TJ Skywasher

Q: Final Cut Pro X Exported Video Size

I've recently bought Final Cut Pro X and use it for editing videos before uploading to YouTube.  I used to export my videos from iMovie as a .mov file to my hard drive to then manually upload to YouTube.  There doesn't seem to be this option in Final Cut, so I've taken to using the YouTube share feature but it never uploads so I just manually upload the .mov file that it saves somewhere in the Final Cut shared files folder.

 

The problem I have is that I export a 720P file so assumed that the video size would be 1280 x 720, it always was with iMove.  I've found that Final Cut spits out the video at 1248 x 702 and this is quite annoying as it sometimes cuts off the top and bottom of a video.  Is there any reason why it does this or any way to get it to export at the correct display size?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.1), 2.4GHz, 4GB Ram, 320GB HD, 256MB Gr

Posted on May 14, 2012 2:24 PM

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Q: Final Cut Pro X Exported Video Size

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  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 14, 2012 2:34 PM in response to TJ Skywasher
    Level 10 (118,368 points)
    Apple TV
    May 14, 2012 2:34 PM in response to TJ Skywasher

    There doesn't seem to be this option in Final Cut

     

    Sure there is. Export media.

     

    1248 x 702

     

    Where are you seeing these numbers exactly? Report what it says in the movie inspector of the QuickTime player.

  • by TJ Skywasher,

    TJ Skywasher TJ Skywasher May 14, 2012 2:41 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 14, 2012 2:41 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    I tried the export media but the file sizes are too big, nowhere near as small as iMovie puts them out.  I just want a simple .mov file at a decent 720P file size, which using the YouTube share option gives me.

     

    The movie inspector shows that its a 1280 x 720 format, but that the video size is 1248 x 702Screen Shot 2012-05-14 at 10.39.29 pm.png

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 14, 2012 2:58 PM in response to TJ Skywasher
    Level 10 (118,368 points)
    Apple TV
    May 14, 2012 2:58 PM in response to TJ Skywasher

    Right there it says 1280x720 next to format. 1248x702 is the current size.

     

    81.3MB is too big? You don't want it smaller. The smaller you make it the more heavily compressed it will be and then it gets run through the YouTube mill again. You want to give YouTube the highest quality you can deliver not the lowest.

  • by TJ Skywasher,

    TJ Skywasher TJ Skywasher May 14, 2012 3:04 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 14, 2012 3:04 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    How can I change the size? Normally I export at 720P in iMovie and the video and format are both 1280 x 720.  I did a screencast using Quicktime and due to the change in display size it's chopped off the toolbar at the top and a small portion of the dock.  I've had to resize the clip in Final Cut to 95% of the original size to get it to fit in the 1248 x 702 size that it chooses to put it in.

     

    As this was only a screencast the file size tends to be this small, but normally I shoot at full HD on my camcorder and the video can be about 10 mins in length.  I used the export media function and the resulting file was about 8GB in size!  iMovie would typically give me a .mov file anywhere between 700MB - 1.5GB depedning on the length of the video and that suited me fine, but there doesn't seem to be any way to get it that small using the Export Media.  Not much of a problem really coz I'm fine using the YouTube share option to get what I want.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 14, 2012 4:43 PM in response to TJ Skywasher
    Level 10 (118,368 points)
    Apple TV
    May 14, 2012 4:43 PM in response to TJ Skywasher

    You need Compressor to crop it.

  • by TJ Skywasher,

    TJ Skywasher TJ Skywasher May 15, 2012 12:46 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2012 12:46 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    After much playing around with Compressor I managed to finally get the actual display size of the video to 1280 x 720.  I created a custom setting by duplicating the setting for Apple Devices and tweaking it a bit, after an export the video is both in the format of 1280 x 720 and so is the actual display size.  For some reason creating a custom setting from scratch or duplicating the default YouTube one and setting it to 1280 x 720 everywhere possible is still outputs the display size to 1248 x 702 which is very annoying.

     

    But at least I found a way round it, it may only be a few pixels but it chops off the top and bottom of my content plus any graphics I create in the same size.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 15, 2012 1:03 PM in response to TJ Skywasher
    Level 10 (118,368 points)
    Apple TV
    May 15, 2012 1:03 PM in response to TJ Skywasher

    Not sure what you think you're achieve by changing the display size. It's a 720 file. That's what YouTube is going to use. As for the current size on the computer, anyone can drag a corner and make it any size they want.

  • by TJ Skywasher,

    TJ Skywasher TJ Skywasher May 15, 2012 1:34 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2012 1:34 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    I can drag it and make it any size I like, it still shows 1280 x 720 format and 1248 x 702 display size and bits of my video are still chopped off.  The only thing correct about it is that it's 720P format.  I didn't have this issue with iMovie which seemed to give me the correct display size.  Uploading it to YouTube the way it was just looked odd with bits of my video missing.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 15, 2012 1:46 PM in response to TJ Skywasher
    Level 10 (118,368 points)
    Apple TV
    May 15, 2012 1:46 PM in response to TJ Skywasher

    Not sure why you're getting what you get when you export. When I export to any setting that goes to 720, it always comes out as 1280x720, file size and current size.

     

    Was this project imported from iMovie or made in FCP? What's the original media? Just trying to figure out why this is happening to your media, which isn't normal.

  • by TJ Skywasher,

    TJ Skywasher TJ Skywasher May 15, 2012 2:13 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2012 2:13 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    I've tried it with a Project imported from iMovie, direct import from my camcorder and with a screen record captured in Quicktime.  All have been exported with the default 720P YouTube share option in Final Cut and then I get the funny display size.  I'd never noticed it until I went to view the exported file for the screencast and noticed that it had chopped the top and bottom off because of the odd sizing.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 15, 2012 2:28 PM in response to TJ Skywasher
    Level 10 (118,368 points)
    Apple TV
    May 15, 2012 2:28 PM in response to TJ Skywasher

    If you share to YouTube, where are you going nto see the frame sizes?

  • by Danzger Mom,

    Danzger Mom Danzger Mom May 25, 2012 1:13 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 25, 2012 1:13 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Hi Tom,

    You seem to be the man with all the answers to my questions today!  I am working on my first Final Cut Pro X movie (about 14 minutes).  When exported it is over 11 GB.  Way too big.  Is buying Compressor my only option?

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 25, 2012 1:30 PM in response to Danzger Mom
    Level 10 (118,368 points)
    Apple TV
    May 25, 2012 1:30 PM in response to Danzger Mom

    How are you exporting? Export Media current settings. That's going to be high resolution ProRes. Try H.264, or look at Media Browser or Apple Devices. There are options there.

  • by Danzger Mom,

    Danzger Mom Danzger Mom May 26, 2012 11:52 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 11:52 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Great, thanks so much!

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