Performance
A video export draws every frame of the mix, 30 a second, at full size. How long that takes depends on the template.
| Template | On an M1 Mac, a one-hour mix takes about |
|---|---|
| A simple one: a background, glitter, text | 10 minutes |
| With a full-size video clip | 10 minutes |
| Heavy: a video clip, text with several layer styles, glow, trails, a LUT | 50 minutes |
The first video export of a recording also listens to it for the beats and the spectrum, which takes about as long as its analysis, once.
What takes the most
- Video clips in ProRes, DNxHD and other formats made for editing, which ffmpeg decodes frame by frame: one can make an export take two to several times as long, however small it is shown. Clips in H.264, HEVC, VP9 or AV1, as phones, cameras and recording software make them, are decoded by the computer's video decoder and cost little. Keying out a clip's green or black adds little on a computer with a graphics card, and a lot on one without.
- Layer styles, several on one layer: each is drawn every frame.
- Glitter with thousands of particles, glow, trails and blur.
Gradients, solid colours, text without styles, the spectrum and the waveform cost little.
The preview
The Video view draws the picture at the size it is shown. If it stutters while playing, make the window smaller, or hide the heaviest layers while you work on others: an export draws every frame whatever the preview managed.