Monday, May 21, 2018

Final Cut Pro X is optimized for speed

One thing that often get lost in discussions: in addition to some of its uniqueness (trackless, magnetic timeline, roles...) FCPX is optimized for speed. It uses the hardware better than PP during editing (more of a fluid response) and during export (faster exports.) 

From a 90 min. ProRes Timeline, with ProRes clips, with color correction applied, EQ and compressor applied to audio, FCPX exports a ProRes 422 file in less than 30min. without pre-rendering. It uses at least between 580% and 830% of CPU, most of the time around 750% of CPU, and something like 4.65GB of RAM.

Export from FCPX, six cores in action.

In comparison, Premiere Pro/ Adobe Media Encoder takes 94min. for the same task (again without pre-rendering), and it uses the CPU at under 500% at best, and about 9GB RAM.

Export from Premiere/AME (Queued), same six cores.

Again, a 90min. Timeline exports in 30min. with FCPX. It takes 94min. in PP, THREE TIMES LONGER!

These are my numbers on a MacPro 5,1 mid 2012, 3.46Mhz six core with 32GB RAM, macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and a Sapphire Radeon 7950 3GB VRAM.

Do you have a Nvidia card in a similar specced system? Do you have a system that fares better? Would you be nice enough to send real test numbers my way? Make a HD Timeline with Prores 422 clips, add some color correction and EQ+compressor on audio and Export away to ProRes 422 - no rendering allowed. Start your timer and report in the comments. Thanks!


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