<p>Not so much an answer as a workflow suggestion - when you are creating image sequences, group images together in a <code>Compound Clip.</code> Enter that clip and export it as ProRes 422. Overwrite the compound clip (this is saved in the browser) with the rendered video. This can run in the background while you continue to edit, but will save final export time as FCPX won't have to decompress/conform each still image.</p>

<p>If you need to make changes later, drop the original compound clip back into the timeline, add new images etc, and export again. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-21T19:04:59.420Z
nice idea like it!
MorkPork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-21T14:58:04.480Z
2017-11-21T14:58:04.480Z
Alan Kael Ball
<p>I found in the end the easiest way was to leave the video to render everything as I hadnt done this, it took about six or seven hours to do but once done the actual sharing in h264 format only took about an hour to do, which isn't that bad.</p>

<p>I could change the share version to video and audio and then pick prores but the resultant file would have been nearly 40gb! I have no idea how long it'd take to spit that out, possibly shorter than the rendering and sharing time of the other filetype combined but then I'd have a file approximately 7-8 times the size and not suitable for uploading online/to youtube etc, and any resizing that I'd need to do would probably end up taking an extra chunk of time as well, in the end I'll just make sure I have my projects render overnight before I need to do stuff with them...</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T08:43:05.027Z
2017-11-09T08:43:05.027Z
MorkPork
<p>So I've created a video, its in 1080p, it has a lot of images on it doing various things, fading in and out, moving around the screen etc.  It also has a picture in picture video on it and two audio streams.  I find that when I come to trying to share this as a master file even in the lowest resolution I can pick it takes hours and hours to export it!  The final file is &lt;2gb in size (if I try 1080p the result is only circa 6gb and I've never completed it, it seems to grind to a halt after hours).</p>

<p>I'm running on a macbook pro which is about 2 years old, with 16gb Ram, 1tb hdd with a good 33gb of space etc.  Worth adding that when I don't have so many pictures the same video might take an hour or two but overall is much faster, is it just the sheer number of images I've got?  If so is there a way to mitigate this?  Not sure if relevant or not but I've also turned of rendering as having it on makes the mac start to sound like it's ready to take off! </p>

<p>Any suggestions how I can speed things up?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T09:50:38.057Z
What are the resolutions of the images ?, if they are very big being shrunk down to 1080 it will have to render every image. I run on a MBP older than yours with lower ram and I work with a mix of 4K and 1080p video and mine runs fine. if you export as a master file and choose prores does that make a difference ? have you tried removing the animations and transitions, does this make a difference to export?
Adam Mann Pro
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T11:49:15.180Z
The images are 2k pixels high, could that possibly be whats doing it?  There are quite a few of them in there and the timeline isnt rendered before I try and share it, would rendering it help?  It seems to be taking an age to render to :/
MorkPork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T11:51:01.817Z
When exporting I always choose master but I cant see anywhere to select pro-res, where would I set this :/
MorkPork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:10:05.907Z
the images dont need to be 1080p but it will impact the as it will have to resize them slightly. also depending on the file format ie: jpeg, raw, tiff etc will depending on what it has to do to render.
Adam Mann Pro
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:11:14.173Z
here is a link to an image of the export screen the "Video Codec" is what you need to look into, changing this will make things run faster or slower depending on the codec and format etc https://larryjordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/export041.jpg
Adam Mann Pro
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:42:06.247Z
cheers for the photo, I only have h264 in that dropdown :/
MorkPork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:42:20.990Z
The images are all png with transparent backgrounds
MorkPork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T13:39:38.560Z
@MorkProk it is taking so long because it is converting it to h.264 its odd you don't have a ProRes option as that's normally the default
Adam Mann Pro
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T14:09:29.647Z
Any suggestions about how I can add it back in?  I dont remember doing anything different when I installed FCPX, I originally had imovie but I didnt import anything from that, I downloaded a free version and then upgraded it after the month trial.  Have tried creating a new library and new project and I can pick the 422 option when creating the new project but still no export option appeards :/
MorkPork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T14:11:04.300Z
Possibly when I imported the videos from the avchd (imported directly into FCPX) I didnt do the optimise media option, would that remove it?
MorkPork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T00:19:56.317Z
Aha! Ive found out how to get it to export to prores 422, only I had it set to computer not video and audio, the only problem now of course is that the resultant file is going to be 38gb not 6!  how do I reduce that?!
MorkPork
<final-cut-pro-x>
Final cut pro X takes hours to export a file with lots of images
MorkPork
# Final cut pro X takes hours to export a file with lots of images

