<p><strong>Project</strong> settings determine the way your source media will be interpreted (played/processed/pre-rendered) by your NLE application.</p>

<p><strong>Export</strong> settings determine the format of the file that you are going to output once the edit is finished.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>You shoot video on a Panasonic HVX camera in Apple ProRes 422 codec
  (HQ). Then you import the clips into your project. The project codec
  will be Apple ProRes 422 (HQ).</p>
  
  <p>You plan to publish the video on youtube. There is no practical sense
  in keeping the quality as high as Apple ProRes for web delivery, so
  you choose to compress the resulting video into H.264 codec inside an
  MP4 container (listed as Youtube 1080pHD) to make it easier to upload,
  without significantly sacrificing its quality.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-22T15:05:56.243Z
I kind of had an intuition that resembles what you said. But still, I am confused. First, you just said the project settings determine how my media is "processed". Shouldn't HitFilm simply be smart enough to recognize each imported media's format and "process" them natively without my interference? I see no reason why a video editor would want to reduce the quality going "into" the app. Secondly, what happens if I mix different input qualities in all the different media files I import?
Martin Andersson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-22T15:47:28.030Z
HitFilm is smart enough to recognise the format of media files you import and can later change your sequence settings to match them when you do that. So you can actually skip the template selection. The video editor would want to reduce quality of video going into the app, if his computer was too slow to allow playback and rendering in the source format (i.e. you have shot a lot of video in camera RAW format). But that's not your case, so nothing is reducing the quality (your template selection is not doing any video conversion).
Tony Sepia
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-22T15:54:58.530Z
You can learn more about Editing vs. Delivery formats here: http://telestreamblog.telestream.net/2012/04/save-yourself-frustration-use-editing-formats-when-editing-2/ This will make it clear why there is a distinction between Project and Export settings. In short: you don't have to edit in the same quality you are delivering in
Tony Sepia
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-21T07:09:20.927Z
2017-06-21T07:09:20.927Z
Tony Sepia
<p>I am using HitFilm 2017 Express to put together a few clips recorded by an iPhone (1920 x 1080 @ 29.97fps).</p>

<p>I see some video settings in my <strong>project tab</strong>:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/woQv6.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/woQv6.png" alt="Proejct video settings"></a></p>

<p>When I <strong>export</strong> my video, I see even more settings - some of which are duplicated across both:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bzoCv.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bzoCv.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>I understand that my export settings are what I actually get in the rendered file. What confuses me is the project's video settings (first picture). Why do I even have them? How do they relate to and/or affect the final production?</p>

<export>
HitFilm 2017: What's the difference between project video settings and export video settings?
Martin Andersson
# HitFilm 2017: What's the difference between project video settings and export video settings?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-21)

I am using HitFilm 2017 Express to put together a few clips recorded by an iPhone (1920 x 1080 @ 29.97fps).

I see some video settings in my **project tab**:

[![Proejct video settings](https://i.sstatic.net/woQv6.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/woQv6.png)

When I **export** my video, I see even more settings - some of which are duplicated across both:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bzoCv.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/bzoCv.png)

I understand that my export settings are what I actually get in the rendered file. What confuses me is the project's video settings (first picture). Why do I even have them? How do they relate to and/or affect the final production?

**Tags:** export


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-06-21. Score: 1

**Project** settings determine the way your source media will be interpreted (played/processed/pre-rendered) by your NLE application.

**Export** settings determine the format of the file that you are going to output once the edit is finished.

For example:

> You shoot video on a Panasonic HVX camera in Apple ProRes 422 codec
> (HQ). Then you import the clips into your project. The project codec
> will be Apple ProRes 422 (HQ).
>
> You plan to publish the video on youtube. There is no practical sense
> in keeping the quality as high as Apple ProRes for web delivery, so
> you choose to compress the resulting video into H.264 codec inside an
> MP4 container (listed as Youtube 1080pHD) to make it easier to upload,
> without significantly sacrificing its quality.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I kind of had an intuition that resembles what you said. But still, I am confused. First, you just said the project settings determine how my media is "processed". Shouldn't HitFilm simply be smart enough to recognize each imported media's format and "process" them natively without my interference? I see no reason why a video editor would want to reduce the quality going "into" the app. Secondly, what happens if I mix different input qualities in all the different media files I import?  
> **username_1**: HitFilm is smart enough to recognise the format of media files you import and can later change your sequence settings to match them when you do that. So you can actually skip the template selection. The video editor would want to reduce quality of video going into the app, if his computer was too slow to allow playback and rendering in the source format (i.e. you have shot a lot of video in camera RAW format). But that's not your case, so nothing is reducing the quality (your template selection is not doing any video conversion).  
> **username_1**: You can learn more about Editing vs. Delivery formats here: http://telestreamblog.telestream.net/2012/04/save-yourself-frustration-use-editing-formats-when-editing-2/ This will make it clear why there is a distinction between Project and Export settings. In short: you don't have to edit in the same quality you are delivering in  

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