Export Speed: PreE8 vs Pro (CS5)

[Margthecar]

Hi this is more of a process check than a problem. I just exported as Widescreen SD DV-AVI my first project in Pro. It is about 13 minutes long and has multiple sequences, green screen effects, video timelines plus a couple of AE animated titles (*that* was fun!). I did not time it, but it seemed to take WAY longer than a similar length export did from PreE8, perhaps 20 to 30 minutes before it was done. I am just curious if this length of time is "normal" for this type of reasonably complicated project. Granted it has many more complicated effects that PreE allows, BUT it sill is only 13 minutes long and is standard def. My computer is using the CUDA graphics, but it is the lowest end card that does it due to my unfortunate underenergized power supply.

Like I said, I don't think this is a problem. I just want to get an idea of what is normal for rendering/exporting with Pro and to make sure it really is supposed to take this long. Then I can plan the appropriate coffee break when it comes time to export......

[Chuck Engels]

The more graphics and effects you use the longer the rendering/export will take Marge.
Considering all that you had in that project the export time might not be considered unreasonable.
About 15 years ago it would have taken more than 48 hours to render your 13 minute project so 30 minutes is amazing in many ways

[Margthecar]

About 15 years ago it would have taken more than 48 hours to render your 13 minute project

LOL. Forget the coffee break--I'm going to Vegas! (Every pun intended).

Yeah, I used to be an engineer and I had an old DOS program to do some very complicated calculations that I had to leave to run overnight. I remember the feeling of trepidation I had coming in the next morning to see whether the program had completed correctly or had errors.

[momoffduty]

plus a couple of AE animated titles (*that* was fun!). s

Anything to share? Like Chuck posted the effects do add on export time and I would guess that the chroma key would be the biggest time issue.

Are you exporting for web or for Encore? For WS standard def projects to Encore I export as AVIs and it doesn't take very long. The export to h.264 will take longer.

[Margthecar]

No nothing to share, my titles are just modifications of presets, so nothing original. But this was my first time using AE and my comment was meant to express my amazement/awe/horror/joy at seeing just how many adustable parameters even one character could have! For my modifications, it was quite a challenge figuring out how enough of it worked to get the effect I wanted, but I have a long way to go to become proficient at AE. I understand now how people can specialize in AE--there is a boatload of effects in there!

I do have ALOT of chroma key sequences, probably in 10 out of the 13 minutes, on multiple timelines within a sequence. I had to make one small change, then re-exported it. This time I chose "maximum render quality" (last time I did not) and it took about 40 minutes to export. Sounds like for my effects quantity, 40 minutes is reasonable so I will keep it in mind. Thanks for the tip about the h.264 format taking longer--I do export to the Web sometimes so it is good to keep in mind. Is that because of extra time needed to process the increased compression?

For this project, I must sheepishly admit I am exporting as a DV-AVI so I can do a DVD menu and DVD export in PrE8, which I know how to do quickly and easily. I am learning CS5 as I go and I don't have time to learn Encore before I need to mail out finished the DVDs. One step at a time......

[momoffduty]

Thanks for the tip about the h.264 format taking longer--I do export to the Web sometimes so it is good to keep in mind. Is that because of extra time needed to process the increased compression?

For this project, I must sheepishly admit I am exporting as a DV-AVI so I can do a DVD menu and DVD export in PrE8, which I know how to do quickly and easily. I am learning CS5 as I go and I don't have time to learn Encore before I need to mail out finished the DVDs. One step at a time......

The h.264 is compressing and deinterlacing so that would take more time.

When I first got Pro I still used PrEl to edit a menu & burn quickly. Encore does have a learning curve, but it has many features & editing capabilities. I only use Encore now. The tuts at Lynda.com are very good.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

....The tuts at Lynda.com are very good.