instead of your audio when you attempt playback. Before you can play back, you'll need to render by selecting Mixdown Audio from the Sequence menu. |
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