Guides/Timeline
Export
The Export sheet, every option on it, and which ones to leave alone. H.264, HEVC or AV1, up to 4K 60, 10-bit, with no watermark.
Click the blue Export button at the top right of the window, press ⌘E (Ctrl+E), or use File › Export. On a phone, Export is in the top bar.
The sheet flows into one, two or three columns depending on the window. Its sections:
Preview and Summary
The current frame with a strip that scrubs the playhead, and the facts: the format you are about to write (“1920 × 1080 · 30 fps · H.264”), the duration, and how many clips and titles are in the cut. When a hardware encoder will be used, the encoding reads ”· hardware”.
Output
| Row | Choices | Leave it at |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | The timeline’s own size (marked “Timeline”) and the ladder below it: 2160, 1440, 1080, 720 on the short edge, each shown as this project’s frame would come out, so a 9:16 edit reads 1080 × 1920 | The timeline’s own |
| Frame rate | The timeline’s own first, then every other rate | The timeline’s own |
| Codec | H.264 (“Plays everywhere”), HEVC (“Half the size”), AV1 (“Smallest”). An encoder the machine lacks reads “Not on this device” | H.264 for anything you will upload or send; HEVC to halve the file |
| 10-bit colour | On or off | Off, unless the footage is 10-bit or HDR |
| Color | Only on an HDR timeline: HDR (HLG or PQ, “As the timeline”) or SDR (“Tone-mapped, plays anywhere”) | SDR unless you know the player does HDR |
Quality
Three cards, each with an estimated file size: High (Master), Balanced (Recommended), Small (Share). Balanced is right for YouTube, TikTok and anything that gets re-encoded on upload, which is everything.
Destination
A Name, a Browse button to pick the folder (the Movies folder by default), and the full
path under them. The file is always an .mp4. If one with that name is already there, the
sheet asks before replacing it.
Advanced
Hidden on small windows behind Show advanced options:
- Bitrate: VBR (the default) or CBR with a Target bitrate. Hardware encoders always run VBR.
- Colour range: Limited (“Video, YouTube”) or Full (“Screen content”). Limited is what every video player expects; Full is for screen recordings that must keep pure black and white exact.
Run it
The button at the bottom reads Export · ~size. While it runs the sheet shows the stage (Rendering video, Mixing audio, Finalising file), a percentage and the time left, with Cancel export. When it is done: Show in folder and Export again.
Speed and hardware
On a Mac the encoders are VideoToolbox. On Windows and Linux, NVENC, Quick Sync and AMF encode HEVC and AV1 when the machine has the chip, ahead of the software encoders. 4K 60 10-bit is the ceiling. An export whose GPU device dies carries on, on a fresh device or then the software adapter, and the frame that came back black is drawn again.
Just the sound
Right-click a clip and choose Save Audio As… to render that clip’s sound to a WAV.