GPU USAGE BY FCP 10.6.3 on M1 Mac mini

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Level 1

4 points

GPU USAGE BY FCP 10.6.3 on M1 Mac mini

Recently updated the FCP. In preference export/render set as M1. Was exporting a 4K video in .mp4 format. Why it can't use the GPU of the M1 chip on the Mac mini? It started using more than 100% CPU to export the video and took more minutes to export a 5min video. Is this a bug on the update or GPU is only used for rendering during the timeline even though it shows the option for both? Is it not optimised for M1, give solution/update devs?

Mac mini, macOS 12.4

Posted on Jul 10, 2022 7:30 AM

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Answer 1

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,818 points

Jul 10, 2022 7:34 AM in response to rkiiv

Please give complete details of the Mac mini. Please give complete export settings. GPU is used for graphics and effects processing. CPU and/or hardware codec for encoding. Different systems have different hardware encoding.

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Answer 2

rkiiv Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 10, 2022 7:51 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Hi Tom, you can see in the image it is an M1 Mac mini with 8GB RAM. I know GPU is for graphics and effects but other programs like premiere pro/DaVinci completely use GPU while exporting to speed up the process faster. Even though FCP is fully optimised for M1 then it should use the complete GPU. Please correct me if I am wrong in my understanding or please give a proper explanation?

Export setting

Format -> Publishing-> computer

video codec - H.264 Better quality

resolution - 4K

action - save only

Project settings

video - 4K 30p

rendering - Apple ProRes 422

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Answer 3

rkiiv Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 10, 2022 9:48 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I don't understand you guys don't understand simple English when I said "took more minutes" it means the same video was obviously faster on a windows machine on premiere and DaVinci as they use NVIDIA GPU to export. YouTubers only use these 3 common programs i.e. FCP, Premiere and DaVinci. So my point of discussion will be on these 3 programs. I didn't say anywhere export times depend on video duration.

The important thing I want to point out is why FCP is not using the GPU while exporting on the M1 chip machine?

Is there a bug or are there any settings to turn ON to fully use GPU? Anyone expert in the FCP please let me know and gives us a proper explanation for it.

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Answer 4

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,818 points

Jul 10, 2022 10:48 AM in response to rkiiv

If the system doesn’t need the GPU to process the file, why should it use that portion of the chip, which might generate much more heat and consequently cause throttling and slow the process? Are you telling us that the other applications process the the files much more quickly? That would be good to know. If so, then it might be better to use those applications.

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,818 points

Jul 10, 2022 8:01 AM in response to rkiiv

I don't know if that computer has hardware encoding for H.264, perhaps you do. That would making using GPU encoding on the unified chip moot.

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Answer 6

Jul 10, 2022 9:23 AM in response to rkiiv

What Tom said.

And: "took more minutes" compared to what? The same export in some other machine? A different video? The time it takes to export does not just depend on the duration of the video.

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GPU USAGE BY FCP 10.6.3 on M1 Mac mini

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