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-08)

So I've created a video, its in 1080p, it has a lot of images on it doing various things, fading in and out, moving around the screen etc. It also has a picture in picture video on it and two audio streams. I find that when I come to trying to share this as a master file even in the lowest resolution I can pick it takes hours and hours to export it! The final file is <2gb in size (if I try 1080p the result is only circa 6gb and I've never completed it, it seems to grind to a halt after hours).

I'm running on a macbook pro which is about 2 years old, with 16gb Ram, 1tb hdd with a good 33gb of space etc. Worth adding that when I don't have so many pictures the same video might take an hour or two but overall is much faster, is it just the sheer number of images I've got? If so is there a way to mitigate this? Not sure if relevant or not but I've also turned of rendering as having it on makes the mac start to sound like it's ready to take off!

Any suggestions how I can speed things up?

**Tags:** final-cut-pro-x

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What are the resolutions of the images ?, if they are very big being shrunk down to 1080 it will have to render every image. I run on a MBP older than yours with lower ram and I work with a mix of 4K and 1080p video and mine runs fine. if you export as a master file and choose prores does that make a difference ? have you tried removing the animations and transitions, does this make a difference to export?  
> **username_0**: The images are 2k pixels high, could that possibly be whats doing it?  There are quite a few of them in there and the timeline isnt rendered before I try and share it, would rendering it help?  It seems to be taking an age to render to :/  
> **username_0**: When exporting I always choose master but I cant see anywhere to select pro-res, where would I set this :/  
> **username_1**: the images dont need to be 1080p but it will impact the as it will have to resize them slightly. also depending on the file format ie: jpeg, raw, tiff etc will depending on what it has to do to render.  
> **username_1**: here is a link to an image of the export screen the "Video Codec" is what you need to look into, changing this will make things run faster or slower depending on the codec and format etc https://larryjordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/export041.jpg  
> **username_0**: cheers for the photo, I only have h264 in that dropdown :/  
> **username_0**: The images are all png with transparent backgrounds  
> **username_1**: @MorkProk it is taking so long because it is converting it to h.264 its odd you don't have a ProRes option as that's normally the default  
> **username_0**: Any suggestions about how I can add it back in?  I dont remember doing anything different when I installed FCPX, I originally had imovie but I didnt import anything from that, I downloaded a free version and then upgraded it after the month trial.  Have tried creating a new library and new project and I can pick the 422 option when creating the new project but still no export option appeards :/  
> **username_0**: Possibly when I imported the videos from the avchd (imported directly into FCPX) I didnt do the optimise media option, would that remove it?  
> **username_0**: Aha! Ive found out how to get it to export to prores 422, only I had it set to computer not video and audio, the only problem now of course is that the resultant file is going to be 38gb not 6!  how do I reduce that?!  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-21. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Not so much an answer as a workflow suggestion - when you are creating image sequences, group images together in a `Compound Clip.` Enter that clip and export it as ProRes 422. Overwrite the compound clip (this is saved in the browser) with the rendered video. This can run in the background while you continue to edit, but will save final export time as FCPX won't have to decompress/conform each still image.

If you need to make changes later, drop the original compound clip back into the timeline, add new images etc, and export again.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: nice idea like it!  

---

### Answer by username_0 on 2017-11-09. Score: 0

I found in the end the easiest way was to leave the video to render everything as I hadnt done this, it took about six or seven hours to do but once done the actual sharing in h264 format only took about an hour to do, which isn't that bad.

I could change the share version to video and audio and then pick prores but the resultant file would have been nearly 40gb! I have no idea how long it'd take to spit that out, possibly shorter than the rendering and sharing time of the other filetype combined but then I'd have a file approximately 7-8 times the size and not suitable for uploading online/to youtube etc, and any resizing that I'd need to do would probably end up taking an extra chunk of time as well, in the end I'll just make sure I have my projects render overnight before I need to do stuff with them...


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